Printed from smellbook.com/smells/sunscreen. This printout keeps the entry for Sunscreen itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Categories and types group entries for browsing; they are editorial, not evidence. How smells are grouped.
Also known as Sun Cream · Sunblock
A warm cosmetic smell identity strongly associated with summer, skin products and beach or pool memories.
Sunscreen smells warm, creamy and slightly sweet, with a soft cosmetic and sometimes coconut or floral note. EDITORIAL
Named in the VERIFIED claims about this smell: not a list of what it is made of, and not its cause.
This entry links to
Other entries that link to this one
Links SmellBook records for this entry: where you meet it, molecules and related smells. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors and VERIFIED links come from VERIFIED claims. Nothing here is a ranking, and a molecule is not presented as the cause of the smell.
QUESTIONS ABOUT SUNSCREEN
Sunscreen smells warm, creamy and slightly sweet, with a soft cosmetic and sometimes coconut or floral note. On skin it feels smooth and rounded, and in the heat it becomes fuller and more noticeable. The smell lasts through a day at the beach and lingers on towels. It is close to body lotion, though more tied to summer.
People meet it at beaches and pools, in parks on sunny days, and when packing for holidays. Many people link it with summer, travel and childhood days outdoors.
Typical settings: beach, pool, summer skin care.
SmellBook links it to 3 place pages: see them in Connections.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Declared fragrances in sunscreens. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
2 molecules are named in this claim; see the evidence for the role the claim gives them. The claim does not say the molecules this claim names shape the smell.
Sunscreen is a cultural product category whose fragrance varies widely across formulations.
Words that are easy to mix up: Why is creamy not just sweet? and Is every warm smell spicy?
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
Scientific evidence · 1 claim
Declared fragrances in sunscreens
Of 95 sunscreens commonly sold in New Zealand in 2019, 61% listed at least one fragrance ingredient, most often limonene (in 17% of them) and linalool (in 13%).
Ingredient lists collected from suppliers' websites and reviewed for allergens; it reports declared ingredients, not measured emissions or odour.
How this was found: Broad account. A broad statement about how an aroma forms, how it is studied or what a term means, rather than one measurement. Source: primary study.
Juhee Roh & Harriet Cheng
Australasian Journal of Dermatology
DOI 10.1111/ajd.13748Each molecule is named by the claim shown after it. The claim does not say these molecules shape the smell. About molecules in SmellBook
Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
Each step is a molecule that a VERIFIED claim names for both smells, in whatever role the claims state. Sharing a molecule does not mean two smells smell alike.
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Sunscreen.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0046 — Sunscreensmellbook:smell:sunscreenhttps://smellbook.com/smells/sunscreenSmellBook. (2026). Sunscreen (revision 4, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:sunscreen. https://smellbook.com/smells/sunscreen@misc{smellbook_sunscreen_r4,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Sunscreen},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 4, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:sunscreen},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/sunscreen}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-sunscreen-r4 TI - Sunscreen AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 4 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/sunscreen N1 - SB-0046; smellbook:smell:sunscreen; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/sunscreen ER -
The citation names revision 4 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Sunscreen is a cultural product category whose fragrance varies widely across formulations.
Other entries whose editors linked to Sunscreen:
Editorial description expanded to answer what it smells like and where you meet it; independently reviewed.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-06Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the first of three dataset releases of 2026-09-30.
No correction notices published for this entry. Corrections policyEVIDENCE MATTERS
SmellBook separates cultural association, community perception, verified evidence, prediction and experimental relationships rather than presenting them as the same thing. Read the evidence guide ↗ See the evidence coverage report ↗