How sunscreen became the subject of conspiracy theories

A man clutching a tiny microphone strides purposefully towards the sun care aisle in his local pharmacy.

- Katie Rosseinsky, The Independent

He picks up the orange and yellow bottles, scans the labels and quickly, performatively rejects them with a pantomime shake of the head. Why? Because he's convinced that sunscreen is filled with “toxic chemicals” that, he claims, are “doing more harm than good”. And if you watch his video for long enough, he'll probably start recommending the “natural” option he's switched to instead. He might even (falsely) claim that, rather than protecting you from skin cancer, sunscreen increases the risk.

Variations on this scene are cropping up on social media with alarming frequency. Over on TikTok, this backlash against SPF (sun protection factor), known as the “anti-sunscreen movement”, has been brewing for a couple of years, but in the summer of 2025, it seems to have moved from a conspiratorial niche into something more mainstream.

Back in July, former The Only Way is Essex star Sam Faiers told her 2.5 million Instagram followers that she doesn't use sunscreen, and neither does her family, including her young children. “Over the years, the kids have built up a really good tolerance to being in the sun,” she said, before claiming that many sunscreens “are actually pretty harmful and full of toxic ingredients”. In the same month, actor and influencer Kelsey Parker revealed that she avoids using SPF on her children, too (she said she uses a homemade “organic” version instead, made from beeswax and “no bad stuff”).