LOOKFANTASTIC Absorbs VAT on SPF for Third Consecutive Year

LOOKFANTASTIC is absorbing the cost of VAT on selected SPF 30+ products for the third year running, offering customers 20 per cent off across its core sun protection range through the summer.

The move is timed to the publication of a new report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Beauty, Hair and Wellbeing, which describes UV radiation as a preventable public health crisis in the UK.

The APPG report, "A Preventable Crisis: The Case for a National UV Safety Strategy," was published on 13 May. Drawing on data from Cancer Research UK, the NHS and The Skin Foundation, it states that 86 per cent of melanoma skin cancer cases and 90 per cent of non-melanoma skin cancers in the UK are preventable. It projects that melanoma cases will rise by 9 per cent by 2038, and notes that more than seven people currently die from melanoma each day.

The report sets out three asks of government: a sustained national public health campaign, mandatory UV safety education in schools, and a change to VAT, with zero VAT on children's SPF 30+ and a reduced rate of 5 per cent on adult SPF 30+.

In response, LOOKFANTASTIC is running its "What the SPF?!" campaign, which combines the price reduction with sun safety education. The 20 per cent saving applies to SPF 30+ products from brands including Beauty of Joseon, Clinique, La Roche-Posay and Heliocare, and runs throughout the summer.

Keely Gough, managing director at LOOKFANTASTIC, said the report underlined a gap between awareness and access. "SPF is a critical step in a skincare routine to protect skin health, yet awareness and accessibility challenges still exist," she said. "The findings from the APPG report show just how important it is that we promote education on daily sun protection and offer ways for our LOOKFANTASTIC community to support their skin health now, and into the future."

Sun protection currently attracts the standard 20 per cent rate of VAT in the UK, unlike some health-related products that are zero-rated or reduced. Campaigners have argued for years that classifying high-factor SPF as a cosmetic rather than a health product places a barrier in front of regular use. The APPG report gives that argument fresh parliamentary weight, although any change to VAT would be a Treasury decision rather than one for the group itself.

For LOOKFANTASTIC, which is owned by THG Beauty, the campaign positions the retailer alongside the policy conversation while the wider question of whether SPF should be reclassified for VAT purposes remains unresolved. The retailer has framed its position consistently across the three years it has run the offer: that SPF should be treated as an everyday skincare essential rather than a seasonal holiday purchase.