From Sunrise to sunscreen: How Samantha Brett put Naked Sundays on the global map

Waking up at the crack of dawn, early mornings, late nights and breaking news used to be a daily routine for Samantha Brett during her time as a news reporter and on breakfast show Sunrise. 

Now the Naked Sundays founder is looking to expand her Australian SPF skincare business further on the global map and focusing on product launches, all while ensuring everyone wears sunscreen.

Naked Sundays launched in January 2021 with two products; the SPF50+ Mist, and the Collagen Creme SPF50 Moisturiser. 

Brett said both products completely sold out in less than three weeks.

“It was a complete shock. I was not prepared,” she said.

“We scrambled to find more stock, and following that we were able to expand the range.”

Three years later, Naked Sundays now has over 20 products and is stocked in multiple countries and some of the biggest retailers in the world, including Mecca, Sephora UK, Revolve, Anthropologie, and Urban Outfitters in the US.

After 18 months in the making, Naked Sundays launched its latest product CabanaGlows — three illuminating and bronze glow serum drops designed to mix and match — on Sunday with a waitlist of over 150,000 people.

From the newsroom to a beauty empire

Brett said she had been a news reporter for most of her working life.

“Early mornings, late nights, breaking news — and I loved every minute,” she said.

“I was often outside in the blazing sun for hours on end, in a full face of makeup. I started to see a trend of people working outdoors having to get skin cancers cut out of their faces and I had a genuine concern.

“I realised that even if I was putting sunscreen on at 3am when I would leave the house, it would be useless in a few hours. But I was shocked to find no products on the market that would enable you to top up your SPF over makeup. I thought that there had to be a better way.

“I spent two years formulating Naked Sundays as it needed to be perfect and nothing seen before on the market. It needed to make people’s lives better, and simpler. So all products had to be multitasking, hands-free and simple to use.”

Seeing exponential growth

Brett said it felt like Naked Sundays went from a tiny business with just two people to a large brand quite quickly. 

“We’ve grown 1133% since the first year, and in the US we saw similar growth in the past six months — over 1000% growth,” she said. 

“This has proven to us that there is a huge gap in the market for what we do, which is to be at the forefront of SPF innovation and launch world-first products or Australian-first products utilising our SPF innovation.”

This month, Naked Sunday’s SPF50 Glow Mist which can be used over makeup was up 108% from last month. 

Sales for Naked Sunday’s high-priced jumbo-sized SPF50 Mineral Primer also dramatically increased to become the brand’s top-selling SKU, while the brand’s SPF50 Lip Oils are up 1300% since last month.

Brett said the lip oils were created a few years ago and Naked Sundays have just done a re-release with new shades and flavours, adding that the brand had also seen an explosion in sales from medium-priced items like the SPF50+ Mist and the SPF50 Mineral Primer.

Creating for the community

Brett told SmartCompany that it’s not easy being first to market.

“But we really listen to our community and create products based on what we know they need in their routines,” she said. 

“It excites us to be in such a high-growth category where our customers value our SPF expertise, but — and there is definitely a but here — products have to be innovative, different and stand out in order to make customers really want to invest in a brand. 

“SPF innovation, which we have successfully managed to do over the past three years with our world-first formulations, most noticeably our world-first SPF50 Lip Oils, have helped catapult our brand to where it is today. 

“We have also just launched into Sephora UK with Naked Sundays now one of the top new brands.

“We’ve also been seeing heavy growth from bricks and mortar sales in our retail partners such as Mecca, and US online luxury retailers Revolve and Anthropologie.”

Chasing growth organically

Brett said Naked Sundays has never really had a “growth” strategy for the brand.

“It has all been very organic and surprising too! Pleasantly surprising. We see a lot of traction from beauty editors and micro-influencers who like to share their love of SPF on social media,” she said.

“And of course, being stocked in such a prestigious store like Mecca, which is at the forefront of international beauty trends, has really helped to catapult our brand to sit alongside some of the greats — literally in stores.

“Also, over the past 2.5 years, we have partnered with melanoma charities to donate over $50,000 dollars and raise awareness around SPF protection. We have a bi-annual ‘Give Melanoma The Cold Shoulder’ campaign which has gone viral multiple times on social media. 

“I believe as a brand we are nimble and innovative and have been able to have important conversations that save lives and that’s why we have seen incredible results and growth.”

Brett said all Naked Sunday products fly off the shelf, just sometimes at different stages given the seasons. 

“For example, our Glow Mist currently in the UK and USA is going crazy because it is in the high of summer but we typically see very similar results here in Australia in our summertime,” she said.

“In saying that last month our SPF50 Lip Oils relaunched in July globally and across all countries, we saw one lip oil sold every 30 seconds.”

Importance of online and offline presence

For Brett, making products available both online and in brick-and-mortar stores is vital for any brand.

“I think both spaces are important, our online community is integral to us as they have been the supporters of the brand from day one,” she said. 

“Our brick and mortar partners are also just as important as they assist in educating those who may not know the brand yet and allow consumers to test and trial products prior to purchase to give them reassurance in their purchases. 

“We have seen incredible growth from these stores, particularly in Mecca and Sephora UK — where we highly value these partnerships and love working together.”

Brett said following the August launch, there were plenty more plans being put in motion for Naked Sundays.

“Right now we are focused on global expansion and launching products that have a purpose, are innovative, and world first,” she said. 

“This launch — the CabanaGlow Mineral Serum Drops SPF50 has been in the works for 18 months and we have similar products like this in production and going through testing all the time.

“The consumer demand for this product I know is going to overtake our other hero products which is just crazy. 

“I am just excited to ensure everyone wears SPF and enjoys it and hopefully in turn that decreases the rate of melanoma — that’s my mission!”