Launched: 2021
Key Executives:
2025 Full Year Expected Revenue Range: $20 to $30 million
2025 Projected Offline Distribution Points: 3,500
Primary Category: Facial Skincare
Other Categories: Color Cosmetics
Key Markets: United States, Australia, United Kingdom
Retail Partnerships: Ulta Beauty, Mecca, Boots, Target, Shoppers Drug Mart
Primary Distribution Channel: Prestige
Other Distribution Channels: Mass, Amazon, DTC, Third-Party E-Commerce, TikTok Shop
Funding Rounds: Venture Capital
Notable Investors: XRC Ventures
Board Members: Diana Melencio
I was a breaking news television reporter for over a decade in Australia and saw so many of my colleagues have to get skin cancers cut out as they were working long hours outdoors in the sun without reapplying (or even wearing) their SPF. I wanted to create a sunscreen that could make the skin look better and withstand heavy television lights while playing well with makeup at the same time. No easy feat! I saw a huge gap in the market when it came to not only hybrid sunscreens and skincare but also sunscreen meets skincare meets makeup. We launched in 2021, when it was still an uphill battle to make sunscreen cool, fun, and something you’d actually want to wear. I wanted to ensure we filled that gap as well as evoked a feeling of women feeling comfortable in their own “naked” skin without makeup.
It all started with our Hydrating Glow Mist SPF50, which is not just an SPF topper for over makeup but a multifaceted product true to its name: a setting spray, skin hydrator, and glow-giving SPF mist that makes reapplying SPF throughout the day a breeze. Since then, we have realized our vision to make everything in your makeup bag to have SPF in it, from primers to bronzing drops to lip oils, blush sticks, illuminators, and skin tints—all your favorite products with the added SPF50 using Aussie SPF innovation.
Insights provided by Samantha Brett, Founder + CEO
Key business initiatives for 2025?
Our key business initiatives for 2025 include expanding our US footprint with a spring 2025 Ulta Beauty 700+ store rollout, adding to our global rollout with the UK, Canada, and more doors in Australia. Our new launches include expanding our already best-selling BeautyScreen SPF50 Peptide Foundation Range to include more shades, plus expanding our world-first SPF50 Lip Oil range to include more lip offerings. We have a cute summer range for the party girl’s ultimate handbag and an incredible new primer with new technology that we are excited to launch. Our ultimate goal is to get the next generation to use and love SPF every day, lower rising melanoma rates and protecting your skin with confidence and a touch of glow.
What are you most proud of having accomplished?
I think when people approach me saying that they, or their kids, or their husbands—always use to hate wearing sunscreen, and now thanks to Naked Sundays, they love it and wear sunscreen every single day. The best sunscreen is the one you wear, and if we can play a small role in helping people love and actually want to wear sunscreen, that is a huge achievement! I am also super proud of our incredible team who have taken Naked Sundays from a small start-up brand in Australia, to a global brand with thousands of doors all over the world including major key retailers like Ulta Beauty, Mecca, Shoppers, Boots, Sephora, and Target. We are also beyond proud of having a major global beauty community who are all equally as passionate about suncare as we are.
What has been the biggest surprise?
The biggest surprise was just how difficult people felt it was to find a good SPF and also how zero brands had ever broached the issue of how to top up your SPF. Sunscreen only lasts 60 minutes when outdoors, yet zero brands address this, until now!
What fuels your competitive advantage?
We like to say, “we are serious on the inside and fun on the outside.” Naked Sundays was created with the next generation in mind and with the thought of why can’t SPF be both aesthetically fun, cool, and a bit cheeky, with lilac and holographic packaging and still be filled with skincare-based high-performance SPF50+ formulas. Today, there is a sea of white and yellow, clinical-style packaging for sunscreen leading many to dub it boring and a chore. We wanted to flip that on its head by bringing fun and personality to the category while still maintaining our ability to bring high-performance, scientific formulations to your bathroom and beyond.
Our glowy SPF50 formulas are developed in Australia inspired by Bondi Beach. Our Aussie inception means our SPFs are created under the strictest regulations on the planet for suncare. We also include skincare benefits and ingredients in all our formulas to nourish and protect the skin. We have been able to build confidence and demonstrate to the community how SPF can be different.
Insight on the future of the beauty industry.
We see the continued rise and growth of hybrid beauty and skincare formulas that both simplify routines and give skin beautiful results as the future of the beauty industry. Plus, cementing SPF as the vital last step for every single beauty routine every single day. Anti-aging and skin preservation is not going anywhere; people are going to double down. However, there is still a gap today with people using SPF year-round 360 days and on “non-sunny days,” disregarding the fact UV rays are still present without the sun, so we are hopeful this will change in the future.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Trust your gut, keep going when everyone tells you something can’t be done, and wear the darn sunscreen!
What is the best mistake you've ever made and what did you learn?
Creating beauty-forward SPF products is challenging. My biggest collective learning (not from any particular mistake, although I have made several!) is that the road to SPF is bumpy, particularly in Australia, where our regulations are stricter than most, thanks to our high rates of skin cancer. Creating an SPF is not like creating a normal brand or beauty product. It comes with regulations, years of stringent testing, and different regulatory rules for every single country, and it all comes down to the product's efficacy. This is something we would never compromise, and when we are developing our innovation, we want to move fast to keep pace with our peers. However, SPF is not something we will ever rush.
What advice would you give to someone contemplating launching a beauty brand?
My advice would be to dream big, stay true to your passion and values (and entrepreneurial spirit!), build a thick skin, and surround yourself with a great team. Always ask questions and never settle. Look for partners across all facets who will support you, believe in your vision, help make it come to life, and finally challenge you to make you and the brand the best it can be. Most importantly, never give up and embrace it all.
If you could change one thing in the beauty industry what would it be?
The beauty industry is an incredible community, and we are truly grateful to be a part of it and embrace Naked Sundays. The competition and innovation are fierce, which I love and really embrace to stay ahead. Yet, the thing I would change is how expensive it is to compete. Making meaningful strides and impact requires major investments. Creativity and a strong product will only get you so far.