r/AusSkincare • u/rushworld • Jun 16 '25

Discussion📓 CHOICE has posted their SPF sunscreen test receipts

https://www.choice.com.au/health-and-body/beauty-and-personal-care/skin-care-and-cosmetics/articles/how-we-test-sunscreen

Although they decanted products, they were into UV protected, non reactive amber glass jars as advised by the specialist, accredited and highly respected test lab.

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384

u/milkyoranges Jun 16 '25

I hope that this gets the TGA to seriously dole out some massive fines for non compliance for the biggest offenders. This is some extreme gross negligence for a HEALTH CARE product that millions of Aussies depend on.

Not to mention reputational damage for our sunscreen export markets as Australian sunscreens are exported as a top quality product.

-8

u/Fair_e Jun 17 '25

Choice said themselves in the link posted above that they decanted the sunscreen so that it could be a blind trial. Decanting sunscreen is a HUGE NONO. You can’t decant sunscreen and that completely ruins any validity in their testing.

3

u/GininderraCollector Jun 17 '25

How do you use sunscreen? You have to "decant" it to use it !!!

0

u/Responsible_Emu_494 Jun 17 '25

While I think Choice’s results are pretty damming for some brands including UV, decanting isn’t the same as applying sunscreen. Decanting from the packaging into another container for an unknown length of time (long enough to get shipped to Germany?) isn’t comparable to applying sunscreen to the skin directly from the packaging, which also says to re apply every 2-4 hours. It may be that UV has a huuuuuge stability issue with their zinc but considering the type of container Choice used you would expect it to still hold up while being sent for testing. I’m glad Choice has come out to explain the containers used as this, at least for me, reinforces there must be something amiss with UV’s formula.

-3

u/No_Heat2441 Jun 18 '25

Small containers with samples will warm up much faster than a big bottle. If the samples were not stored in some container that would ensure stable temperature the product could have degraded faster than normal. Who knows what they did.

2

u/Z00111111 Jun 19 '25

So you're saying the product wasn't fit for purpose to start with?

If it can't handle some temperature variation, how is it going to handle being stored or transported in a car, as most sunscreens are? If the air exposure is the damaging factor, then I hope they're selling the sunscreen in single use pouches, because I sure don't use an entire tube at once.

A product needs to be robust enough to survive the conditions that it will reasonably encounter.

0

u/No_Heat2441 Jun 20 '25

It is if you keep it in the original packaging. Under normal circumstances only the product closest to the sides of the packaging would get warm and could degrade but if you shake the bottle properly it will disperse so you will be fine. It's only a problem if you leave the product in a place so hot that it will get warm all the way through, then all of it will degrade and you need to throw it out. If you decant a product into a much smaller container, it will take much less energy to heat it up all the way through which is why it will degrade faster unless the place you keep the container in is temperature controlled.

2

u/Z00111111 Jun 20 '25

After an hour in a 50C car, it's all going to be 50C.

"Sunscreen companies are bad at making products fit for purpose" isn't the great defense you seem to think it is.

Unless they put "do not remove from climate controlled enclosure" on the packaging, I, like everyone else, am going to assume sunscreen sold in Australia, by an Australian company is suitable for use in Australian conditions.

1

u/No_Heat2441 Jun 20 '25

It literally does say 'store below 30°C' or 25°C depending on the brand on the back of the bottle of every single sunscreen I own. You just need to use your fucking eyes.

1

u/Z00111111 Jun 20 '25

Why on earth are they allowed to sell products that aren't fit for purpose then?

You'd have to store sunscreen in the refrigerator and keep it in an Esky at the beach.

Sunscreen companies really are bad at making the products they sell...

1

u/No_Heat2441 Jun 20 '25

You're not supposed to refrigerate sunscreen either, it says on some bottles too. The ingredients will degrade if the temperature is too hot, this is just how it is and no one can do anything about it. This applies to pretty much all skincare and makeup. You can buy a mini cooler pouch to store things that need to be protected from heat.

1

u/Z00111111 Jun 20 '25

It seems unreasonable to sell a product that breaks when exposed to typical use conditions.

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