'Beautiful SPF is too important to be expensive.' The Aussie brand that's making skin-loving sunscreen affordable.

The best sunscreen is the one you want to wear, right? Sometimes it’s like Goldilocks – this one’s too heavy, this one’s nice and light but the packaging isn't a vibe, this one’s perfect but expensive and I catch myself trying to ration it, when I should, as the label always states, “apply liberally". 

Brand-building marketing professional Lalena King knew the struggle. “We've all bought a really expensive product, and you use it sparingly, it's so precious, because you've spent so much on it."

That’s exactly why she's pivoted from building major brands like Target, ANZ and 7-Eleven, and used her skills to create her own. Lalena's Australian-made lady startup BEAUTI-FLTR has now fine-tuned two of their latest products over two years, their just-released facial sunscreens.

“It was really important for us that the products felt good on your skin, so you wanted to use it in abundance, but also, it wasn't so expensive that you were using it sparingly.” 

That’s influenced how Lalena structured her brand's pricing. Lustre Mineral SPF 50+ and Feather Light SPF 50+ both retail for $25 in their standard 75g, which equates to just $0.33 per gram. BEAUTI-FLTR’s brand ethos puts it perfectly – "beautiful SPF is too important to be expensive".

This means not just applying to your face, either. “We really want you to use the correct dose, we want you to use it on your face, to use it on your neck, go right down to the boobs.” Those of us who’ve seen Twitter's infamous Neck Photo are already on board. 

Lalena took time out from a family holiday in Byron Bay to speak to us about the brand-building process, which involved a whole lot of testing and consulting, a brand name-change, and an uncompromising mission: she wanted to achieve that high-protection SPF 50+ rating, with a product that felt beautiful to wear, and priced for every day.

Lalena shared about the brand's chosen name, “Sunscreen literally is your beauty filter, you know, those UV filters are what's stopping the UV damage getting to your skin.” Preach. 

It’s all too easy to get caught up on scrubs, retinoids, peels, or shiny makeup to mask our skin, but at the end of the day, it’s sunscreen use that will show you the most noticeable long-term protection. Remember, regular sunscreen use can reduce the risk of some skin cancers and aid in the prevention of premature skin ageing.

Developing a beautiful mineral sunscreen is particularly challenging, but Lalena’s meticulous testing has created BEAUTI-FLTR’s Lustre Mineral SPF 50+, a softly luminous (never greasy), hydrating fragrance-free cream. 

Lustre Mineral is a 100 per cent zinc SPF 50+, that is weightless on the skin, whilst delivering broad spectrum UVA/UVB protection. It's been created to be extremely blendable, intended to either be worn alone or as an illuminating makeup primer. 

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Lalena credits much of her startup's success to the women in her life, several of whom were involved in the testing of each iteration.

“We actually took a long time in product development, because every time I had a concept, we tested it with 20 or 30 women, and went back and forth with feedback until each formula felt and performed exactly right.” 

This rigorous product testing produced BEAUTI-FLTR's premium Lustre product, as well as their chemical sunscreen offering, Feather Light SPF 50+. “They were pretty universally well-accepted by the test group!” 

Feather Light SPF 50+ is a weightless, oil-free formula suitable for use on your face as well as hands. It's a UVA/UVA broad spectrum product that delivers a nude finish (no white cast!), and also contains many skin-loving ingredients for skin protection and hydration, including vitamin C-rich Kakadu Plum and vitamin E. 

BEAUTI-FLTR founder Lalena King. Image: Supplied.

Whilst sunscreen is classed as a therapeutic good in Australia, it’s a fast-growing personal care category that’s becoming more and more aspirational. Fashionable, even. The aesthetic of BEAUTI-FLTR’s packaging and branding is key to tapping into a customer (me! Youbies! Mamamia readers!) that wants to feel a little special as they apply their daily (sunscreen) beauty filter. 

“There were a number of things at play,” says Lalena. “Being effective in sun protection and also including hydrating ingredients were non-negotiables, but there was also serious motivation behind our focus on a strong brand aesthetic. The most common reason for not wearing sunscreen is that we can so easily forget it in our routine. We wanted to address this with packaging you’d love looking at every day and happily put on your beauty shelf or keep sink-side."

I certainly hear myself from women, every single day, asking how they can help their partners and kids to commit to sunscreen use. Lalena says her team is working hard on making BEAUTI-FLTR’s sunscreens accessible. Like, in your trolley with your toothpaste kind of accessible.

It's affordable for the planet, too. As Lalena explains, “We are also conscious of our environmental impacts. So finding a pack that was 100 per cent recyclable and native material that would house the formulation properly and keep that safe and effective was obviously a primary goal of ours too.” 

Both the products' tube and lid are 100 per cent recyclable and made of 30 per cent post-consumer recycled plastic, with updates to come. “There are always new materials coming out… new innovations and things that you can keep evolving.” We can’t wait to see what’s next. 

The journey to launch BEAUTI-FLTR ticks off a personal career goal for Lalena King. “I've spent my whole career building brands, and I've always wanted to create my own.” 

It’s so wonderful to see a brilliant, driven woman fulfil her goals to create affordable skin health staples. This week’s family holiday of Lalena's was also a full circle moment. “I was in Byron Bay three years ago with a girlfriend, sitting on Wategos beach, talking about how I’d really like to create something of my own.” And today, at Wategos beach with her kids, “I'm here three years later, and I have actually created something (and wearing it!).”

Shop BEAUTI-FLTR's Lustre Mineral SPF 50+ and Feather Light SPF 50+ online now.

Always read the label. Follow the directions for use. Avoid prolonged high-risk sun exposure. Wear a hat, protective clothing and sunglasses when exposed to the sun. Re-apply frequently.

Feature Image: Supplied/Instagram/@beautifltr