Confidence in the Invisible (Nivea Sun Invisible Protection Spray)

Member Name: berrydelight

Product:	Nivea Sun Invisible Protection Spray
Date:	26/07/09 (111 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Non-greasy, effective protection,

Disadvantages: The smell on spraying....

The thing with an English summer is that I always, always fall into the 'its not that sunny' trap, slap on only one application of a medium factor suncream and then lounge all day in a pub beer garden on the first day of my holiday....over the next few hours my arms turn a satisfactory brown colour, my nose erupts in 'cute' freckles but as the sun begins to set that satisfactory brown looks distinctly red and begins to hurt.

The next day we hot footed it to the Morrisons which was next to our campsite, Nivea Invisible Protection factor 30 looked like the toughest thing there and it was on offer at £5.98 a bottle (half price, bargain!). Im not sure I will ever understand why suncream is so expensive.
But this claimed to be sun protection with a difference. Invisible transparent spray with immediate UVA/UVB protection. All sounded good as I didn't fancy my chances in the sunshine even for a few moments unprotected in case my skin actually started to blister in disgust! So the reason for the purchase was entirely price related, I had never really considered suncream or as I should be stating sun protection to be anything other than invisible, yeah if you don't rub it in you can see it on your skin but surely when you rub it in it becomes invisible? Anyway enough of my musings

**The bottle**
200ml and shaped the same way as the one in the picture with funky ridged edges obviously to help you hold it when your hands get greasy....except the bottle claims no greasiness and also attests that it is water resistant. I like the spray bottles purely because I do think they make suncream application easier than just a standard cream and you can also be pretty sure that you don't miss any bits.
Oddly Nivea have chosen to make the bottle yellow, it has the blue Nivea branding on it but the liquid inside, and its definitely a liquid and not a cream is a decidedly unappetising shade of yellow, some might say it resembles a certain bodily fluid which seems like an odd thing to then spray onto oneself. You'll be pleased to know the liquid itself is clear, a clear bottle would have been a better choice.
The back of the bottle states that this should not be sprayed onto the face and in large letters FLAMMABLE, CONTAINS ALCOHOL. Now had I spotted this in the shop I might have selected a cream as frankly it makes me nervous, what on earth is alcohol doing in a suncream? This also leads me to question whether the spray will actually dry out your skin, at least with a cream there is a significant element of moisture being pumped back in. As with all these concerns the only way to truly test is to apply.

**The application**
Well you spray it on, that's it really, the smell that is given off is strong and try not to breathe it in, it smells of alcohol! And not mildly either, enough to make you cough, which I did, and check the ingredients, which I did. Of course the alcohol's inclusion appears to be what makes it invisible. The clear spray hits your skin and then evaporates leaving for about 20 seconds a light greasy look on the skin. To touch it is not greasy at all and once the initial smell of alcohol dries away your left with the traditional Nivea scent and what looks like your normal skin, no grease and no residue. To apply to your face I sprayed into my hands and then wiped on making sure my eyes where closed for a minute till the alcohol had gone. I had no problems with this method. There isn't really much need to rubbing in with this which I liked as it was quick way to protect myself, and despite it feeling like your using a lot I had about 10 applications and not a quarter of the bottle has gone.

**The Protection**
Well I honestly don't know! I didn't burn again but then there wasn't much sun again! I do feel like it dried my skin as I peeled more than I ever had and wonder whether a cream would have made the difference. Of course with a brand like Nivea that has been tested and put through its paces there is a certain element of trust in the names, so Im happy it protected me.

Verdict - 4/5 I think this may be a fad and I do worry that the alcohol smell will put people off. On the plus side I didn't appear to have any residue on my clothes (a popular brand has in the past ruined an entire summer wardrobe of mine when it turned everything a sludgy grey as it rubbed on the clothing) but I do have concerns that the alcohol dries out the skin. In terms of its popularity its certainly quick to use and definitely isn't greasy and as it dries so fast would be great for on the beach to avoid the pesky sand grains attaching themselves to you.

Summary: An alcohol based sun protection spray