THE TRUTH ABOUT NIVEA SUNSCREENS: Can we trust Nivea? Drugstore Sunscreen Review

Can you rely on Nivea sunscreens to keep you protected from the sun? How trustworthy are they? In today’s Blog post I will talk about all that and I will do a mini review for all Nivea sunscreens that I have tried so far so that you can better decide which one would suit your skin type the best.

Nivea is the old school super affordable and super popular drugstore brand. I think everyone knows Nivea and has tried at least one Nivea product. Nivea is known for affordable prices and let’s say good quality products with good sensor characteristics, all except the blue OG. I’m talking about sensor characteristics.

Anyways, how good are Nivea sunscreens exactly?

I tested 5 Nivea sunscreens and here is what I can tell you so far. Sensor characteristics are amazing. They are lightweight and easily spreadable and they leave no white cast. They have decent UV filters, but not the highest UVA protection out there. They are all broad spectrum and you can determine UVA protection by calculating 1/3 of the UVB protection and that is the claimed SPF. And that’s it, you don’t get a separate UVA rating and you don’t get protection against long UVA rays.

Why am I emphasizing this, well because UVA rays are the ones who cause photoaging, a.k.a. wrinkles and dark spots. If UVA protection is highly important to you, Nivea sunscreens are not the best choice. Also, all Nivea sunscreens that I have tried have Fragrance so in case you have sensitive skin, you might want to consider that too and skip them if your skin reacts to Fragrance in products. If not, and you just want an affordable sunscreen with great sensor characteristics for everyday use, go for it.

The Nivea Scandal

You guys asked me to comment on the Nivea sunscreen scandal, so I want to include that part as well. “Which” did independent testing of some drugstore sunscreens and one Nivea sunscreen failed to deliver the claimed protection, and that is Nivea Kids Protect&Care SPF 50 sunscreen. Nivea reacted to that with “no that’s not true, we tested it in 2019, OK BYE.” That’s not really what they said, but you get the point. They didn’t really care to address it.

You are probably wondering if you can trust Nivea after this or not.

But I have to tell you, this is not the first time that this has happened. This has happened before to other brands. And I have to disappoint you, there is no way to be sure that the rating you are getting is the rating on the label. This is because sunscreens are complicated and SPF testing as well is tricky. So basically you can never know.

So would I dismiss Nivea sunscreens just because of this? No. Because this has happened to La Roche Posay, Neutrogena, Purito, and others… And please note that La Roche Posay is one of the most trustworthy Brands in Europe.

I will leave a link to Lab Muffin Beauty’s Blog post on this topic in case you want to read more about this. She explained it very well so I don’t want to go that much into it, I will just give you my opinion.

This can happen with any sunscreen, you can never know for sure and no, I wouldn’t avoid Nivea sunscreens just because of this.

Which Nivea sunscreen is right for you?

Nivea Shine Control SPF50 Sunscreen

Let’s start with my fave Nivea Shine Control SPF50 sunscreen. This one is super lightweight, spreads out easily and absorbs super fast, and leaves a semi-matte finish. This one is by far the most mattifying that I have tried from Nivea. I would recommend this one to normal/oily skin types. If you want more details on ingredients, UV filters, etc; you can watch the full review here.

Nivea Face Sunscreen SPF 30

Next up we have the blue Nivea SPF 30 face sunscreen, the cheapest one that you can get from Nivea. I think it’s just called face sunscreen; there is no other name on it. This one has amazing sensor characteristics as well, it’s just a bit more moisturizing and my dry skin loves it. It is very comfortable on the skin and gives a nice glow, but it’s neither sticky nor greasy. I recommend this one to normal/dry skin types. Again if you need more info, watch the full review that I did on this sunscreen here.

Nivea Q10 Anti-age/Anti-Pigment SPF 50 Sunscreen

Next up we have the Q10 Anti-age/Anti-Pigment sunscreen. This one has the same sensor characteristics as the blue cheap Nivea sunscreen. It’s very moisturizing and gives a lovely glow but it’s neither sticky nor greasy. The only problem that I had with it was that I couldn’t use it because it was very irritating to me. Watch the review here if you don’t know what I am talking about.

Nivea Pigment Control Luminous 630 SPF50 Sunscreen

The next sunscreen that I tried from Nivea is the Luminous 630 Pigment Control. I loved that one as well, the sensor characteristics were amazing, it’s super lightweight and absorbs quickly. This one targets dark spots because it has this Luminous 630 ingredient better known as Thiamidol the same ingredient that was included in Eucerins’ Antipigment serum.

Unfortunately, I didn’t test it to see if truly reduces dark spots, because it’s very contradictory to me that a sunscreen that targets the reduction of dark spots doesn’t provide superior UVA protection because UVA rays are the ones responsible for the creation of the dark spots in the first place. You can watch this video for more info on this sunscreen.

Bottom line is that I don’t recommend getting this sunscreen if you have dark spots, instead, I recommend getting a good serum (Antipigment by Eucerin for example) and sunscreen with higher UVA protection, any La Roche Posay sunscreen would do, or any Garnier sunscreen if you want to stay in the similar price range. You can watch my video The truth about Garnier Sunscreens to see which one would work the best for you.

Nivea Sun Even Skin Tone BB Tinted Sunscreen SPF 50

And the last sunscreen that I have for you is Nivea Sun Even Skin Tone BB Tinted Sunscreen SPF 50. I never made a separate video review for this one. I felt like I didn’t have much to say about it. The sensor characteristics are bad as in every tinted sunscreen of course. But I must say that they are not that bad, I tried worse. For example, La Roche Posay Tinted Age-Correct Sunscreen was worse. Watch the review for that one here.

This one is lightweight, absorbs quickly and it’s not greasy at all but still, I just couldn’t make it work. When you apply a small amount you can blend it and it absorbs, but it still looks patchy and after a while, it starts creasing, the tint can be moved around and it oxidizes a little.

Plus the problem with tinted sunscreens is that you will always be more focused on blending them properly rather than on applying the right amount on.

Under-applying means losing the claimed protection. To keep it short, this one is a no for me. Instead, I just recommend applying foundation on top of your favorite sunscreen and that’s it.

And that would be the truth about the Nivea sunscreens! If you are looking for affordable sunscreens with great sensor characteristics and decent sun protection, UVA protection is not that important to you, in that case, go for it. If not, there are better options, for example, Garnier sunscreens or La Roche Posay sunscreens. You can watch The truth about La Roche Posay Sunscreen down below to see if LRP sunscreen would work for you.