9 Best Tried and True Japanese Sunscreen Sprays in 2022 (Professor of Dermatology-Reviewed)

Dr. Ci:Labo UV Protect Spray 100 is a sunscreen spray that can also be used on your hair. It’s useful in hot weather, as it has a cool, refreshing feel. It also helps prevent dry, rough skin with skin conditioning ingredients like stearyl glycyrrhizinate.

In the UV test, while it didn't completely shut out all UV rays, it still earned a great score. It adhered strongly to the skin, giving it great friction resistance. Certified waterproof, water repellency was not an issue at all. It’s also easily removed with thorough washing.

When put to use, it applied well with even coverage, thanks to its incredibly fine particles. It left almost no white residue or stickiness, which testers loved. This is a great spray-on sunscreen with a balance of excellent UV protection and convenience.

istyle’s Lishan Large Volume UV Spray is characterized by a clean, soapy scent. It’s been allergy tested and is free of parabens, alcohol, or coloring agents.

While the UV label got slightly discolored during testing, this sunscreen got a moderate score. However, if you need more UV protection, we recommend using this in combination with liquid sunscreen. Although the sunscreen runs in water, its friction resistance was highly rated as we couldn’t even see where we had rubbed.

Great features are how easy it is to remove with mild body soap and how it sprays slowly with good coverage, meaning it’s unlikely to apply unevenly. It also leaves no white residue, making it a convenient sunscreen.

Koh Gen Do's Clear UV Veil uses hot spring water and herbs as part of its ingredients, making it a nonchemical, fragrance, alcohol, and paraben-free spray-on sunscreen.

In our tests, we found that while it didn't offer tons of UV protection, it was highly abrasion and water-resistant. Additionally, it adheres incredibly well to the skin but is also easily removable with soap.

Our testers were particularly fond of this spray-on sunscreen's compact size but noted that it does leave a white streaky residue. Still, if you're looking for a sunscreen that is resilient to rubbing and sweat, this is a great pick.

Kosé's Suncut UV Perfect Spray Super Waterproof is available in two different sizes; 60 and 90 grams. This sunscreen spray can be used as a makeup base, and can also be applied on wet skin.

While our UV labels slightly changed colors, we felt that it offered plenty of protection. It also showed great resilience to friction, and it was also able to repel water, making it handy to have on particularly hot and sweaty days. As for how easy it was to remove, we felt that it was pretty average.

In the ease of use test, our testers were fond of how it didn't leave a white residue. This is an all-around great sunscreen spray that should prove useful at the beach or by the pool.

Shiseido's Anessa Perfect UV Skincare Spray a is unique in that it's sand-proof, making it perfect for the beach. It can also be used upside-down, which allows for easy full-body application.

In our burn protection test, we found it offered undisputable UV resistance. However, while it did withstand friction well, it came short in the water resistance test, where it failed to repel water as well as other products. Still, our testers had no issues removing it with soap.

Its slim, compact size makes it ideal for carrying around. We found that it's best to hold this spray at a distance when applying, as it otherwise can spray unevenly. That being said though, this makes for a great sunscreen to use outside of the home.

Rohto's Skin Aqua Tone Up UV Spray promises a lavender tint to correct your skin tone, but we found that to be fairly faint, so it could be used by anyone. 

In our tests, we found that it excelled as a sunscreen, providing plenty of protection. While it wasn't the most resilient to friction, it did manage to repel water to some degree. 

While this spray is formulated with micro-pearls to add an extra sheen to your skin, this also made it harder to wash off. We recommend using a body scrubber or a towel to thoroughly wash off this sunscreen.

If you're only planning to go outside for a little bit, or are otherwise not planning to be moving around too much, this sunscreen should be enough to keep you protected.

Vibeke's UV Protection Spray from Chou Chou is formulated with ingredients that help suppress shininess from excess sebum. It also comes in a generous 150 g size and can be used upside-down, making it extra convenient.

In our burn resistance test, we found that it let through a little too much UV rays than we'd hoped for, so it's best to use this as a supplementary sunscreen, and use a liquid sunscreen as your main protectant. 

On the other hand, we found that this sunscreen spray was resistant to friction, and repelled some water. However, some of the sunscreen got smudged, so it's best to reapply whenever you wipe any sweat off.

Our testers were fond of how gently it sprayed and that it didn't leave a white residue. It also wasn't sticky. However, it does have a strong herbal scent, so it may not be the best choice for those who aren't big on that kind of scent.

Kao's Biore UV Athlizm Skin Protect Spray is a non-comedogenic tested sunscreen spray, available usually in the 90 g size, but larger, 250 g sizes are also occasionally available online.

In our UV protection test, we saw almost no change in our UV-reactive labels, so we can stay confident in knowing that this will offer a decent amount of protection. While it can withstand water to some degree, we found that it easily rubs off, but was simultaneously somewhat difficult to wash off, although this can be easily remedied by using a washcloth.

Our testers liked how wide and evenly this sprayed, and it added a bit of extra moisture to the skin, making it a good choice if you're concerned about dry skin.

Muji's Sunscreen Mist is formulated with hyaluronic acid and can be applied over makeup. It's also incredibly compact and is great for carrying it on the go.

We found that despite its water-like consistency, it was still able to provide ample UV protection. On top of that, it hardly rubbed off when friction was applied. While it was fairly average in terms of water resistance, we did feel that it would easily come off when trying to wipe off sweat. On the other hand, it was a bit difficult to wash off.

Since this spray is more watery than others, it's more likely to drip in comparison to other sunscreen sprays and is probably best used on the body, rather than the face.