Choosing the right Ultra Violette sunscreen for your skin

Disclaimer – This post is sponsored and Ultra Violette very kindly sent me these products to test and review. All opinions are my own.

Let’s talk face sunscreen. It can be a minefield trying to choose the best sunscreen for your skin type. While we all know that we should be wearing SPF every day, the options are almost limitless. It sometimes feels like you need a degree to decipher which might be the best sunscreen for your skin type. Enter Ultra Violette sunscreen. SPF is their forté. They’re an Australian brand and one thing Australians are serious about is sunscreen. The criteria to meet for an SPF in Australia is much more rigorous than in the UK and Europe.

I remember the days of thick, white, streaky SPFs that were almost impossible to rub in. Being someone with incredibly pale, sensitive skin that burns and never tans, I really need good SPF to protect my skin.

Ultra Violette have sunscreens for every different skin type and they’ve made them lightweight enough to wear every day, without clogging your pores. They advise how much of each formula you should apply and are totally up front about all the ingredients in their products. If you need it, they have it. From hydrating, to tinted, to mattifying, with everything in between. There’s an SPF for sensitive skin and a luminising serum which is the lightest SPF formula I’ve ever tried.

Ultra Violette sunscreen is a breath of fresh air. Cute packaging, great marketing and no nonsense formulas, which are easy to apply and don’t disrupt your makeup. They have pioneered the “skinscreen” which is sunscreen and skincare benefits all in one. Handy for those of us who don’t want to layer and layer products on our skin. With all this in mind, which Ultra Violette product is the right one for you?

WHICH ULTRA VIOLETTE SUNSCREEN IS THE ONE FOR YOU?

There’s Clean, Lean, Supreme and Queen Screens to choose from. Of course you can choose a product based on your skin type, Ultra Violette make it very simple to click through and find the product they recommend for your skin type. However, you can also choose a formula based on what finish you like and whether you’d like chemical or mineral sunscreen. All of Ultra Violette’s products are made to be easy to apply, invisible under makeup and packed with the best protective ingredients you can get on the market.

Feeling like your skin needs a bit of a glow up? Choose Queen Screen, feeling a bit oily? Choose Lean Screen. These products really do fit seamlessly into your routine. The packaging is cool, fresh and user friendly. Most products come with a pump, but Queen Screen comes in a dropper bottle, akin to most serums you would purchase.

Now, let’s delve a bit deeper into what all the different Ultra Violette sunscreens do and how they perform on my sensitive, combination skin.

FOR OILY SKIN: ULTRA VIOLETTE LEAN SCREEN SPF 50+ MATTIFYING ZINC SKINSCREEN – $49/£34

If you’re in need of a matte sunscreen, then Lean Screen has you covered! This is a mineral based, Zinc only sunscreen. Most mineral sunscreens contain a mixture of Zinc and Titanium oxides. These are both naturally occurring minerals and have the ability to sit on the skin, creating a shield to block out UVA and UVB radiation from being absorbed by the skin.

While both are considered broad spectrum, Zinc oxide has an edge over Titanium because it is better able to block long UVA rays and it also blocks a wider spectrum of UV rays. With mineral sunscreens, as soon as you apply, you are protected.

In comparison to the other Ultra Violette sunscreens, Lean Screen does have the thickest formula. However, it still manages to apply very easily to the skin. It is slightly tinted when you pump it out, but disappears into the skin once applied. It’s great for acne prone, sensitive skin and is fragrance free.

Being incredibly pale, I wondered how Lean Screen would apply to my skin, once I saw it had a tint. However, I needn’t have worried. I see no obvious tint to my skin, it mattifies without being drying and doesn’t break me out. I have had issues with certain mineral sunscreens breaking me out in the past, but I’m happy to report that I’ve had no such issues with Lean Screen!

My skin is currently suffering painful breakouts and had been oilier than usual. I love the fact that Lean Screen can mattify my skin without making it look dry. It’s also great to have found a mineral sunscreen that doesn’t make my acne worse! It feels soothing on the skin and doesn’t irritate.

FOR DRY SKIN: QUEEN SCREEN SPF 50+ LUMINISING SERUM SKINSCREEN – $47/36

Queen Screen is a chemical sunscreen and the only product in the range to come in a dropper bottle. Queen Screen is unlike any other sunscreen I’ve tried before.

Chemical sunscreens allow UV light to enter the skin. A chemical reaction then takes place to convert the UV rays into heat. Once they’ve been converted to heat, they are released by the skin. While in mineral sunscreens there’s only Zinc and Titanium oxide used, in chemical sunscreens you need a mixture of those chemicals to provide full protection. They can offer more protection than mineral SPFs, however, it depends on which chemicals are used.

Queen Screen is the most lightweight, yet moisturising SPF formula I’ve ever used. It’s silky smooth and glides onto the skin, disappearing almost instantly. This skinscreen is more serum like, in terms of how it looks and feels, but has the hydration of a traditional cream. It’s got to be the best feeling, moisturising SPF I’ve tried in the UK and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the best moisturiser with SPF in Australia. Queen Screen is unique and innovative!

There is a slight fragrance, it doesn’t bother me and I can’t smell it once applied, but it’s worth noting in case you are sensitive to that.

If a luminous complexion is what you’re after, then this is definitely the product for you. It creates this gorgeous radiant glow, that will liven up even the dullest complexions. In my current skin cycle, I get oily, then cystic acne, then dry and flaky, so I really benefit from having choice when it comes to SPF. Queen Screen is great for those days where my skin is lacklustre and flaky.

I love how Queen Screen wears throughout the day as well. It’ll keep that glowy finish all day, but it never makes me greasy. I’ve tried it with different moisturisers and a foundation and found it wore well with all. No pilling or bunching up. It really is invisible, but you know you’re still being protected from those potentially harmful UV rays.

FOR SENSITIVE SKIN: CLEAN SCREEN SPF 30 FRAGRANCE FREE WEIGHTLESS GEL SKINSCREEN – $47/£32

While Lean Screen can also be a great pick for those with sensitive skin, Clean Screen has been made specifically for skin that is reactive and sensitive. Clean Screen is a combination of mineral and chemical sunscreens and has no alcohol or fragrance. This skinscreen uses Titanium Dioxide alongside some chemicals to create a gentle formula that everyone can use. Titanium Dioxide itself isn’t enough to protect your skin from all UV rays. However, there are organic chemicals in the formula as well, to ensure maximum protection.

The texture of Clean Screen is light and refreshing. It has a gorgeous gel-like texture and feels slightly cooling on application. There is a very light tint, which doesn’t show on the skin. It leaves your skin feeling balanced and soothed, with no stinging.

The finish is slightly mattifying, but not as matte as Lean Screen. As is the case for all of the products I’m mentioning today, none of them are drying, even if they are mattifying. That is something I love, because I may get oily, but I also get flaky. So, matte + drying is not what my skin requires.

Clean Screen is an SPF 30, versus the other’s all being SPF 50. If you’re someone who really struggles to find sunscreen that doesn’t aggravate your skin, then Clean Screen is the perfect SPF for you. For me personally, Clean Screen is the SPF I’ve been using the most since I started on Tretinoin. With that treatment, it’s imperative you wear your sunscreen every single day, due to increased sun sensitivity and a mineral based SPF is advised.

FOR NORMAL SKIN: SUPREME SCREEN SPF 50+ HYDRATING SKINSCREEN – $49/£34

Supreme Screen is chemical based sunscreen. This is Ultra Violette’s all-rounder. It’s a moisturiser, SPF and a primer for your makeup if you want it, negating the need for separate products. It’s hydrating and has a satin finish. Skin feels plump and ready for makeup. This and Queen Screen have to be my favourites, even though I love all of these SPFs for different reasons.

There’s a light tint to Supreme Screen, akin to Clean Screen in shade. It’s not noticeable once applied and doesn’t add coverage. It honestly does provide the perfect base for makeup. I’ve spent lots on hydrating primers to put on top of my moisturisers and SPFs and I needn’t have bothered as this will do it all! It’s exactly what I look for in a primer; lightweight, hydrating and smoothing.

Supreme Screen sinks into the skin like a dream, has the perfect texture and I’ve not experienced any pilling with my foundation. There’s squalane in this formula, which happens to work very harmoniously with my skin and I use it a lot in my other skin care. However, even though there are hydrating ingredients within this formula, your skin is never left greasy.

If you have pretty normal skin, or just want a great all-rounder product which can replace a separate primer/moisturiser/sunscreen, then Supreme Screen is the one for you! It makes my skin feel perfectly balanced and ready for whatever the day will throw at it.

There we have it, my guide to choosing the best Ultra Violette sunscreen for your skin. I love the way Ultra Violette clearly and simply explains who each product is for and how much we should be using. I’ve felt overwhelmed by SPF options before, reading reviews, trying to find ingredient lists etc. I’ve certainly tried my fair share of sunscreen as well and suffered the effects when they don’t mix well with my skin for whatever reason.

To trust you are protected from the sun better than other products on the market and that all the ingredients of your SPF are readily available, is a winning combination for me. I’m so happy to have found my new favourite sunscreen brand!