Sunscreen is essential for good skin, and not just in summer. You can find out which is the best lotion from us.
Cream, lotion, milk, spray, powder – when it comes to sun protection for the skin, the beauty industry does everything in its power to produce the right product for our needs. The most popular is the classic sunscreen, but if you like it a little lighter, you can also use a milk that absorbs quickly and doesn’t make the skin look greasy. But what about the powder? More on that later! We will now show you the current winners according to Stiftung Warentest.
The best sunscreen according to Stiftung Warentest
1. Garnier Ambre Solaire Hydra 24h Sun Protection Milk – Grade 1.3
With a grade of 1.3, it’s okay Garnier Ambre Solaire Sun Protection Milk as test winner through. The sunscreen was able to convince both in the “Compliance with the promised protection” and in the point “Critical ingredients” and was awarded 1.0 each. There is also nothing to complain about the price, because the sunscreen is just under 7 euros.
2. dm Alverde Naturkosmetik Sensitiv sun milk – grade 1.4 (has many bad ratings at dm, can hardly be spread according to customer statements and is very viscous.)
3. dm Sundance MED sun spray – grade 1.4
4. Eau Thermale Avène Intense Protect – Score 1.4
5. Lidl Cien Sun sunscreen – grade 1.4
One of the cheapest sunscreens in this test with a price of less than 3 euros is the Lidl Cien Sun sun milk. The protection was just as convincing as the ingredients, because they are anything but critical for us humans and the environment. A big plus, especially nowadays!
6. Penny and Rewe Today sunscreen – grade 1.4
7. Cetaphil Sun Sensitive Gel-Cream – Grade 1.5
8. La Roche-Posay Anthelios Hydrating Lotion – Grade 1.5
The La Roche-Posay Anthelios sunscreens are not celebrated by stars like Ann-Kathrin Götze for nothing. Thanks to her light texture the hydrating lotion is perfect for those who like velvety skin. The caring and non-damaging ingredients provide the perfect moisturizing and absorb quickly. With a price of almost 20 euros, it is also one of the more expensive creams in the test.
9. Nivea Sun Protection & Care Spray – grade 1.5
Which sunscreen is suitable for sensitive skin?
Sensitive skin is special easy to irritate, which is why you should avoid certain substances in your cosmetics. These include, among other things Perfumes, fragrances such as linalool or citral and some acids. Easily tolerated cosmetics are usually labeled “sensitive” or “med”. Therefore, for example, the dm Sundance MED sun spray or the Cetaphil Sun Sensitive Gel Cream. Because of its light texture, the latter is particularly pleasant on sensitive skin.
Which sunscreen is best for sun allergies?
If you are allergic to the sun, you can proceed in a similar way as with sensitive skin. Because even with sun allergy we want avoid irritating substances and prefer to provide our skin with nourishing ingredients. In addition, the sunscreen should be a possible high sun protection factor have, i.e. like to be at 50 like the lotion from Eau Thermale Avène Intense Protect.
Which sunscreen is without octocrylene?
More and more brands are forgoing the use of environmentally harmful UV filters such as octocrylene. That too Nivea Sun Protection & Care Spray. The classic among the sun creams has not been in great demand for years for a reason, which is partly due to his low price is, but of course also his reliable protection from the sun’s rays.
Which sunscreen is waterproof?
There are sunscreens that are labeled as waterproof. But you should also apply sunscreen after a water bath renew as soon as possible, To play it safe. You cannot protect yourself enough from the sun, no matter how good vitamin D is for us – our skin does not have to be burned when absorbing this important vitamin.
These creams were not able to convince the Stiftung Warentest
Not every cream keeps what it promises. This was particularly noticeable with four lotions that were tested by Stiftung Warentest:
- The Boep sun cream sensitive
- Lavera sensitive sunscreen
- Rossmann Sunozon Transparent sun spray
- Speick Sun sun milk
All four creams were made with the Bad grade evaluated, which is mainly due to the point of criticism “compliance with the promised protection”. But even the declaration was hardly convincing in all cases, which is why each product was only marked with sufficient here.
Our all-time favourite
We too have our personal favourites. The liquid sun milk from Rituals from The Ritual of Karma line leaves one beautiful shine on the skin and makes it look healthy and nourished. The delicate scent is not too intrusive, but always gives you the feeling of fresh skin. This is particularly suitable for the legs and décolleté eco-friendly spray for a wow appearance with protection.
Why is sunscreen so important for the skin?
Every day our skin has to process the UV-A and UV-B rays. But that’s not so easy, because the free radicals from these rays attack our collagens and elastins, which ensure the firmness of our skin. If there are no more or very few of these two proteins in our connective tissue, our skin becomes slack and wrinkles form. Of course we want to avoid that when we are young. And that’s where the sunscreen comes into play, which supports our skin in eliminating the free radicals or not even allowing them to reach our connective tissue proteins.
In addition to wrinkles, UV rays also have another negative effect on our skin: pigment spots. Our skin’s initial tan looks nice, but it’s already a sign that it’s aging fights. Because the tan is nothing more than a huge pigment spot that is formed by the body to heal injuries to the epidermis. What then remains are isolated pigment spots.
Incidentally, we also know this natural process from pimple marks. When it comes to stains and marks, the best way to help with fading is – how could it be otherwise – sunscreen.
Chemical or mineral sun protection – which is better?
When it comes to sun lotion, there are two different types: there are chemical and mineral sunscreens. Chemical reacts in the epidermis and converts UV rays into heat. Mineral sun protection, on the other hand, works like a mirror on our skin and does not allow the UV rays to penetrate our skin in the first place. Therefore, mineral sun protection is now also preferred by many. Already knew:mineral powder is also a natural sunscreen because the minerals it contains reflect sunlight and thus protect the skin. Mineral powder is therefore ideal as a foundation, as it can be applied thinner or more opaquely as required.
How do I know which sun protection factor to use?
Everyone has a certain self-protection timewhen it comes to UV rays. This is just five minutes for very light skin and up to 40 minutes for darker complexions. This depends, among other things, on which sun protection you should use. However, not because you are better protected with a sun protection factor of 50, but because of the protection lasts longer. Because the sun protection factor, SPF for short, is primarily intended to indicate how long your skin is protected from UV rays with sunscreen. The calculation for this is very simple: self-protection time x sun protection factor = number of minutes until you have to apply cream again.
If someone has very light skin and self-protection for five minutes, then uses an SPF 20, the person can only get by for a little over an hour without applying cream. It is therefore recommended for very fair to fair skin also, a sunscreen with SPF 50 to use. Incidentally, the same applies to children’s skin! Do you have a dark complexiona sunscreen of 20 or 30.
How many times a day do I have to apply lotion?
Apply cream once in the morning and that’s it? Unfortunately not, because sunscreen is not an ordinary body lotion that is simply supposed to moisturize our skin. In order for it to be able to fulfill its full task, it has to be reapplied regularly and best of all every two to three hours – depending on what skin type you are and what sun protection factor you used.
How much cream do I have to use for it to work?
There is no such thing as too much cream when it comes to sun lotion. Because for it to work, you need the right amount. For the face this means a blob the size of a 1 euro coin. That may sound like a lot at first, but the secret behind it is that the cream has to be massaged in properly – then no more white streaks will remain. The same applies to the rest of the body: more is better!