Most people who love being out in the sun know how important it is to protect your skin by wearing suncream – but not everyone knows what to look out for when buying a suncream and how to reduce the risk of getting sunburn and damaging your skin.
When you’re choosing a suncream most people will look at the SPF rating (the sun protection factor), and know that the higher the rating the stronger the protection.
But did you know you should also check the UVA and UVB ratings on your suncream too?
UVB rays from the sun cause the skin to burn while UVA rays go deeper and cause deeper damage and premature ageing. Five-star protection against both UVB and UVA rays is the maximum sun protection you can have – and all of the suncare products in our Asda Protect range offer it. But surprisingly not all other brands offer this.
A recent report by consumer magazine Which? made headlines, saying our suncreams are just as good as some of the more expensive ones.
A report on their findings in Hello! magazine said: "When it comes to buying sun cream, you may think that the more expensive, the better. But new research has discovered that some budget-friendly products that cost as little as £2 may be just as effective – if not more – than brands that cost four times the price."
We’ve seen a growing trend where people are moving away from traditional sun lotion to new formats like clear sprays and roll-on protection so we’ve added new products to the range to meet customer demand and we've already developed and picked the new products were launching in 2019!
Dry Mist is a new format for us that’s really flying off the shelves at the moment. The great thing about Dry Mist is you can spray it on and leave it – there’s no need to rub it in, making it extremely convenient if you’re on the go. The mist sprays dry really quickly and the clear formula ensures they’ll be no white marks on your clothes either.
I’m going on holiday to France later this summer with my family and I’ll be taking a supply of Dry Mist with me!
We’ve also introduced a kids' roll-on to the range. It's really convenient and a good price. We know some children don't like the cold feeling of a traditional spray or cream, so it should make it easier to protect your kids without complaint. It also means it can be applied without messy hands!
With our new Asda Protect range we've worked hard to ensure we’re bringing great quality products to customers at the same everyday low price – and we’re able to do that because we have a great relationship with our supplier. We’ve been working with them to develop new products for the past 14 years because they’re experts at what they do.
One thing lots of people aren't aware of is that older sun cream doesn't offer as much protection. The filters in suncream deplete once the product is opened so if you use suncream that’s been open for a year then it won't have the same SPF factor as when you bought it. Our advice is to ensure you use all your sun cream within 12 months of opening it. If in doubt, don't use the old sun cream you found in the bottom of a cupboard – get a new one. There's more advice on staying safe in the sun here on the NHS website.
