Image Source: Uni [1]

• Uni is a new zero-waste body care brand.
• The Body Serum is a lightweight hybrid lotion gel, and is certified reef safe [2].
• One editor put the serum to the test and was impressed with the results.

Applying body lotion [3] in the summertime is a tricky business. If it's too thick and creamy [4], you can start to feel like you're melting the moment you step out into the heat. If it's too lightweight, your summer tan [5] can start to look a little ashy and skin feels dehydrated. And don't get me started on body oils [6]. While I love the sexy sheen on sun-kissed shoulders [7] it gives, it can also be greasy (hello 1,000 strands of hair stuck to your skin).

Enter: a body serum, specifically the refillable, reef-safe Uni Body Serum [8] ($47). First, the texture feels like it falls between a gel [9] and a lotion — it's lightweight but absorbs within seconds, makes skin feel supersmooth and hydrated, and doesn't make me feel sticky even when it's sweltering outside. The scent is subtle and beachy, kind of salty and fresh with a hint of stone fruit.

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Aviel Kanter

Perhaps one of my favourite aspects of this new brand is that there is a glossary of every single ingredient [10] (and I mean all of them), its function, and its individual EWG score [11] (which tells you how hazardous it could be to your health). The Body Serum's hero ingredients are Australian caviar lime extract, a natural citric acid exfoliator [12]; Australian kakadu plum, which is rich in antioxidants and vitamin C [13]; organic aloe vera to promote collagen production and add moisture; and bladderwrack seaweed, which contains fucoidan, an antioxidant that may help improve the look of cellulite [14], increase skin healing, and delay premature skin ageing.

Sustainable [15] packageing is something Uni also excels at — you purchase a kit, which includes a reusable aluminium dispenser made from recyclable bio resin along with a 100% recycled aluminium bottle of the product itself. When you're done, hang on to the dispenser and send back the empty bottle in the brand's provided box (shipping to carbon neutral, by the way) to either be recycled or refilled and sent back. And don't worry, the dispenser itself is chic AF and seamlessly fits in to your IG-worthy shelfie.

To wrap it all up in a planet-friendly bow, all of Uni's products are reef safe as determined by the HEL (Haereticus Environmental Laboratory [16]) list, and the brand is certified reef friendly by Biorius [17]. Plus, for every Uni product sold online, Uni contributes 1 percent of sales to coral restoration.

If that's not enough to convince you to try the Body Serum, just think of how luxurious it will feel on your warm skin after a long day at the beach.

Rating