Which one, how often and how much should you pay? CONOR POPEon sunscreens..

SUNSCREENS can be just a little bewildering to an Irish person raised on a diet of heavy clouds, rain, and all-too-brief periods of sunshine, followed, in quick succession, by all-too-painful bouts of sunburn.

What do you buy? Spray, pump action or old-fashioned bottle? How much do you spread and how often do you spread it? How much do you need to spend to make sure you don’t turn a lurid shade of lobster pink the moment the sun breaks out from behind the clouds?

And will the most expensive bottle in the most upmarket department store keep you safer than the cheap as chips bottle from a budget supermarket?

The short answer to the last question is no, despite what the marketing campaigns and expensively produced packaging on some of the pricier brands tell you. In fact, if by spending more, you are more inclined to use it sparingly, it might actually afford you less protection than a cheaper bottle, which you will quite happily slather all over yourself.

And it is important to do a lot of slathering. Repeated studies have shown that most of us apply only 20-50 per cent of the recommended amount of sunscreen so end up getting a lot less protection than we imagine.

It should be applied thickly and evenly, with an amount about the size of a golf ball in your hand for use over your entire body, and it needs to be applied 20 minutes before going out in the sun and then reapplied every two hours.

All this rubbing-in comes at a cost. If done properly, a week’s supply of Garnier Ambre Solaire for an average-sized adult will cost in the region of €35 while a week’s coverage from Lancôme will set you back roughly €90.

If, on the other hand, you buy your sunblock in Lidl, where 250ml bottles of varying factors are currently selling under the Cien brand name for just €4.49, a seven-day supply will cost no more than €15.

British consumer group Which? frequently tests sunscreens and has repeatedly found that price is no indication of quality. In a study published earlier this summer, three of the best brands cost less than £3 (about €3.50), including the most highly rated brand, which it sourced in Asda.

While Which? has yet to review the Lidl range, Pricewatch tried it earlier this summer and found it absolutely fine — pleasant smelling, not excessively greasy, and entirely effective under the glare of the midday sun. Dozens of posters to online discussion forums in Ireland and the UK agree and in recent weeks it has been getting an almost universal thumbs-up.

Although the Which? sunscreen studies might be good news for the budget-conscious, they also contain a note of caution about the general efficacy of many brands and the manner in which the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) can frequently be overestimated.

The magazine has repeatedly found, through independent testing, sunscreens that fail to offer the level of protection claimed on bottles. Its most recent study showed that nearly a quarter of sunscreens reviewed had actual SPFs that were significantly less than what was stated on the bottles. One brand, which promised an SPF of 15 was actually shown to offer protection of just 7.1.

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