Our sunscreen database helps you identify which sunscreens you can trust. It has information about more than 160 products from over 40 brands, including price, ingredients, claimed water resistance and claimed SPF.
About our sunscreen database
We’ve also included independent test results for 18 of these sunscreens, so you can check which ones meet SPF label claims. Test results include our 2026 test of 10 sunscreens, plus sunscreens tested in 2025 by Australian consumer organisation Choice.
Sunscreen testing is expensive so we can’t afford to test all the sunscreens in the market. That’s why we ask every brand to disclose when and where they last tested their sunscreens.
Several manufacturers, including Beiersdorf (Nivea), Edgewell Personal Care (Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic) and Neutrogena, declined to provide this information. Although we’ve included some product information about these manufacturers’ sunscreens in our database, we don’t have information about where and when their sunscreens were tested.
We recommend using our search filters to compare sunscreens tested more recently rather than sunscreens relying on test reports that are several years old.
You can also check where a sunscreen has been tested and avoid labs with a history of concerns about the accuracy and integrity of results. In 2025 we reported on an investigation by Australia’s ABC News that raised concerns about sunscreen testing by Princeton Consumer Research (PCR). Australia’s sunscreen regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has also raised concerns about PCR.
How we test sunscreens
We buy sunscreens from stores just as consumers do. Sunscreens are sent “blind” to an accredited lab in light-resistant packaging, so the lab doesn’t know what sunscreen it’s testing.
Sunscreens are tested against two aspects of the Australian/New Zealand sunscreen standard.
SPF testing
Each sunscreen first underwent a five-person panel test. The seven products with preliminary results below their SPF claim then proceeded to the full 10-person test required by the standard.
The sunscreen is applied to each person at a rate of 2mg per cm2 of skin. It is evenly spread and allowed to dry for 15 minutes. A similar-sized area is measured and left unprotected.
A special lamp that simulates the part of the UV spectrum responsible for sunburn is shone on both areas for varying lengths of time Around 24 hours after exposure, a technician assesses the skin and records the smallest dose of UV light that caused redness on the protected (with sunscreen) and unprotected (without sunscreen) areas. The factor between the two is the SPF. Results from all 10 volunteers are then averaged to determine the final SPF rating.
Broad-spectrum protection
Using a spectrophotometer, the lab measures the UVA protection factor provided by a thin film of sunscreen on a plate. To pass, a sunscreen must meet two requirements. It must reach a “critical wavelength”, which ensures UVA protection extends to wavelengths that penetrate deeper into the skin, and its protection against UVA must be at least one-third of the tested SPF protection against sunburn.
Why is this free?
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora funded this article and our sunscreen database as part of its ongoing efforts to raise awareness about sun protection.
We’re dedicated to getting NZ consumers a fairer deal. We provide as much information as we can for free but we rely primarily on membership and donations to fund our work. You can help by becoming a Consumer member or making a donation. We’ll use your contribution to investigate consumer issues and work for positive change.
