Sunkissed

Sunkissed is a British self-tan and colour-cosmetics brand based in the United Kingdom and owned by Rainbow Cosmetics (Manchester) Ltd, a Manchester distributor of fragrance and beauty products [2]. Best known for its affordable self-tanning mousses, the brand also carries a broader range of bronzing and everyday cosmetics. It remains active, sold through major UK retailers and, according to trade press, available in more than 40 countries [3].

Rainbow Cosmetics lists Sunkissed among its portfolio of own brands, describing it as an "award-winning tanning and cosmetic brand" alongside the bath-and-body gifting label Style & Grace. The brand has sometimes been associated with Brand Architekts or Swallowfield; that attribution does not hold up. Brand Architekts owns the separate Skin & Tan line, and multiple independent sources — Rainbow Cosmetics' own company profile, trade coverage in Cosmetics Business, and UK retailer pages — identify Sunkissed as an own-brand of Rainbow Cosmetics [3].

Rainbow Cosmetics (Manchester) Ltd describes itself as one of the UK's leading distributors of branded fragrance and beauty, a business it dates to 1990 [2]. Sunkissed is one of its in-house brands rather than a standalone company. The distributor says it reaches the market through national accounts, wholesale, online, independent retailers and export [2].

The brand sits in the drugstore price tier and centres on self-tan: its site groups products into mousses, mists, lotions and whipped mousses, with ranges that include Professional, Everyday and HydroGlow. Recurring products include the Self Tan Mousse and the HydroGlow Tanning Mousse. Beyond tanning, Sunkissed offers colour cosmetics spanning face, eyes, lips and brows, together with a bath-and-body line.

Formulations are marketed around naturally derived ingredients, with aloe vera and glycerine cited on retailer listings as skin-conditioning components. The brand positions itself under the tagline "Natural Ingredients, Real Glow," and its products are described as made in the UK.

Sunkissed frames itself as an accessible brand built on natural-derived, vegan and cruelty-free formulations. Trade press describes it as offering "vegan and cruelty-free bronzing and colour cosmetics" [3], and retailer material notes a reformulated range said to be 95% natural [4]. A 2020 review of the Self Tan Mousse echoed these claims, adding that the product "smells like coconuts" and carried "100% sustainable packaging" [5].

The brand's sustainability messaging centres on packaging. In coverage of a switch documented by Cosmetics Business, Sunkissed partnered with The Label Makers to adopt "bio-based PE labels, an alternative to standard PE made from 100% sugar cane ethanol" [3]. Products have been marketed with fully sustainable packaging claims.

Retailer material records a relaunch in 2018, when Sunkissed reformulated its range to be 95% natural, vegan and cruelty-free [4]. Rainbow Cosmetics later announced a new Sunkissed website, describing the redesign as bringing "the brand to life" [2].

Sunkissed has been presented as a multi-award-winning range in both owner and retailer descriptions [4]. The brand reported a win at the Pure Beauty Awards 2025, shared through its Instagram channel.

Sunkissed is an active brand. It is stocked at UK retailers including Boots and Superdrug, distributed by an operating parent company, and its most recent visible activity — the 2025 award post and continued retail presence — indicates ongoing trade [3]. Cosmetics Business reports the brand is sold in more than 40 countries through retailers such as Superdrug, Morrisons, boohoo.com and prettylittlething.com [3].