The Investigation · Sun protection
Ultra Violette, downgraded.
We rated this brand 9.1/10. Then its hero sunscreen tested at SPF 4, a national recall followed, and its own labs couldn't agree on a number.
Glow Verdict: 3.5/10 — down from 9.1. A brilliant brand-builder, marked down on the one thing an SPF brand can't get wrong: a verified number on the label.
Editor's note · why this page changed. We previously rated Ultra Violette 9.1/10 and recommended it across our sun-protection coverage. In light of the 2025 CHOICE testing, the TGA-consulted recall of Lean Screen, and the brand's own inability to reproduce a reliable SPF result for that product, we have re-scored the brand to 3.5/10 and removed it from our best-of rankings. This is our editorial judgement, based on public information. It is a statement about trust and verification, not a claim that any product currently on sale is unsafe.
The verdict
3.5 out of 10.
We've downgraded Ultra Violette from 9.1 to 3.5/10 and removed it from our best-of lists. In June 2025 the consumer group CHOICE found the brand's Lean Screen SPF50+ returned an SPF of just 4 — the lowest of 20 sunscreens it tested. Ultra Violette later voluntarily recalled the product in consultation with the TGA.
For a sunscreen brand, the number on the label is the entire job — so until current products are independently re-verified, we can't call it a top pick. The textures and brand-building remain excellent; the trust is what we've marked down.
What happened
A sunscreen sold as SPF50+, testing at SPF 4.
In June 2025, the independent consumer group CHOICE tested 20 popular SPF 50 and 50+ sunscreens at an accredited lab. Sixteen of the twenty did not meet their SPF claim. One result stood out: Ultra Violette's Lean Screen SPF50+ returned an SPF of just 4 — by a wide margin the lowest of the group.
CHOICE has said it was so surprised it sent a different batch to a second accredited laboratory in Germany, which returned an almost identical result of SPF 5. Two accredited labs, two batches, the same conclusion: a product sold as SPF50+ was testing in low single digits.
This isn't just a bad review
A recall, a cancelled listing, a “serious risk.”
In August 2025, Ultra Violette voluntarily recalled Lean Screen in consultation with the TGA and cancelled the product's listing on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. The TGA's recall notice stated the product “may have an SPF level ranging from 4 to 64.32.” The brand offered full refunds, plus a voucher, to everyone who'd bought it since January 2023.
It went international. In October 2025, the UK's Office for Product Safety and Standards issued its own recall, classifying Lean Screen SPF50+ as a “serious” risk. A recall consulted with the national regulator, a cancelled listing, and a serious-risk classification abroad aren't opinions — they're the public record.
How the brand handled it
The first instinct was to argue with the umpire.
A recall can happen to a good company. What we weigh just as heavily is the response — and in our view, Ultra Violette's first instinct was to dispute the test rather than the product. Co-founder Ava Chandler-Matthews said in an Instagram video that the brand had re-tested and stood by its claims, and questioned CHOICE's methodology — raising how samples were decanted, and speculating about heat and transport on the way to the German lab.
CHOICE responded by releasing its full data and methods and rejecting the mishandling theory. By August, when its own multi-lab testing couldn't produce a reliable number, Ultra Violette changed course and recalled the product, with the founders writing they were “deeply sorry that one of our products has fallen short.” The apology was the right call — but it came after the position became untenable, not when the first independent red flag appeared.
The detail that should worry everyone
Results that came back 4 to 64.
Once everyone started testing Lean Screen, the results didn't just come back low — they came back all over the map. Across multiple laboratories, results reportedly ranged from SPF 4 to SPF 64 on what was meant to be the same product.
The TGA went further and identified that around 20 sunscreens shared the same base formulation as Lean Screen, made by a third-party manufacturer. A good-manufacturing-practice inspection reportedly found only non-serious deficiencies and no manufacturing fault that explained the low SPF. Nobody produced a clean explanation for why one product could test anywhere from 4 to 64 — and for a category where the number is the safety promise, that's the most alarming answer available.
So how can we be sure the rest works?
After a recall, a brand's say-so isn't enough.
Ultra Violette says Lean Screen was the only product made by that third-party manufacturer, that the rest of its range is developed in-house, and that those products re-tested at or above SPF 50 and are unaffected. We hope that's true, and it may well be. But the brand also told us, confidently, that Lean Screen was SPF50+ — right up until it recalled it.
To its credit, it has published stricter commitments: testing every new product at a minimum of two independent ISO-accredited labs, re-testing the whole range every 18 months, and ring-testing across labs against the ISO 24444 standard. On paper, that's better than most of the industry. The problem is timing: these are promises made after a recall, not the standard that caught the problem before customers were exposed. We want independent verification of the products on the shelf — and to see the reports, not just be told they exist.
The record, in brief
What it would take to move them back up.
We want to rate Ultra Violette well again; the brand has the talent to earn it back. Concretely: one, independent accredited SPF testing — not brand-commissioned — of the products currently on sale, published in full; two, a clear public explanation of why Lean Screen's results varied so wildly; three, the new testing regime evidenced with actual lab reports over at least one re-test cycle. Meet those, and we'll happily revisit the number.
The record, in brief
- Jun 2025
- CHOICE finds Lean Screen SPF50+ tests at SPF 4 (lowest of 20); a second accredited German lab returns SPF 5.
- Jun 2025
- Ultra Violette disputes the findings and questions CHOICE's method; CHOICE releases full data; the TGA confirms it is investigating.
- Aug 2025
- Ultra Violette voluntarily recalls Lean Screen in consultation with the TGA; ARTG listing cancelled; full refunds offered. Brand's own labs reportedly return SPF 4 to 64.
- Sep 2025
- TGA links ~20 sunscreens to the same base formulation; a GMP inspection finds no manufacturing fault explaining the low SPF.
- Oct 2025
- UK regulator recalls Lean Screen SPF50+ as a “serious” risk.
- The Glow
- Score cut 9.1 → 3.5; removed from best-of lists; placed “under review” pending independent re-verification.
The verdict, on the record
3.5 — the experience is intact, the trust isn't.
"We don't think a sun-protection brand can sit at the top of our rankings while the central question — does the number on the bottle mean what it says, verified by someone other than the brand — is still open."
Ultra Violette is a brilliant brand-builder that, on the most important metric in its category, was found wanting and recalled its hero product after a regulator-consulted process. The cosmetic experience is as good as ever; the trust is not.
The Glow Verdict: 3.5/10, downgraded from 9.1, and removed from our best-of sun-protection coverage. We'd genuinely like to raise it. The brand knows exactly how.
The Questions, asked most
What readers actually ask.
- Is Ultra Violette sunscreen safe to use?
- The specific product recalled was Lean Screen SPF50+; if you have it, the brand and the TGA advised stopping use and offered refunds. Ultra Violette says the rest of its range re-tested at or above SPF 50. We're not making a safety claim about other products either way — our position is that, after a recall, we want independent verification of current products before we recommend them.
- Why did The Glow downgrade Ultra Violette?
- Because its hero sunscreen was independently found to test at SPF 4 against an SPF50+ claim, was recalled in consultation with the TGA, and the brand's own multi-lab testing couldn't reliably reproduce the claimed number. For an SPF brand, that goes to the core promise.
- What does Ultra Violette say now?
- It has apologised, recalled and refunded Lean Screen, stopped using that third-party manufacturer and testing lab for its sunscreens, and published a stricter testing regime. We regard those as positive steps that still need to be evidenced with published, independent results.
- What should I buy instead?
- Choose an SPF with a recent independent pass on its label claim. In CHOICE's 2025 round, products including La Roche-Posay Anthelios Wet Skin SPF50+, Cancer Council Kids SPF50+ and Mecca To Save Body SPF50+ met or exceeded their claim. Always reapply.
On the record
Sources & right of reply.
· CHOICE — Sunscreen SPF testing and media release (16 of 20 failed)
· TGA — Lean Screen recall and same-base-formulation finding
· UK OPSS — product recall (serious risk)
· SmartCompany — founder's response and CHOICE data release
· Ultra Violette — official Lean Screen update & testing FAQ
More: every brand we've reviewed · best SPF in Australia · The Glow Standard.