Most people buy sunscreen abroad at some point, usually because they ran out, forgot to pack it, or found the local shop cheaper than the airport. There is nothing wrong with doing so. The problem is that British shoppers read a foreign pack with a British mental model, and the models do not match.
This note is the practical companion to our regime by regime notes on the UK and EU position, the United States and Australia.
What travels, and what does not
The factor travels reasonably well
The sun protection factor concept is broadly shared, and the international test methods have converged a great deal. It is the most consistent thing on any pack anywhere. Assume rough comparability and do not assume precision.
Ultraviolet A indication does not travel at all
This is the biggest gap. The UVA in a circle mark is a European convention. The United States uses a Broad Spectrum designation earned under its own test. Australia uses broad spectrum wording under its own standard. Markets outside all three may have no consistent indication whatsoever. So the first thing a British reader loses abroad is the ability to check ultraviolet A at a glance.
Water resistance travels in three different units
Categories in the UK and EU. Minutes in the United States. Hours in Australia. All describe immersion procedures, and none of them describe abrasion or towelling.
Permitted filters differ
The list of ultraviolet filters permitted for use varies between regimes, and a filter routine in one market may be unavailable in another. This is a regulatory pathway matter, and we draw no safety conclusions from it in any direction.
Permitted claims differ most of all
Waterproof, sunblock and all day protection are not permitted in the UK and EU and were prohibited in the United States labelling rule, but they persist in some markets and on old stock everywhere. Seeing them tells you about the market, not about the product.
The four checks that work anywhere
Factor 30, no other markings
What it certifies
That the product claims a sun protection factor of 30 under whatever test regime applies where it was made for sale. In a market with an established regime, that is a substantiated claim. The factor concept is the most internationally consistent thing on any sunscreen pack.
What it does not
A pack carrying a factor and nothing else is telling you nothing about ultraviolet A protection. In the UK and EU you would expect a UVA circle. In the United States you would expect a Broad Spectrum designation. In Australia you would expect broad spectrum wording. The absence of all three is an information gap, not a reassurance.
1. The factor
Present on almost every pack in the world. Read it as roughly comparable.
2. The ultraviolet A indication
Circle, Broad Spectrum, broad spectrum wording, or nothing. If it is nothing, treat the ultraviolet A performance as unknown rather than as fine.
3. The water resistance statement
Category, minutes or hours. Whichever unit is used, treat it as the tested boundary and reapply on that basis. Our note on what water resistant certifies applies across regimes.
4. The ingredients or actives
United States packs list actives with concentrations in the Drug Facts panel, which is the most informative version. European packs list filters in the INCI ingredients list without concentrations. If a specific filter matters to you, for a sensitivity or for a local regulation, this is where to look.
Destination rules are a separate question
Some destinations have banned particular ultraviolet filters in sunscreen sold or used there, usually on marine environmental grounds. Those are specific, checkable local rules, and they are the only concrete meaning available to the phrase reef safe, which is otherwise unregulated and untested. If you are travelling somewhere with such a rule, look up the rule rather than the marketing. Our conditions file on snorkelling and diving covers this in the context of actually being in the water.
The practical version
- Take enough with you. The most reliable way to avoid all of this is to pack the quantity you will actually use, which is more than you think. Our note on how much to apply explains why a fortnight consumes more than a single bottle for most families.
- If you buy locally, do the four checks. They take twenty seconds.
- Do not upgrade your confidence because a word looks stronger. Waterproof on a foreign pack is not a better product, it is a different regime or an older label.
- Do not assume a resort shop stocks for your latitude. Stock is stock.
Japan, Korea and the PA system
A fourth convention that British travellers meet regularly, particularly online, is the PA system used in Japan and widely adopted across East Asia. It indicates ultraviolet A protection with a series of plus signs, based on a persistent pigment darkening endpoint, and it typically runs from PA+ through to PA++++.
It is a different scale from the European circle and from the American broad spectrum designation, and it is not directly convertible into either. What it does share with the European mark is that it communicates ultraviolet A separately from the sun protection factor, which is more information than a pack carrying a factor alone.
Products from these markets are often bought online by British consumers because of their texture and finish. There is nothing wrong with that. The thing to be aware of is that you are reading a fourth labelling convention, and that consumer protection and recourse when buying from outside the UK are not the same as buying on a British high street.
The pocket version
- Factor: roughly comparable everywhere.
- Ultraviolet A: circle in Europe, Broad Spectrum in the United States, broad spectrum wording in Australia, PA plus signs in Japan and Korea, nothing at all in some markets.
- Water resistance: categories in Europe, minutes in the United States, hours in Australia.
- Actives: concentrations stated in the United States, INCI list without concentrations in Europe.
- Absolute claims such as waterproof or sunblock: a signal about the market, not about the product.
The other thing that changes abroad
One variable travels with you unchanged and is worth naming: how much you apply. Every regime's factor determination rests on a specified application quantity, and none of them can make you use it. A pack bought under a stricter regime, applied thinly on a hot afternoon, delivers less protection than a pack from a looser regime applied generously. Reading labels well is worth doing, and it is worth remembering that it is the second most important thing you will do that day. Our note on how much to apply covers the first.
What is not verifiable
We cannot tell you whether a specific pack in a specific shop meets any particular standard, because we do not test products and do not name them. We also cannot tell you that one regime produces better protection than another, because that would require comparative testing nobody has published in a form we would rely on. What is verifiable is what each label convention means, and that is enough to shop competently.
And when you get home
Bring the leftover home and use it, subject to the period after opening symbol and the expiry date, both of which are on the pack. Sunscreen that has spent a fortnight in a hot car boot is a different proposition, and the practical test is whether it still looks and smells as it did. Our note on what happens to filters over hours of exposure deals with the related question of what heat and ultraviolet do to a filter system in use.