This Could Be The World's Best Sunscreen

I don’t mean to be overdramatic but I think I’ve found the very best facial sunscreen in the world. I can’t think of another I’d prefer to reach for and I have tested a lot. I’ve been writing about beauty for fourteen years and I served over a decade of modelling time before that: my face has known just about every claggy, chalky, pore-blocking SPF that has launched onto the market.

But this one? Oh. This is different. So pleasing in texture and finish that the first time I used it I found myself immediately Googling customer reviews to check whether or not it was some sort of hoax. Because - I’m sorry but it’s true - high protection sunscreens just never feel quite as unobtrusive as this. As easy. Rarely do they just glide on so undramatically - no fanfare, no mess - to leave such a totally undetectable finish.

My sunscreen-judging criteria, just so you can check if you’re on the same page when it comes to hunting for a good SPF (see if our priorities are aligned) are as follows:

• it must feel comfortable and non-sticky to apply

• it must disappear on the skin within seconds rather than minutes

• it must not feel claggy, chalky, greasy, tacky, slimey or bobbly

• it must be invisible, with no cast or residue

• it must not sting my eyes

You can probably gather, from the way that most of my SPF requirements revolve around not being able to feel or see the stuff, that I don’t hugely enjoy using sunscreen. I know it’s verging on sacrilege to say this but it’s true. I use it and I know that it’s non-negotiable, but it is never the favourite part of my skincare routine. For me to willingly reach for a facial sunscreen, for me to apply it with any degree of enthusiasm, the texture and finish of it has to be virtually faultless.

When it comes to SPF I’m like a bad-tempered, aged Victorian ex-sea captain who has been lumbered with his orphaned nieces and nephews. I’ll endure the presence of these children because I have no choice in the matter, but they must stay out of earshot and out of my sight. I don’t want to even know they’re there, in my huge, creaky old seaside house. They must stay up in the attic and look at old maps (where is this going?) whilst I get on with my Victorian ex-sea captain’s life, which mainly consists of staring out over the ocean through a gigantic telescope and sticking brass pins into a huge chart whenever I see a certain type of ship.

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(My skin is the Victorian sea captain in this scenario and the orphaned children are the SPF. I feel I need to clarify this because some of you will be new to my beauty reviews and unaccustomed to the way in which I can go off on an analogy tangent at the drop of a hat.)

Anyway, after all of that preamble I am delighted to tell you that I’ve found an absolute gem of an SPF50. I actually discovered it in April and have been meaning to write about it ever since, but got sidetracked by modelling memories and explicit anecdotal material. So here you go - a properly good “holy grail” beauty product:

The Naked Sundays CabanaClear Water Gel Serum SPF50 (at Sephora here*). Sunscreens do not come any lighter and fresher than this. It’s a gel but not a tight-feeling or watery one, more of a soft creme gel, which is a description I’ve just entirely made up and then made sound vaguely credible by sticking in a Franglais word. Creme.

Let me tell you that when I was in the States with my kids, for two weeks, and it was thirty-odd degrees each day and always bright and sunny, this Naked Sundays sunscreen was the absolute dream. Not one person in the family complained about having to apply or wear it - I went through it at a rate of knots (another little nautical reference for you there, tying it all together) and have subsequently repurchased twice.

It is virtually weightless on the skin. It leaves no residue to speak of but still manages to be vaguely hydrating - at the very least it isn’t at all drying - and it smoothly glides over the skin in a refreshing, cool and easy sort of way that makes it actually quite enjoyable to apply. Praise the lord!

It’s SPF50 broad spectrum (protects from UVA and UVB rays) and doesn’t have any sort of overpowering scent. This one doesn’t sting my eyes and doesn’t pill beneath makeup and is suitable for all skin types. If I was very dry then maybe I’d layer a hydrating fluid or light face cream beneath it, but oilier skins can totally get away with using this as a “one stop” product. No separate moisturiser needed. I genuinely can’t think of a bad thing to say about it, really.

It’s £25 here in the UK and was a fair whack cheaper in the states, so there’s something to moan about, maybe, but to be quite honest the quality of the sunscreen and the fact it has a considered, suit-all, skincare-leaning formula makes this a very fairly-priced product. I have far, far more expensive SPFs that are nowhere near this pleasant to use. At this moment in time, if I could only pick one SPF50, I can tell you which one I’d go for…

Naked Sundays CabanaClear Water Gel Serum SPF50 is £25 from Sephora here*