Whether on balconies or the Balearic Islands: Protecting the skin from excessive solar radiation is important in summer. You don’t even have to dig deep into your pocket, goods test shows – on the contrary.
Even if the first heat wave is over: With the rising temperatures, the Germans are driving longer and longer outside in the long-awaited summer. And that also increases the risk of sunburn, regardless of whether you catch it on holiday in Spain or at the lake. To protect yourself, you have to smear yourself properly with sunscreen. Stiftung Warentest compared which ones really protect in the current issue.
If you are wondering why the list seems so well known: All 17 sunscreens were already in the race with each other last year. Because the recipes have not changed, according to the manufacturer, Warentest did not carry out a new test. Only the fear that some of the creams could pose a health risk through the use of the sunscreen product Octorylene was examined over a longer period of time. Together with the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, however, Warentest can give a clear all-clear.
Cheap test winners
The overall best factor 30 cream in the test, Sundance Sensitive Sun Balm from the drugstore chain dm, also pleases the wallet. Although the cream is convincing both in terms of sun protection and in terms of its moisturizing effect and accordingly receives an overall rating of “very good” (1.4), it costs only 3.45 euros per 200 milliliter bottle, which corresponds to 1.73 Euros per 100 milliliters. A strong price.
Even cheaper and even better, however, is the Sundance sun milk, also from dm. Because the cream that was tested in summer 2019 is still available like many others, Warentest lists 19 of the previously tested alternatives in a separate table. The Sundance sun milk achieved an even better rating than the current test winner with “very good” (1.3) and even costs just 2.45 euros for 200 milliliters.
Both dm creams have one limitation, however: they only protect against the sun by a factor of 30. For more susceptible skin it should be a factor of 50, for the even more sensitive children’s skin even 50+.
Even more protection with a factor of 50
Stiftung Warentest recommends Sun D’Or sun lotion for adult skin prone to sunburn. With an overall rating of “very good” (1.4), it shares first place in the current test with the above-mentioned dm cream. Both are exactly the same in terms of protection, moisture effect and applicability. The higher sun protection factor makes the Sun D’Or sun milk a tad more expensive: with a price of 4.30 euros per 200 milliliter bottle (2.15 euros per 100 milliliters) it is still cheap.
For the best protection of children’s skin, Warentest again refers to the test from last year: Lidl Cien Kids sun cream won the test for sun protection for children there. The 50+ cream rated “very good” (1.4) is also very affordable with a price of 2.25 euros for the 100 milliliter bottle.
Expensive in short supply
Incidentally, the test field disappointed with the more expensive sunscreens. The first cream with a 100 milliliter price over 10 euros comes in 6th place, but all three last places are in some cases significantly higher. The most expensive cream in the test – Biosolis Sonnen Spray with a price of 21 euros for 100 milliliters – was punished as “poor” (5.0) like the other two last placed ones. The reason: It practically does not protect itself from solar radiation at all, and the moisture effect is at most mediocre. And that at a price more than twelve times higher than that of the current test winner.
Cream again and again
Even if you use the test winners to lubricate, that is not a solution for the whole day, Warentest warns, by the way. “Especially if you sweat, swim or splash around a lot, you should diligently re-apply it.” Everyone else should do this even after a few hours in the sun at the latest. And every now and then treat yourself to a cooling break in the shade of your skin.
