ASA Complaint About QVC and UltraSun

[Brissles]

Gawd, I know the sun is probably a lot hotter now than when I was a kid back in the 50's, AND brought up by the seaside, but you have to have a bloody science degree to work out what factor cream to use before you step out of the front door now!

Mum used to rub me down with some white cream out of a red and white tube and that was it - if I got a bit sunburnt then she would slap on some calamine lotion (usually left over from the chickenpox rub down) - job done !!

 

[Nicky-j]

I have been using US for years now. It is far and away the best sunscreen I have used because I don't have to keep reapplying it. I read the instructions, and indeed have heard Abi mention not to txceed your sun account on air several times. And that it is important to have shade breaks. Perhaps she and QVC should have mentioned that more often than they have, but no product is as good as staying out of the sun. It's a sunblock, not a day spent indoors. And I have heard Abi caution about overdoing it numerous our times. US has worked for me and I will continue to use it, to avoid spending all day in the sun and to have shade breaks as the very lengthy product instructions provided with the creams suggest

 

[Akimbo]

Another vote for Piz Buin once a day and also the allergy version is good for preventing prickly heat. DS is going to Crete in a couple of weeks and taking mainly Avon's quick-dry spray to top up the PB once-a day becasue I don't expect he'll bother to really a cream. We have a selection of US bottles that no one wants to use up because the texture is thick and horrible so I wouldn't buy again. We used P20- when the kids were little and much preferred it to US, at least it was quick to apply and once dried the alcohol smell disappeared.

Jude xx

 

[boffy]

alpha-h is good for high factor face cream and it has no perfume.

 

[Frazzled]

Gawd, I know the sun is probably a lot hotter now than when I was a kid back in the 50's, AND brought up by the seaside, but you have to have a bloody science degree to work out what factor cream to use before you step out of the front door now!

Mum used to rub me down with some white cream out of a red and white tube and that was it - if I got a bit sunburnt then she would slap on some calamine lotion (usually left over from the chickenpox rub down) - job done !!

Sounds like toothpaste!

 

[Loveinamist]

I won't go into the reasoning behind my sister's choice of hol dest BB, irrelevant and personal, the product did not live up to the hype, full stop.

 

[Sazza]

Gawd, I know the sun is probably a lot hotter now than when I was a kid back in the 50's, AND brought up by the seaside, but you have to have a bloody science degree to work out what factor cream to use before you step out of the front door now!

Mum used to rub me down with some white cream out of a red and white tube and that was it - if I got a bit sunburnt then she would slap on some calamine lotion (usually left over from the chickenpox rub down) - job done !!

My mum has just read this and says that will have been Cool Tan!! The only suncream there was then!!!

 

[Itchy]

I have been to Lanzarote a few times and it is one of my favourite places. The beaches at Matagorda are beautiful, not black at all. But I suppose I am a chav tourist.

I won't go into the reasoning behind my sister's choice of hol dest BB, irrelevant and personal, the product did not live up to the hype, full stop.

 

[QuiteVacuousChat]

Ultrasun works but it does presume that folk aren't illiterate and can actually be bothered to read the instructions included in every pack. I realise that's a bit of an unrealistic expectation, these days, given our duff edukashun systeme. They probably fare better in Switzerland where the stuff comes from.

(The ASA is an idiotic organisation that sees the stupid as victims rather than people who can't be arsed to take responsibility for their own actions. There have been lots of ludicrous rulings recently.)

 

[Toril]

I use ultra-sun and find it works for me, although I avoid the sun if I can as I'm blonde and fair skinned. I was outside for four hours this week during the school's sports day and, as I was scoring, was sitting in the same place for the whole time ....... in the sun. But, I didn't even go pink, let alone burn. I had the face US on my face (funnily enough) and the sports one on my arms.

One good thing I've found is that the face one, when taken down the neck onto the decolette, has done a better job of moisturising my neck than all the various creams I've tried before ..... so I may well keep using it even when it snows. :wink:

 

[Nicky-j]

Ultrasun works but it does presume that folk aren't illiterate and can actually be bothered to read the instructions included in every pack. I realise that's a bit of an unrealistic expectation, these days, given our duff edukashun systeme. They probably fare better in Switzerland where the stuff comes from.

(The ASA is an idiotic organisation that sees the stupid as victims rather than people who can't be arsed to take responsibility for their own actions. There have been lots of ludicrous rulings recently.)

Agreed, I wouldn't dream of putting anything on my skin without reading, very carefully, the instructions and can't imagine why anyone would.
I have no problem with them intervening in cases of outrageous claims by companies, but I don't think this is the case here either with US or QVC. There are, after all, repeated mentions of staying out of the midday sun and taking shade breaks and never exceeding your amount. I thought it was always quite clear. If you burn after 10 minutes on a sunny British day (extreme, I know, but the maths are easier!) and you wear an SPF 50 you can stay 50 times longer (500 hours) in the sun before you would burn under those conditions. But, because other factors contribute - how hot it is, how much cloud there is, what kind of surfaces surround you, the proximity of the sun to the place on the Earth you are etc, you have to reduce that time. And the SPF is really about how much more protected you are, rather than simply how much longer you can be in the sun without burning. In fairness to Abi, I don't think I have ever heard her speak about US allowing you more time in the sun, rather she has mentioned how it affords you so much greater protection.

 

[Brissles]

Yes, Switzerland is always marketed with cool streams and snow covered mountains (which it has), but by and large their technology for producing anything is no better or worse than us, but because it COMES FROM Switzerland its supposed to make it better somehow. Switzerland too has its little industrial areas that wouldn't look out of place off the M4 in Slough where many a pot of La Prairie is made or US is glooped into bottles, but Switzerland sounds so much better than Slough (no offence if you live there).

 

[Boris Bear]

Of course people should read the Ultrasun instruction leaflet but isn't the issue that the leaflet's contents differ from what Abi tells us. If I go to buy a new car and the salesman says it will do 50 mpg and after buying it I read the handbook and find it only does 35 mpg then in my opinion that's unacceptable. If I buy Ultrasun thinking that whilst it's expensive I will use less than i would cheaper products as I will only need one application per day then find out it's not one application per day then that's unacceptable.

 

[Boris Bear]

I thought it was always quite clear. If you burn after 10 minutes on a sunny British day (extreme, I know, but the maths are easier!) and you wear an SPF 50 you can stay 50 times longer (500 hours) in the sun before you would burn under those conditions.

I didn't think that was how SPF numbers work, I thought SPF 30 filters out about 97% of UV and SPF 50 about 98%.

 

[Capirossi]

Well, it's working well for me here in Santorini! I apply in the morning before going out and about and then reapply 3-4 hours later before going to the beach or pool. But then I know not to be exposed all day Some of the tans on people here are bordering on mahogany!! Personally I think it looks hideous.

However, I wouldn't use the sports 20 again due to the sting factor. Hubby is using on his head and he has had a couple of incidents of it getting near his eyes and being quite painful. Is the normal 20 the same? We're finding it really good for the body though. The factor 30 face is doing a really good job too

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Julius]

I used to buy Ultrasun Face 30 from John Lewis at £17.50 a bottle. When I was at university I was outside one afternoon paying frisbee. It couldn't have been more than 2-3 hours but my face burnt to a crisp . Since then I have taken great care in the sun. It used to have something like "all day protection" on the bottle and when this changed I called them up ad spoke to a woman (I don't remember her name - it may have been Abby) who advised me that because of new European regulations they are not allowed to label products as single application or all day protection. This is strange since Riemann, Piz Buin and Boots Soltan all make single application products (stating on the packaging that it gives 6-8 hours' protection). So if applied according to the directions the protection will be longer-lasting than a standard SPF. I personally don't classify 6 hours as a whole day! Anyway the woman at Ultrasun sent me lots of free samples so I was grateful for those. Meant I didn't have to buy another bottle for a while!
Ultrasun does have some good points. It's not perfumed and is non-greasy. The pump dispenser is excellent as it means the nozzle doesn't get all clogged up and it keeps the product from oxidising and degrading in quality. The downsides are that 1) The UVA protection is only good to fair, and 2) It is very expensive at £17.50 for a small bottle. 3) It contains aluminium - not good.
Anyone concerned about greasiness could maybe try using a mineral SPF powder. I have not tried one (as a bloke I would feel funny dusting my face with a big make-up brush!) but I wouldn't rule out the idea. I don't care too much about what people think of me so long as I am protected. I cycle to work on my bike and use a mineral SPF 25 from Nivea which is a kind of yellowy colour. When I get to work I just wipe it off! There have been the odd occasions where I have forgotten and people have asked me: "what have you got on your lips?" and I just told them "it's a mineral sunscreen."

My opinion is that Ultrasun is a good product but perhaps a little overhyped. I wouldn't trust ANY product to last all day and would always reapply after 4 hours or so. You just have to use common sense

 

[Nicky-j]

I didn't think that was how SPF numbers work, I thought SPF 30 filters out about 97% of UV and SPF 50 about 98%.

I have very fair skin, so am quite careful with sunscreen. Nevertheless I have just re-checked the details. SPF of 15 will filter out approximately 93% of UVB rays, and SPF 50 98. That site (a medical one) has this to say: 'SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor and refers to the theoretical amount of time you can stay in the sun without getting sunburned. For example, an SPF of 15 would allow you to stay in the sun 15 times longer than you could without protection. So, if your skin starts to redden in 20 minutes without sun block, applying a product with SPF15 increases that time by a factor of 15, meaning you could stay in the sun for 300 minutes.' It also mentions the effects conditions, genetics, temperature, nearness of the sun, consumption of alcohol, prescription drugs and other factors. But, as I went on to say, SPF relates to the strength of protection, rather than the amount of time you are protected, which is different for everyone.

 

[Nicky-j]

Of course people should read the Ultrasun instruction leaflet but isn't the issue that the leaflet's contents differ from what Abi tells us. If I go to buy a new car and the salesman says it will do 50 mpg and after buying it I read the handbook and find it only does 35 mpg then in my opinion that's unacceptable. If I buy Ultrasun thinking that whilst it's expensive I will use less than i would cheaper products as I will only need one application per day then find out it's not one application per day then that's unacceptable.

I'm not sure the Ultrasun contradicts what Abi says, as much as it includes additional information. But I take your point on that.

 

[Boris Bear]

I have very fair skin, so am quite careful with sunscreen. Nevertheless I have just re-checked the details. SPF of 15 will filter out approximately 93% of UVB rays, and SPF 50 98. That site (a medical one) has this to say: 'SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor and refers to the theoretical amount of time you can stay in the sun without getting sunburned. For example, an SPF of 15 would allow you to stay in the sun 15 times longer than you could without protection. So, if your skin starts to redden in 20 minutes without sun block, applying a product with SPF15 increases that time by a factor of 15, meaning you could stay in the sun for 300 minutes.' It also mentions the effects conditions, genetics, temperature, nearness of the sun, consumption of alcohol, prescription drugs and other factors. But, as I went on to say, SPF relates to the strength of protection, rather than the amount of time you are protected, which is different for everyone.

If the amount of time you are protected varies then they really shouldn't be making sweeping statements.

 

[Nicky-j]

If the amount of time you are protected varies then they really shouldn't be making sweeping statements.

Granted, but I have heard Abi, on numerous occasions, state that in hotter countries, with extra sensitive skin, at different times of year, on medication etc, means you would need higher factors, which is not that sweeping.