SunblockSPF
The language and labelling of sun protection
Edition of 7 August 2026
Editorial standards

The rules this publication has agreed to be held to

Nine standing rules on evidence, naming, numbers, clinical boundaries and commercial separation, written so that a reader can check whether we keep them.

1. No product is ever named

No sunscreen brand, product, own label range or retailer is named anywhere on this site, in any article, in the register or in the newsletter. Where an example of wording is needed, we quote the phrase as a phrase and never attach it to a pack. This is a permanent rule, not a current editorial preference.

2. No invented figure, ever

We do not publish a percentage, a protection figure, a market statistic, a price or a study result that we cannot attribute to a named public source. That includes the very common claim that applying less than the test quantity reduces protection by some specific proportion. The mechanism is real and we describe it as a mechanism. The tidy percentage attached to it in most retellings is not something we can source, so we do not print it.

3. We quote rules rather than opinions

Every claim ruling on this site names the instrument, code or guidance that governs the wording. Where a rule is a recommendation and not a binding legal requirement, we say which it is. Where enforcement in practice differs from the text, we say that too, and we say it is our reading.

4. Clinical questions stop here

This is a labelling publication. Skin cancer, diagnosis, treatment, medication interactions, individual risk and reactions to products are outside it. Where an article reaches that boundary it stops and points to the NHS, a GP, a pharmacist or the British Association of Dermatologists. We do not give dermatological advice under any circumstances.

5. We do not frighten people about the sun

Sun protection writing has a habit of reaching for alarm. It is unnecessary here and it distorts the subject. Our subject is what a label is allowed to say. Public health messaging belongs to the bodies that are accountable for it, and we link to them rather than paraphrase them into something sharper.

6. We never tell anyone what to buy

No recommendation, no shortlist, no best of, no criteria guide dressed as a buying guide. The most we will do is explain what a word on a pack means so that a reader can make their own comparison.

7. Sources are institutional and checkable

We cite regulators, statutory instruments, standards bodies, advertising codes and published rulings, national health bodies and named charities. All outbound links are marked nofollow. We do not cite secondary summaries, trade press paraphrase or unattributed figures circulating in retailing.

8. Commercial separation is absolute

The register is never linked from an article. Register clients and newsletter sponsors get no mention in editorial, no advance sight of anything, no right of reply beyond that of any reader, and no influence over any claim ruling. If a register client is the subject of a published regulatory ruling, we may write about the ruling, and their money does not change that.

9. Corrections are published, not quietly made

Substantive corrections carry a visible note on the page. We do not remove accurate material at anybody's request. If the underlying rule changes, we date the change rather than overwrite the history.

The wording note

One email a fortnight on sun protection claim language: what changed in the codes, what a published ruling turned on, and one phrase examined in full. Written for people who write, approve or check labels and advertising. Unsubscribe whenever you like.

Each issue carries one clearly labelled sponsor line, sold from a published rate card that cannot influence any claim ruling. We use your address for the newsletter and nothing else. See privacy.

Editorial disclosure

This page contains no commercial links. No sunscreen brand, product, laboratory, consultancy, retailer or supplier has paid for, been offered, or been promised any mention anywhere on this site, and no product is named. Every outbound link goes to a public institution or a published instrument and is marked nofollow. Published by Northbank Media.