Pricey creams ‘fail to offer protection against sun’
mineral-based sun creams costing up to £28 a bottle fail to offer the promised protection against harmful rays, tests show.
research by consumer group Which? found the creams, which rely on titanium dioxide or zinc oxide to block out ultraviolet light, did not live up to claims on labels. rival products which use chemicals to absorb sun rays were more effective in protecting the skin against damage, including ageing and, potentially, cancer.
Which? tested popular sun creams, including five mineral sunscreens and eight chemicalbased ones. all the mineral sunscreens failed on sun Protection Factor (SPF) or blocking ultraviolet a rays (UVA) – three failed both tests. SPF
is a measure of protection against ultraviolet B rays (UVB).
Excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays has been linked to premature ageing and skin cancer.
Which? said Clinique Mineral Sunscreen Lotion, which costs £26 for a 125ml bottle, barely provided a third of the claimed SPF level and failed the UVA test. Tropic Skin Shade Cream (£28/200ml) and Alba Botanica Sensitive Mineral Fragrance Free (£11.99/113ml) also failed SPF and UVA testing. Hawaiian Tropic Mineral Protective Sun Milk (£10.50/100ml) passed the UVA test but offered significantly less SPF protection than claimed.
Green People Scent Free Sun Cream SPF30 (£25.50/200ml) uses mineral and chemical UV filters. It was the only mineral product to pass on SPF protection, but failed on UVA rays.
Eight chemical-based sun creams, including cheap supermarket brands, passed both the SPF and UVA testing. Natalie Hitchins, of Which?, said: ‘It’s a massive concern that none of the expensive mineral sunscreens in our tests offered the level of protection claimed on their packaging. Our advice is don’t waste your money or take any unnecessary risks – stick to a tried and tested and reliable sun cream.’
Tropic Skin, which is owned by Lord Sugar and Apprentice star Susan Ma, disagreed with the findings but pulled its product pending further testing. Hawaiian Tropic and Clinique rejected Which?’s findings. Green People said it was investigating further. Alba Botanica was unavailable for comment.