We've all heard the phrase ‘better safe than sorry', but sometimes even playing it safe can leave one feeling sorry and very, very sore.

Just ask Tauranga locals Dee Tubbs and Kathy Sellars, who both suffered horrible sunburn despite covering themselves from head to toe repeatedly in sunscreen produced by Banana Boat.

Two Tauranga women say they were left with severe sunburn even though they had applied Banana Boat sunscreen. Photo: Kathy Sellars

Both Dee and Kathy purchased Banana Boat SPF 50+ sunscreens – in spray and rub-on forms – and had reapplied the sunscreen at least twice on the days they were burned.

Dee says she was badly burned after a day trip with her family to Rotorua's Lake Tarawera back in January.

'I sprayed it on and did what I needed to do. On the day I went for one swim and was in the water for about 15 minutes, then spent the rest of our time under a tree in the shade.

'Over the day I reapplied the sunscreen twice and still ended up with third degree burns. My forehead right down to my waist was blistered and peeled, I looked like a lobster.”

She was left even more angry and annoyed after she attempted to call Banana Boat to raise a complaint, but says she was given the cold shoulder by the company.

'I tried ringing the number on the back of the can three times and got absolutely nowhere. I couldn't speak to anyone, all I got was an automated message and 20 minutes of my time wasted,” says Dee.

It's a similar tale for Kathy and her two daughters who were all badly burned following a couple of days at the beach in January.

Kathy says she's was left baffled how it could have happened as they had been careful – all three were under a big sun shelter, had been wearing hats and rash shirts, and had piled on the sunblock.

'We were in and out of the water so were very vigilant about reapplying, but by the end of the day various areas on all three us got badly sunburnt.

'It ruined our holiday, as you can imagine. It hurt to go to sleep and we weren't keen to be out in the sun the rest of our holiday.”

Upon returning home she told friends what happened and their first question: 'It wasn't Banana Boat sunblock was it?”

'I'm really angry that Banana Boat is still being promoted in supermarkets as the product to buy over others, when clearly there is an issue they need to resolve. It's really bad and will never buy it again,” says Kathy.

It is a sentiment shared by Dee, who is a hairdresser by profession, and has been telling her clients not to buy the brand.

'I've been telling people not to use Banana Boat at all. I know not everything is salt proof, but when you've applied sunscreen twice you'd think there'd be some protection from the sun.

'Maybe there's a chemical that attracts the sun,” she says with a pained laugh.

Banana Boat NZ marketing director Rachel Pullicino says the company is confident all their sunscreen products labelled with a SPF offer the stated level of protection if stored and applied as directed on the label.

The company sometime receive complaints from consumers who've been sunburned during the summer and investigate each individual case received by their dedicated customer service team.

'While we cannot speak about each consumer's experience individually, we can confirm we are not aware of any specific issues with our product range.

'We want to reassure our consumers that our products are uniquely formulated and rigorously tested to meet the claimed Sun Protection Factor as required by the Australian/New Zealand sunscreen standard.”

Rachel says sunscreen is only one part of an important combination of actions Kiwis must take to protect themselves against the sun.

'We always recommend our consumers avoid prolonged exposure to the sun and always wear protective clothing, hats and eyewear.

'It's also important to follow our product label instructions: always store sunscreen in accordance with its labels, use only as directed and reapply frequently as directed," says Rachel.

Banana Boat is produced by parent company Edgewell Personal Care which is based in Missouri, America.