Ultra Violette Lean Screen.
Share and Follow

Australian sunscreen brand Ultra Violette has pulled one of its products from shelves and is offering customer refunds over “concerning discrepancies” in SPF testing results.

It comes just months after a Choice report alleged its Lean Screen SPF 50+ Mattifying Zinc Skinscreen returned an SPF rating of 4.

At the time, Ultra Violette disputed the Choice findings and vowed to pursue additional testing.

Ultra Violette Lean Screen.
Ultra Violette’s Lean Screen SPF 50+ Mattifying Zinc Skinscreen has been pulled from shelves over SPF testing concerns. (Instagram/@ultravioletteau)
Now founders Rebecca Jefferd and Ava Matthews issued a statement apologising that the product had “fallen short of the standards we pride ourselves on”.

“As a sunscreen brand, our responsibility has always been to prioritise your safety, protection and skin health above all else,” it read.

“It remains the basis for every decision we make, which is why when you heard from us last, we made a commitment to you that we would continue to investigate a concerning discrepancy in SPF testing results of our Lean Screen.”

Jefferd and Matthews stated that the product underwent testing at multiple independent labs to confirm the products’s efficacy.

Results from those tests returned varying SPF ratings of 4, 10, 21, 26, 33, 60, 61, and 64.

“That wasn’t good enough for us, and it isn’t good enough for you,” they said.

“We are deeply sorry that one of our products has fallen short of the standards we pride ourselves on and that you have come to expect of us.”

The first half of the Ultra Violette Lean Screen statement.
The first half of the Ultra Violette Lean Screen statement. (Instagram/@ultravioletteau)

In response to the inconsistency in testing, Ultra Violette announced it would be withdrawing the Lean/Velvet Screen from the market “effective immediately”.

The brand will also be offering refunds to customers, “regardless of where it was purchased”.

Lean Screen SPF 50+ Mattifying Zinc Skinscreen has been sold at major retailers like Sephora and Adore Beauty.

Ultra Violette said it will no longer be making any of its Skinscreen products with the third-party manufacturer that created the Lean Screen.

It claimed Lean Screen was the only sunscreen that manufacturer made for the brand.

The brand also announced it will be cutting ties with the original testing lab that vetted the Lean Screen product and will be working with new testing facilities going forward.

It also vowed to increase the frequency of product testing to every 18 months.

Ultra Violette insisted the SPF discrepancies only affected the Lean Screen product.

“Additional testing on all Ultra Violette products has reinforced our confidence in the rest of our line.”

The second half of the Ultra Violette Lean Screen statement.
The second half of the Ultra Violette Lean Screen statement. (Instagram/@ultravioletteau)

Choice CEO Ashley de Silva said Lean Screen being pulled from shelves over discrepancies in SPF testing results “confirms there is a clear problem with how sunscreen is regulated and tested in Australia”.

“In a country where two in three people will be diagnosed with skin cancer, people deserve to trust that the SPF ratings on sunscreen are accurate and reliable,” she said in a statement.

“Without CHOICE’s investigation, Ultra Violette’s Lean Screen would still be on shelves, despite the fact that it does not provide anywhere near the amount of sun protection it claims to.”

De Silva called on the Therapeutic Goods Administration to provide an update on its investigation into the the Choice report on sunscreen SPF.

Share and Follow
You May Also Like

Greta Thunberg Receives Warm Welcome in Athens Following Deportation of Flotilla Activists by Israel

Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg arrived in Greece to a cheering pro-Palestinian crowd…
Australians are being hit with a potato shortage after growers experienced what they said has been one of the toughest seasons in a decade. 

Australians Face Potato Shortage Across the Country After the Most Challenging Season in Ten Years

Australians are being hit with a potato shortage, with growers having experienced…
Decades-old outback triple-murder mystery back in the spotlight

Outback Triple-Murder Mystery from Decades Ago Gains Renewed Attention

The unsolved murders of three friends on an outback adventure almost five…

University Students Alarmed by Scam Emails Threatening Degree Revocations

An Australian university has apologised after reports that some students received emails…
Optus CEO Stephen Rue, surrounded cameras and journalists ahead of his meeting with Anika Wells in Parliament House.

Telecom Executives Summoned to Parliament for Introduction of New 000 Emergency Call Laws

The federal government has unveiled new triple-zero laws after hauling multiple major…
France loses another prime minister in political crisis

France Faces Political Turmoil as Prime Minister Departs

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned after less than a month in…
A shattered window in Sydney's inner-west after an alleged shooting

Video Captures Gunfire Erupting on a Street in Sydney’s Inner West

Security footage shows the moments 60-year-old father Artemios Mintzas allegedly opened fire…

Federal Government Confesses to Delegating Truth-telling Process with Only ‘Half a Person’ Hired

The federal government has appeared to have quietly abandoned a federal truth-telling…