Top 5 best-selling sunscreens on Nykaa to buy now

Despite our quarantine/lockdown, I am seeing a surge in interest in sunscreen.

Go figure.

Methodology

In a lockdown if you are buying sunscreen it’s going to be on a beauty etailer, such as Nykaa. I asked myself, “What sunscreens are people buying on Nykaa?” I searched for “Sunscreen for the face” and filtered by “Popularity” which in my mind is the same as “Best-selling.” This reduced the 20 million sunscreens on Nykaa to a manageable few hundred facial sunscreens.

I compiled a list of the top 30 sunscreens and reviewed 25 of them, including some that I had already reviewed.

My results and attached to links of the product review are below. Please let me know if you have any comments at email@happyskindays.com

Top-selling sunscreens

If I had one sunscreen to buy, then this is the order I would buy them in:

• Tie between Avene Very High Protection Cream SPF 50+ (₹1, 750 for 50ml) and L’Oreal Paris UV Perfect Super Aqua Essence SPF 50, PA++++ (₹515 for 30ml)

Both these sunscreens offer amazing protection against both UVA and UVB, through a bunch of new style filters. These filters are photostable, provide excellent coverage over UVA and UVB (as relevant), and have limited dermal absorption because of their large molecular size.

These sunscreens are at the top of their game, as they use at least 4 filters to provide very comprehensive coverage. Finally, both are budget friendly sunscreens.

Then

• Lakme Sun Expert SPF 50 PA+++ Ultra Matte Lotion Sunscreen (₹280 for 50ml)

I am impressed by Lakme’s offering. I am sceptical that it is a PA+++ (offering very high protection against UVA), but I do think it provides PA++ protection against UVA. At this price point this is an excellent outcome.

After Lakme, I’d choose between:

• Clinique SPF 50 UVA/UVB Mineral Sunscreen Fluid (₹2,700 for 30ml)
• Neutrogena Sheer Zinc Dry Touch Sunscreen SPF 50+ (for sensitive skin) (₹825 for 80ml)

These are both mineral sunscreens that contain Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide. Both of these are photostable and provide broadspectrum protection, absorbing UVA and UVB radiation.

After these sunscreens, I’d choose between:

• Innisfree Intensive Anti Pollution Sunscreen SPF 50+ PA++++ (₹1,250 for 50ml)
• Kiehl’s Ultra Light Daily UV Defense Aqua Gel SPF 50 PA++++ (₹5,000 for 60ml)
• Kiehl’s Ultra Light Daily UV Defense Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 PA+++ (₹3,250 for 50ml)

I don’t trust the PA++++ rating on the Innisfree product and hence its lower down the “Buy” list. Kiehl’s would generally have a higher rating but the price is extortionate. Also, the Aqua Defense Gel appears to be a similar formulation to the infinitely cheaper, L’Oreal Paris UV Perfect Super Aqua Essence SPF 50 PA++++

My least favourite…

• Forest Essentials Sun Fluid SPF 50 (₹975 for 50ml)

I am very sceptical about the protection against UVA and UVB damages that are offered by this sunscreen. BUT it does satisfy my requirements and by necessity must be included.

Sunscreens that offer great UVA and UVB but contain a harmful chemical

The harmful chemicals in sunscreens that I look for are BHT, Oxybenzone and Parabens. Trust me when I say this is an extremely small list of objectionable chemicals.

However, I respect the fact that many of you don’t care about the presence of these chemicals in your sunscreen.

I respect that. Therefore, these are the products that would also have a “BUY” rating but for the fact that they contain harmful chemicals.

• Avene Day Protector UV EX SPF30 PA+++ Cream (₹1,450 for 40ml)
• L’Oreal Paris UV Perfect Even Complexion SPF 50+ (₹515 for 30ml)

Both Avene and L’Oreal provide excellent protection against both UVA and UVB damage. However, they also contain BHT….

Sunscreens that I would not use and whose existence viscerally offends me

Essentially, I would never use these sunscreens

• Dermalogica Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF 50 (₹5,495 for 60ml)
• Kaya Daily Moisturising Sunscreen Plus SPF 30 (₹870 for 75ml)
• Lotus Herbals Safe Sun Daily Multi-Function Sunblock SPF 70 PA+++ (₹595 for 60ml)
• Lotus Herbals Safe Sun UV Screen Matte Gel PA+++ SPF 50 ((₹440 for 100ml)
• Lotus Herbals Safe Sun 3-in-1 Matte Look Daily Sun Block (₹395 for 100ml)
• Plum Green Tea Day-Light Sunscreen Gel SPF 35 PA+++ (₹575 for 50ml)
• Ponds White Beauty Sun Protection Day Cream SPF 30 (₹300 for 50ml)

All the other sunscreens that I would not use, but whose existence does not offend me

• Clarins UV Plus Anti-Pollution Sunscreen SPF 50 (₹2,750 for 30ml)
• Clinique Broad Spectrum SPF 50 Sunscreen (₹2,600 for 50ml)
• Lakme Peach Milk Moisturiser SPF 24 PA++ (₹350 for 200ml)
• Mamaearth Ultra Light India Sunscreen SPF 50 PA+++ (₹499 for 116ml)
• Neutrogena UltraSheer Dry Touch Sunblock SPF 50+ (₹549 for 88ml)
• Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisturiser SPF 15 (₹499 for 116ml)
• Thalgo Age Defence Sun Lotion SPF 30 (₹3,800 for 30ml)

Sunscreens I did not review

I want to physically try these sunscreens before I actually write about them. Especially because some of them make quite fanciful claims.

• Cheryl’s Cosmeceuticals DermaShade SPF 30 Spray ₹575 for 50ml
• The Face Shop Club Ryan Dr. Belmeur UV derma Mineral sunscreen ₹1830 for 70ml
• La Shield Sunscreen Gel SPF 40 ₹790 for 60ml
• La Shield Fisico Matte Sunscreen Gel SPF 50+ ₹600 for 50ml

Notes

All prices are upto date as at 30 April 2020.  Unless specified otherwise, I will not be updating these prices.

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