Sainsbury's Sun Lotion SPF 15

I'm not sure about anywhere else but where I live it's been amazing weather all this week with the top temperature being somewhere around the 22 degree mark. I'm at home all day at the minute with a young baby and I decided rather than sit around inside bored waiting for my boyfriend or family members to get home, to sunbathe and top up my tan. I am well aware of the importance of skin care - my skin is sensetive and prone to eczema and dryness, so I don't want it to dry out or it to become sun damaged. Also, skin cancer is not something that I want to develop due to lack of basic skin care and so I lathered the sun cream on and laid out in the garden to lap up the rays.

I used this sun lotion which is the sainsburys own brand of sun lotion. It's part of their 'basics' range and I chose this as it was one of the cheapest available and more than a pound cheaper than a majority of the higher end brands - in fact some brands are over the £10 mark which I find absolutely ridiculous. In my opinion sun cream is sun cream and I am not brand loyal or at all fussy. This particular sun cream is affordable and sensibley priced at £2.48 for 200ml - working out at just £1.24 per 100ml - not bad, and I only need a large blob per use to cover my body as a little goes a long way so a bottle will last for ages!

This sun lotion comes in a very basic, somewhat ugly white plastic bottle which is a rectangular shape with a large flip-up lid. The bottle is white with orange detailing (eg font, pictures). At the top of the bottle it reads 'Sainsbury's basics' in white font on an orange background. It then has the product name written on it and it states that it is medium strength and water resistant. There's a picture of an umbrella stood in some sand to represent a beach. The bottle is hefty and quite awkward to use. The lid is a flip lid with a small hole exposed once the flip lids been opened. To get it out I have to lift it upside down with one hand and pour it into my other hand. It's a bit too heavy to lift with just one hand in my opinion (maybe i'm just a weakling) and the lotion pours out a bit too fast, so what I do is use both hands to squeeze it onto my body as it's easier that way.

The lotion contains spf15 which is a topical prouduct that absorbs the harmful uv rays from the sun, helping to protect the skin from absorbing it. Spf15 allows a person to stay out in the sun for 15 hours which is plenty of time. The lotion is white in colour with a lightweight texture. It's not quite runny but not thick either. The texture is a bit like E45 and it smooths onto my skin easily and a little goes a long way. It absorbs into the skin quickly and doesn't leave behind any unpleasant white marks. I use this on my arms, legs, torso and pretty much any part of my body exposed while sunbathing to avoid sun burn.

Smell wise there's not a lot to say. It's very bland with the usual sun screen type of scent and bizzarely enough it reminds me a little of chlorine. It's a reasonably subtle and gentle smell, it doesn't irritate my nose at all - i've had creams/lotions before that have made me sneeze but this doesn't. The sun cream doesn't leave my skin greasy at all so once I had finished sunbathing I could put my clothes back on and not worry that they'd be wet or greasy. It protected my skin from the sun and I have not had any sunbun or peeling skin all week.

I am not sure if this is suitable for children and babies but I don't see why not. I personally haven't used it on my baby as I like to keep her sheltered from the sun at the minute. It's a gentle enough lotion though with a subtle scent that wouldn't smell strong or unpleasant to a child. I overall would reccomend this sun lotion - it's effective and cheap, the only downside is the very bulky bottle.