Lush's £11 solid SPF bar washes on in the shower

'I didn’t get a hint of pink tinge, burnt bikini line or scorched strap mark'

Passport? Check. Assortment of loose-fitting linen outfits? Check. Bags and bags of sunscreen? Check, check, check. As a pale-skinned beauty editor who is especially prone to sunburn, high factor sun creams – and plenty of them – are a holiday essential.

But there’s no denying that they can be a nuisance to use. The stained clothing, the sticky limbs, the inevitable missed spots – plus the pure amount of suitcase space they take up.

Beauty brand Lush, however, has a few clever suggestions for sunscreen haters, including a shake-on SPF 15 dust. But the one that piqued my interest the most was Lush’s recently reintroduced Sunblock, an £11 solid bar of SPF 30 that you wash on in the shower like a soap.

The brick is made up of UV filters, essential oils and skin conditioners like cocoa butter and organic sesame oil, and is designed to melt upon contact with the skin and warm water, leaving a protective film on the body.

The Sunblock is labelled as giving SPF 30 UVA protection but the INCI list also contains two chemical UVB sun filters, octocrylene and octyl methoxycinnamate (remember, UVA rays are responsible for skin ageing and cancer and UVB ones cause sunburn, and it’s important to pick a sun cream that protects against both).

Glide The Sunblock all over your body under warm running water to leave a layer of the product on the skin. Pat dry gently with a towel when you step out of the shower.

Lush advises that a third of a bar should be enough to cover your entire body, with the block helpfully marked up. Due to The Sunblock’s low melting point, it’s best kept somewhere cool when not being used.

I like the idea of easily covering every inch of my body in sunscreen as part of my normal morning routine – no forgotten bits, no yanking swimwear straps down, no smearing product all over your clothes. I also like that The Sunblock is hand luggage-friendly.

How did I test? I took this on a recent holiday to Greece, where temperatures hit 30°C every day. I admit that I was dubious at first, but I was reassured by the noticeable transparent film it left behind in the shower, which stayed put even after towelling off. It did feel a little greasy (wash your hands well afterwards), but my skin felt well nourished.

Full disclosure, I did not then go and lie out in the blazing sun all day long. This is, of course, never advisable (experts recommend staying out of the sun when it’s at its strongest, between 11am-3pm), but my pasty skin would require SPF 50 for this sort of intense sun exposure. I wore The Sunblock for a few hours mid-morning, in and out of medium-to-strong sun – and I didn’t get a hint of pink tinge, burnt bikini line or scorched strap mark. The sunscreen also remained water-resistant, droplets bouncing off my sheeny limbs.

It may have left the odd yellow mark on my white cover-up, but no more so than any other sun cream (any top laundry tips, please send them my way!).

The major problem with The Sunblock is that it’s not suitable for top-ups in hot weather. Lush quite rightly recommends that you reapply sunscreen every two hours, but unless you carry a mini fridge with you or dash back to your hotel room for a shower every couple of hours, you’ll need a different product to hand. It’s also not very cost effective, at almost £4 per use.

I personally would always opt for a factor 50 on holiday to feel confident in the sun, but for a thorough base layer at the beginning of a day of mild sun exposure, I’m impressed by the innovation. But what do the experts make of it?

'I was sceptical at first, but this does leave a good (albeit greasy) layer of sunscreen on the body,' says Dr Paris Acharya, aesthetic doctor at London’s Waterhouse Young Clinic, who has also tried the product.

The UV filters The Sunblock contains are highly rated, too. As well as octocrylene and octyl methoxycinnamate, there’s also butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane (a.k.a. avobenzone), a UVA filter 'known to provide the broadest and most effective protection,' says Dr Paris.

'I would, however, still recommend applying a more generic formulation throughout the day, and a mineral sunscreen instead for children or those with sensitive skin,' she adds. 'On a daily basis SPF 30 will suffice, but in warmer climes you should opt for the highest available sun protection.'

'One last thing: this product does not give a UVA star rating, which I advise people to look for when choosing a broad spectrum sunscreen.'

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