This month... FUNSCREENS

Forget the days of being aggressively coated in thick, white lotion. New formulas mix serious tech with joyous application, says acting beauty editor LAURA CAPON

Sol De Janeiro Bum Bum Sol Oil SPF30, £36

If, like me, you don’t cope well with heat and resemble

Free Willy on his journey back to the sea (requiring constant watering in order to stay alive), spraying this shimmer-infused oil will make you look like a glowing goddess, even if you don’t feel like one. Plus, the teenytiny surfboard inside (which acts as a mixer) reminds me of a Kinder Egg gift.

Kate Somerville UncompliKated SPF50 Soft Focus Makeup Setting Spray, £32

If you use your make-up as an excuse for skipping SPF, Kate Somerville is onto you. This mist offers serious broadspectrum sun protection AND sets the base you spent half the morning crafting, using light-diffusing silicone powder that mattifies and blurs.

Nivea Sun Kids Protect & Care Coloured Roll-On SPF50+, £8.99

These rollerball sunscreens are tinted pink and green (turning transparent once rubbed in). Nivea says they make sun protection fun for kids; I say screw the little brats who’ve been incessantly splashing the sunbed I woke up at 7am to secure. Applying sunscreen is just as boring for adults – at least it used to be…

Vichy Idéal Soleil Solar Protective Water Antioxidant SPF30, £19

I know you’ve worked all year for this holiday, and will disregard all the advice we’ve ever given you about sun exposure, but could you at least pack this? The fun comes in the form of antioxidant blueberry polyphenols, to protect skin from a tan’s ageing effects.