Some beauty editors can talk for hours about their favourite hair tools, the best mascaras, or signature scents, and while I love to wax lyrical about all of the above I’d have to say that nothing gets me quite as passionate as the best facial sunscreens. Despite a daily SPF not being part of my beauty routine for most of my younger years, as soon as I started working in the beauty industry around a decade ago it quickly became obvious that it is the one thing that experts credit with keeping skin healthy and bright and that’s a decent SPF. However, like many people, I spent a long time avoiding wearing sunscreen as the formulas that I was used to in my teenage years were thick, heavy and pore-clogging—and as someone who has regular breakouts, I would do anything to avoid exacerbating the problem. (Including compromising the health of my skin and myself, apparently.)
Thankfully, a decade later, the SPF industry has come on leaps and bounds in terms of product innovation and formulas. Gone are the days of cloying, chalky sunscreens, and in their place are an abundance of SPFs that boost glow, tackle pigmentation, even skin tone, and make skin look incredible—all while protecting it from the sun. But there’s one SPF that I always recommend to people yet to jump on the daily sunscreen boat: the Ultra Violette Fave Fluid Ultralight Skinscreen SPF 50+.
While I have a wardrobe of sunscreens and SPF moisturisers that I switch up depending on what finish I want that day or how my skin is feeling, this has to be the one that I reach for most regularly thanks to how utterly undetectable it is. Here’s everything you need to know about it…
The formula
When it comes to the best SPFs, Ultra Violette is one of my most recommended brands ever. Australia is renowned as one of the best places to shop for sunscreen, so it’s of no surprise that this Aussie brand knows exactly what it’s doing in terms of formulation. And while I adore the brand’s tinted SPF for low-maintenance mornings and their cult glow-boosting Queen Screen formula for days that my skin has zero radiance, it’s Fave Fluid which I reach for most days.
Specifically formulated to be their lightest formula ever, this sunscreen is featherweight in texture. You need to be quite careful when you dispense the product as it’s almost water-like in texture. Of course, this means that when you apply it to the skin it soaks in effortlessly, leaving behind no hint at all of residue or white cast. Beyond the consistency, it’s brimming with amazing skincare ingredients to improve the appearance of your skin while protecting it with broad-spectrum SPF 50+. For someone with oily skin, it’s particularly brilliant as it contains niacinamide to balance oils, refine pores and improve texture, but there’s also vitamin C to protect and brighten, and amino acids to support overall skin health.
The finish
Of course, there are days when I want an SPF that delivers glow or offers some coverage, but if you’re looking for a daily sunscreen that will leave skin feeling and looking velvety soft and naturally bright then I don’t think you can go wrong with Ultra Violette Fave Fluid. And if your argument for skipping sunscreen has always been that you hate the feeling of it on your skin? Trust me. That will no longer hold up once you’ve tried this one. Silky, soft and barely there once applied, it ticks all the boxes in terms of protection and finish. Plus, it plays nice with anything that you apply on top—I’ve applied skin tints, foundations, and full make-up routines over this with no pilling or problems. Ultra Violette is the GOAT when it comes to SPF.
Shop more Ultra Violette sunscreens
An intensely glowy SPF that leaves skin sheeny, bright and juicy.
Offering decent coverage in 15 flexible shades, this is a genius make-up-skincare hybrid sunscreen.
