Behind British Summer Time’s glow-up

Some products happen because we discover an organic ingredient that wows us. Sometimes it’s because we hear requests from you, our customers, and realise there’s a serious sensitive skincare gap to fill. But for British Summer Time Glow™, our new hybrid sunscreen, it all started with a eureka moment.

“We knew many of our customers were mixing The Impossible Glow™ drops into British Summer Time™ every morning – as was I,” explains Sarah Brown, our Founder. “But I found it hard to get the proportions right, and it was quite fiddly for a busy morning routine.

"Chatting to Louise, our Global Marketing Director, we landed on the idea to blend the two in a ready-made form. And that was it. Once the idea was planted, we couldn’t wait to make it happen."

Making SPF non-negotiable

While the concept sprang from a lightbulb moment, the mission was bigger: to get everyone wearing SPF every day, because we know many don’t.

“We felt creating a new format of our much-loved sunscreen – as a hybrid primer and protector in one – might help make it a quick and easy part of our customers’ everyday skincare,” adds Sarah. “Giving them added glow, and skin confidence on top.”

So we asked our in-house chemists to make a sunscreen so luminous, that you’d never want to skip it again. And it had to be quick – because summer was fast approaching.

The challenge of making a hybrid formula

No pressure, then. It was our tightest turnaround from lab to launch – including losing an hour thanks to the very clock change which inspired the name (more on that later). And formulating it wasn’t quite as simple as the idea itself.

“Given the speed to market, the most obvious starting point was to combine our two existing formulations,” John Monoyioudis, our Head of R&D tells us. “Unfortunately, it didn't go to plan so we had to make some changes, and material availability proved a factor in finalising the formulation too.”

Once the team were happy with the formula itself – and how it felt and performed on the skin – we had a bigger question to solve. How ‘glow’ do we go?

“The next challenge was to agree on a shade that appealed to the broadest spectrum of skin tones,” says John. That meant testing, testing, and more testing. And eventually, we landed on a universally radiant shade that adds luminosity – not a tint – helping to reduce any white cast from the mineral filters, and giving the skin a perfectly primed finish.

The result was a formula that we could be proud of. Because we never innovate for innovation’s sake – and we’d created a product that brought something new to the skincare table.

“Globally, very few 100% natural products in the market provide mineral-only SPF protection, give the skin an instant glow, and comply with COSMOS certification. But this does,” adds John.

The unique formula and its certification keeps our lab team on their toes, too. “A formula that essentially combines The Impossible Glow™ and British Summer Time™ hasn't made cleaning any easier, as both are notoriously stubborn to clean,” explains Ruby Notay, our Quality Manager.

“To make it more complicated, we have to use COSMOS-approved cleaning agents. To tackle this challenge, we're actively trialling various methods and exploring new supplier options to enhance and streamline our cleaning process.”

Thankfully, naming it was easy

We’d already put all the hard work into our original mineral sunscreen, British Summer Time™; a bestseller in its own right. So when we needed a name for our new SPF, we stuck to what sparked the idea in the first place – and just added ‘Glow’.

Why British Summer Time™? “There is a moment in the UK calendar when the clocks go forward an hour and we step into BST (British Summer Time) from GMT (Greenwich Mean Time),” says Sarah. “It signals the start of spring and the promise of summer, with longer, lighter days to come after a winter of hibernation.

“It’s a completely joyful time in the UK, as a London-born brand we wanted to capture that spirit in a bottle. The name isn’t just about the British summer (because we don’t always get much of one!). It’s about something overall bigger and brighter. It’s about a state of mind.”

Find out more about our new glowing sunscreen for sensitive skin here, and shop British Summer Time Glow™ now