Around 2018, I wanted a subtle glow on my skin. Not glitter. Not a bronzer. Something closer to a toned-down cheek highlight, spread over the whole body. I was forty-two, and I wasn't looking for anyone to notice. I wanted skin that caught the light on its own terms.
The market didn't have what I was looking for. Bronzing and tanning oils existed, but they were mostly about depth and color, not shimmer. The glow oils we had encountered at that time, sat on the surface of the skin in a silicone or gel base that felt tacky on the skin. Nothing we found did what I actually wanted: a sophisticated shimmer oil that absorbed into the skin, sat close to the body, and glimmered when the light found it.
So we made it. That product became Sundae Glow.
Sundae Glow bronzing shimmer oil. All the glow, none of the weight.
Bronzing oil and tanning oil are not the same thing
People use the terms interchangeably, and I understand why. They look alike on a shelf. They come in similar packaging. But they are built for completely different purposes.
A tanning oil is designed to deepen your skin tone. It accelerates the tanning process, usually by drawing UV rays to the skin. Some contain bronzers that temporarily stain the skin darker. The goal is color change.
A bronzing oil like Sundae Glow is not trying to change your color. It's trying to enhance what's already there. The shimmer sits in a lightweight base of hemp oil, tamanu oil, squalane oil, and an olive-derived star ingredient that gives the formula its signature velvet touch. The result is a sheer, conditioning layer that catches and reflects light. The skin just gleams and glows.
Light-activated shimmer
This is the thing I hear most from people who try Sundae Glow for the first time. They put it on, it dries down, and then someone catches their arm in a certain light and asks: what is that on your skin?
That's by design. We didn't want a product that reads as shimmer at all times. We didn't want large visible particles sitting on top of the skin. We wanted the kind of radiance that looks like you're glowing from the inside out, not like you applied something to it. The shimmer in Sundae Glow is fine enough that it reads as natural glow in everyday light. When the light hits it at an angle, you are caught. Unmistakably luminous. But until then, it wears like a well-conditioned skin day.
At forty-two, that's exactly what I was after. Not sleeping in gold paint or bronze. Just the glow of someone who eats her vegetables.
The glow shows when the light shows.
Why we don't use glitter
Traditional cosmetic glitter gives you a different kind of shimmer. Bigger particles, more visible at all times, a look that reads as "ooohhh, pick me" from across the room. For some products and some moments, that's exactly right.
For Sundae Glow, it was never the direction. Partly because of the feel: glitter tends to linger on the skin for days after a special occasion, no matter how well you cleanse. It migrates. It shows up on pillowcases and car seats long after the event is over. Shimmer that outlasts the night it was meant for was never what this product was about.
But there's another reason we've kept glitter out of everything we make, the same reason we've kept palm oil out of our soaps. Traditional cosmetic glitter is a microplastic. Those particles don't break down. They end up in water systems, in oceans, on coral reefs. We're a small brand and Sundae Glow is one product, but the principle is the same one we applied when we decided to go palm-free: if we can avoid contributing to the problem, we do. That's a standing commitment, not a marketing angle.
The texture people always ask about
Everyone who touches the skin after Sundae Glow dries down asks the same question. How did you get your skin to feel like that?
The answer is in the base. Hemp oil, tamanu oil, and squalene oil are all lightweight conditioning oils that absorb without sitting heavy on the skin. They prevent the ashiness that cheaper formulas don't address, and they give the skin a real emollient benefit, not just a cosmetic one. The olive-derived star ingredient in the formula is what creates that sheer, velvet texture after dry-down. It's not a film-forming silicone. It doesn't create a surface coating. It works with the skin rather than sitting on top of it.
That's the texture. Sheer. Velvet. Emollient.
How to apply it
There are two ways I use Sundae Glow, depending on what I'm doing.
The first is after a shower, on damp skin. Apply it all over the body the same way you'd apply a lotion, while the skin is still slightly wet. Let it dry down before you get dressed. This method gives you the most even coverage and the least transfer onto clothing. Once it absorbs, it doesn't move.
The second is as a targeted highlighter, applied after you're already dressed. If you're wearing a v-neck, a tank dress, or shorts, you apply Sundae Glow only to the exposed areas: arms, neckline, legs. No risk of anything transferring onto the fabric during dressing, and you get a precise, intentional glow exactly where you want it.
Both methods work. The damp-skin approach is the full lotion-replacement experience. The targeted approach is the evening-out-the-door method.
Sundae Glow contains zinc oxide, which is one of two ingredients the FDA recognizes as safe and effective for sun protection. But the concentration in this formula is far below the threshold needed to make any SPF claim, which according to FDA guidance on over-the-counter sunscreen, requires enough active ingredient to deliver a minimum measurable SPF. Sundae Glow is not a sunscreen and should not be used as one. If you're using a mineral sunscreen underneath, the zinc oxide in Sundae Glow adds a small additional barrier, but your sunscreen is doing the primary work. We included it for its skin-conditioning properties, not as a sun protection claim.
The Polish and Glow bundle
If you want the full experience, start with Creme Brulee body polish before reaching for Sundae Glow. Creme Brulee is a shimmer sugar scrub scented with ylang ylang, vanilla, and helichrysum, with the natural sweetness of the sugar itself coming through as its own note. It's fortified with herbal extractions including comfrey, which we use across several formulas for its remarkable skin-conditioning properties. We'll cover those in depth in the herbal infusion post.
The routine is simple: scrub first, oil second. Creme Brulee lifts away dry surface skin. Sundae Glow seals in the conditioning and brings the glow. The helichrysum and comfrey run through both products, which means the skin is getting the same beneficial ingredients from two angles. That's not an accident.
The bundle is called Polish and Glow. The name is accurate.
Formulator's Notes: straight answers from 25+ years behind the bench.
