We tried Dr Sam’s flawless daily sunscreen and it’s the perfect priming SPF base

This broad spectrum sun cream features smoothing skincare ingredients

The fragrance-free formula suits easily irritated skin (The Independent )

Adding SPF into your daily routine is the most important skincare step for safeguarding against damaging rays and preventing premature ageing.

So, regardless of whether the sun makes an appearance or not, it’s an all-year essential providing vital UVA and UVB protection. That’s why, finding the right sunscreen is often seen as the holy grail of beauty shopping. However, it’s a personal choice which can depend on skin type and sensitivities.

Picking out sunscreen that feels like skincare can seem a tricky balance to strike, which is why we were very interested to hear about a face SPF from cosmetic dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting’s eponymous brand.

Dr Sam’s flawless daily sunscreen broad spectrum SPF50 is billed as being calming on skin and creating a priming effect, all while delivering optimum sun protection. These are bold claims indeed, so we wanted to see if they would stand up to IndyBest testing.

How we tested

We wore the SPF for several weeks, both under a full face of make-up and just on bare skin. Our tester’s skin is prone to irritation and we looked at absorption, consistency, and finish, while reviewing the packaging and price point too.  Here’s what we thought of the product after continuous wear, in warm and cooler weather.

Dr Sam’s flawless daily sunscreen broad spectrum SPF50, £29: Drsambunting.com

(Dr Sam’s)

Rating: 9/10

Packaging

The white pump-applicator bottle releases a generous amount of SPF at a time, without causing any mess. Our tester found this useful for easy sun care application, as we know experts recommend covering the entire face with a liberal layer.

The Dr Sam’s bottle has a separate cap and is chunky rather than compact, however that does mean it’s not at all fiddly to use. Plus, we liked how robust the container feels too, particularly as we clumsily dropped it a couple of times while getting ready in a rush. Our tester found this packaging lends itself well to being thrown into a beach bag and used on the go, for quick face and neck top-ups.

There’s minimal black and red branding on the front, while we appreciated instructions detailing exactly how much product to use and at which stage in our skincare routing on the reverse. With this often being a confusing part of wearing sunscreen, the bottle suggests three pumps for the face after moisturiser and before make-up. Meanwhile, for the neck we did as we were told and used three pumps after applying our moisturiser.

Consistency

Our tester immediately noticed how glossy the product texture is, and that silky soft consistency felt comforting too. The soothing effect on our face was like that of a richly nourishing moisturiser but without any dreaded heaviness.

We could detect a light layer during wear, but at the same time, it didn’t feel greasy or cloying, even on warmer days.

The midweight Dr Sam’s lotion was almost runny when we first applied it to our skin, before quickly soaking in. Plus, the formula is fragrance-free which our tester’s sensitive skin appreciated.

Being non-comedogenic, it’s also designed to not block pores and after over a month’s use, we didn’t see any irritation appear whatsoever.

Finish

Happily, minimal rubbing in was required and the velvety base gently glided over skin before gradually absorbing and leaving a smoothe and soft finish – which may, in part, be due to nourishing ingredients like moisturising shea butter.

This is a mineral sunscreen, with zinc oxide on the ingredients list, and that sits on the skin surface and acts as a physical barrier to UVA and UVB rays. Because of how this type of SPF works, usually similar mineral sunscreen products create a chalky cast, however, we didn’t see one here.

Our tester was seriously impressed by the luxurious-looking skin finish this Dr Sam’s sunscreen creates, particularly for its £30 price point. On bare skin, we saw subtle brightening which also shone through under make-up. And the inclusion of niacinamide also helped balance out redness, making our complexion appear more even, too.

This makes it an excellent primer. There was no pesky pilling to contend with, instead, the SPF sat seamlessly on top of our moisturiser and underneath foundation, creating a smooth canvas.

The verdict: Dr Sam’s flawless daily sunscreen broad spectrum SPF50

We found this soothing sunscreen easy to add into our daily make-up and skincare regime, while appreciating its complexion balancing and priming properties too. In a market where skincare-style SPFs can cost upwards of £50, our tester was also pleased with the £29 price tag.

Bottom line, Dr Sam’s flawless daily sunscreen is a skin softening SPF which takes minimal absorption time, doesn’t leave a chalky cast and feels comfy to wear.

Buy now £29, Drsambunting.com

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