Sunscreens face a reality check—Indian skin tones take the spotlight

Is your sunscreen the right one for your tropical skin tone? India’s first-ever standardized testing protocol for sunscreens adds a new measurement layer for a more accurate categorisation of India’s diverse skin tones.

- Priyanka Sharma [e-mail]

For years, India’s $523-million sunscreen market has operated without a uniform testing framework.

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For years, India's $523-million sunscreen market has operated without a uniform testing framework, allowing manufacturers to use different methods to determine the sun protection factor (SPF), often resulting in misleading and inconsistent claims.

To address this, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) collaborated with the Indian Beauty and Hygiene Association to develop comprehensive and transparent testing protocols to evaluate sunscreen efficacy. This includes both the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) framework and a scientific classification system that can more accurately measure various skin complexions.