A valid alternative to sunscreen exists. Brecht Duijf and Lenneke Langenhuijsen say so. Together, these two women designers form Buro Belén, a design office in Amsterdam whose signature attribute is research projects. They met while studying at the Design Academy Eindhoven, which demands that students interrogate the status quo and use experimentation as a production technique.
The project Sun+ is still underway. It is based on the fact that the chemical ingredients of sunscreen are damaging to the skin and the plastic containers are polluting the oceans. After a study of traditional solutions that used to be adopted for protection from the sun's rays, including ashes and henna, Buro Belén created a line of all-natural textile-based products.
The collection is based on the analysis of vegetal cloth both coloured and natural. Wearables are a hat, glasses, a silk veil with an ultraviolet protection factor of 8. Transportables are a tent and a translucent parasol that form a screen anywhere you happen to be.