New At Urban Outfitters, Suntouched Reimagines Hair Lightening Sprays For Consumers Whose Parents Used Sun In

In 2020, life coach and avowed digital nomad Charlotte St-Germain, founder and CEO of Suntouched, was visiting Greece, where sun-soaked days spent beachside left her and her friends’ blonde hair naturally lighter.

When St-Germain returned home to Montreal, she brought back a vision of creating a line of sun-inspired, effective hair lightening sprays compatible with all hair types and colors. She says, “I loved seeing the sun’s natural brightening effect on my friends and myself, bringing out everyone’s natural beauty and love for life.”

Although hair lightening sprays like Nineties-era sensation Sun In have been available on store shelves seemingly forever, St-Germain felt the category was due for a major revamp. With emerging brand Suntouched, which launched in January 2021 when sun-chasing St-Germain was in Riviera Maya, Mexico, she strives to make hair lightening sprays current. She says, “I wanted the branding to focus on beach themes and summer travel to relay an elevated, yet effortless approach to hair lightening treatments to hold onto a sun-kissed summer look year-round.”

Suntouched didn’t take a ton of money to start. With her savings plus a small amount from her brother, St-Germain spent $4,000 to get it going. Money wasn’t the main impediment to establishing the brand. Finding a manufacturer was. St-Germain reached out to around 30 overseas and eventually connected with a factory willing to take a chance and turn her concept of a clean, sustainable, effective hair lightener into a reality. She says, “It’s not easy to do, especially with a minimal budget.”

St-Germain worked hand in hand with the manufacturer for six months to develop Suntouched’s products. Bleach and alcohol were no-gos for its formulas. St-Germain also specified that they had to be paraben- and cruelty-free, vegan and contain beneficial hair ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, pineapple and citrus extract, glycerin, vitamin C and chamomile.

Suntouched’s debut hair lightener is called straightforwardly enough Hair Lightener for Light Hair. It’s designed to produce highlights with subtle sandy and golden tones, and the brand sold out of 10,000 units of it within months of its launch. Not long after Hair Lightener for Light Hair launched, Suntouched released Hair Lightener for Dark Hair. St-Germain says, “Our Hair Lightener for Dark Hair is our bestseller, and we’re the only brand with one that I know of.” The hair lighteners are priced at $36 each.

Suntouched generated $300,000 in sales in its first year of business and $900,000 in its second year. St-Germain projects sales for 2023 will be roughly $1.6 million, mostly from direct-to-consumer distribution. Today, 65% of sales are from the brand’s website and 28% are from Amazon.

An advertising budget of approximately $380,000 spread out over Suntouched’s initial two years enabled the brand to raise awareness largely via paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram. Now, it’s looking to amplify organic growth. The brand has already become profitable, and it took about a year and a half to achieve that milestone.

“We’re not making huge amounts of money, but the revenue is decent, and we crossed the seven-figure last March,” says St-Germain. “But I’m betting on more of an organic word-of-mouth strategy in the future to be more profitable and in a healthier financial position.”

Like most startups, Suntouched has encountered bumps along the way that affected cash flow. St-Germain admits to hiring too fast once growth expedited. “I had to learn that Suntouched is more of a seasonal business. We see demand for the products between March and August. I didn’t foresee the down period and inability to afford all the hires I brought on,” says St-Germain, who relies on freelance workers. “So, unfortunately, I had to let some people go, which was a tough experience.”

The shifts haven’t been isolated to behind-the-scenes operations. Suntouched is constantly improving its formula and packaging, even though tweaks can slim profits. The brand has updated its lighteners three times, and its logo and bottles have been renovated. “We are still in listening mode, and I always want to hear what people say,” says St-Germain. “But I’m at the point where I’m happy with the results that customers see from our products. We routinely hear that Suntouched gives a beautiful result and doesn’t compromise the hair’s health, which is precisely what I set out to create.”

Suntouched’s bottles are crafted from recycled materials without BPA. The brand has become plastic-neutral with CleanHub and participates in environmental philanthropy by partnering with the organization 1% for the Planet. Suntouched donates 1% of its annual revenue to four different nonprofits, and it says its shipments yield zero emissions.

St-Germain describes Suntouched’s core customers as “busy career-driven professionals in their late 20s and 30s who value self-care and self-expression and prioritize their time. They’re trying to avoid having harsh chemicals that damage their hair, so they’re leaning towards something more gentle.”

Last year, the brand expanded into after-care products with $28 Toning Blue Mask for dark hair and $28 Toning Purple Mask for light hair in response to customers continually asking about after-care options. St-Germain says, “We constantly recommended toning masks from other brands, so that gave us the idea to launch our own and create a bundle out of it.”

At the end of 2021, Suntouched landed on Urban Outfitters’ website. This month, it’s rolling out to a dozen of the retailer’s stores in top locations spanning from Honolulu to San Juan. Outside of Urban Outfitters, the brand has a presence at Canadian department store Hudson’s Bay, New Zealand clothing retailer Superette and American e-tailer Verishop. Free People is on deck for March.

Beyond that, St-Germain has a long list of dream retailers, including Billabong, Target and Lululemon. Even though retail helps cast a wider net for customers, Suntouched’s main customer acquisition channel remains paid advertising.

At the moment, Suntouched doesn’t require external capital for retail expansion and pursuing investors isn’t a top priority. “It’s a big commitment to work with someone, and I want to be 100% sure about who we take money from, their intentions and that they respect my way of doing things,” says St-Germain. “A VC firm might have certain expectations of me, and I feel more comfortable keeping things in-house now, but I wouldn’t refuse the right offer if it’s the right fit.”

St-Germain is thrilled with how far her brand has come in a short time. “I’m proud of it and love when customers share their feedback,” she says. If she has a regret, it’s that Suntouched didn’t begin with spiffier packaging. “We gift a lot of products to influencers, and we built this huge content library with a previous version of the logo and product, so we can’t use it,” she says. “My advice to other indie brands is to start with beautiful packaging that resonates with the customer. That would have saved us a lot of effort and money.”