A week into December and I’m loving the M&S beauty advent calendar!

Today’s box contained UltraSun Face sun protection.  This immediately seems like a really odd product to find in a December product box, but we are exposed to the sun’s rays even through the clouds, further more when the sun is out, the rays are reflected from snow and ice, so sunscreen shouldn’t be put away during the winter.  That said…..I don’t like sun screen at the best of times so during the winter?  Hmmm, show me a product I might like the smell of, that doesn’t contain the nasty chemicals, parabens, doesn’t leave my skin greasy and sits well under makeup!   Not gonna happen….or is it???

Firstly, this is another ‘First Impressions’ blog because when it comes to skin care I believe that it’s not possible to give a full review until a product has been used for a while.

This tube is a 25ml tube, again another great size in terms of a deluxe sample size and plenty of product to give it a proper amount of time to review how it fairs on my skin which is great.   As I hadn’t heard of this brand / product before today, I had a little look on their website and a look at other general reviews and it seems to be well received.

The SPF30 is a combination of UVA and UVB filters which is important as they are different.  If you didn’t already know, UVA rays penetrate the skin and contribute to the ageing and wrinkling process, even through windows UVA rays can still age the skin….UVB are more harmful and have been found to be the cause of sunburn and more importantly, skin cancer.

Personally, applying an SPF is something I’ve only ever thought to do during the summer, or if I’m on holiday…I hadn’t really considered the damage the sun does in terms of ageing  the skin until last year I was reading something that made me think.  Makeup that I use may contain an SPF10 or 15, but that’s not really enough!  Come to think of it, the term SPF is quite loosely used, what about UVA and UVB filters?  Is the SPF in the foundation broad spectrum??  (Just a few thoughts there!)

I visited the website for Ultrasun and found that this sunscreen does not contain parabens…or other harsh perfumes and preservatives but the main one I was interested in was the parabens side of things as many sunscreens do contain them…along with a host of other harsh ingredients.  It also claims that they don’t need those preservatives thanks to the ‘airless dispenser’ so I wanted to check this out as this in my hand is a tube.  I phoned their office to ask and they were so helpful, confirmed that this tube is also fine for 24mths from opening and also gave me some additional advice of applying this before any serums or moisturisers so there’s no block in the product getting into the skin.  As I’d already done my skincare, I was told that was also fine and it would sit fine under my makeup.  So….great info on the website and great customer services….now for the product…

As I said, I had already applied my full skincare which had already gone into my skin.  The product is a cream that isn’t too thick, but still looked like on first sight that it may be too thick for my skin type.  I was wrong on that….it applied really well and seemed to absorb straight into my skin leaving no sticky or greasy residue, like a lot of  sun creams do…which my previous SPF (Clinique City Block) did a little.

I applied my makeup as usual, using my Benefit Porefessional primer and  Nars Sheer Glow foundation…from which I expect to see a shine after about 4/5 hours so the test for the SPF affecting my foundation was within that timeframe.  I applied it around 10am and it is now 4pm…yes I am a bit shiny…but nothing out of the ordinary which is great so I’m happy to continue with this SPF as it didn’t have any adverse effect!

First impressions of a product are important as they will set you up for continuing or binning which is why I thought to do this blog.  Continuation of use will show how this fairs on my skin, any reactions in terms of breakouts and so on will take more uses to show but with the way in which this was absorbed into my skin, it is not the type of product that I think will cause me to breakout….I tend to know quite well I think what will and won’t by how it feels on my skin initially but of course, I can be wrong!

In summary….I do like this product and receiving it in  essentially a winter calendar has made me rethink about SPF usage and I will continue to use it.  I will blog again once I have used this tube to say whether I would re-purchase……or indeed whether I binned it!

Thanks for reading….this was a first impressions blog, but I felt it important to talk about using sunscreen while the subject was presented 🙂

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments box below or on my facebook page. Follow me on Instagram: beautyandtheballroom and Twitter: @Mazzo7 xx