Sundae founder Lizzie Binks on Making Body Care Fun Again

Before founding Sundae, Lizzie Binks began her career in a call centre after leaving school. She later moved into marketing and social media, working in the space before Instagram and TikTok became the centre of beauty culture. It was the brand side of the industry that she loved most. After years spent building other people's businesses, she began wondering what she could create herself.

“I couldn't shake the feeling that body care was a category nobody had bothered to rethink,” Lizzie told TBTM. The observation came from looking at a category people use every day and wondering why it had become so predictable.

“I wanted body care to be the part of your routine you looked forward to most.” “Everything in the category felt beige, serious and purely functional... same bottles, same claims, same everything.”

Her interest was in changing the experience of using body care. That idea became the foundation of Sundae. “Fragrance, colour and texture have this incredible ability to completely change how something feels….If we could turn a two minute shower into something that genuinely brightened your day, we'd done our job.”

Binks still sees that thought as central to the business. “We never really set out to reinvent the category, we wanted to reinvent how it makes you feel.”

The brand's visual identity developed alongside the original concept. The whipped shower foam became one of Sundae's defining products, packaged in a can inspired by whipped cream. It was a format that immediately gave the brand a different presence in the body care aisle.

“We built the identity around the senses from day one...We really wanted to build a brand that stood for joy and self-expression rather than just product, and we've been laser focused on that ever since.”

The packaging was also a reflection of how Binks wanted the products to feel in use. Body care could have personality. The bathroom could be somewhere people actually enjoyed spending time. There wasn't one particular moment when Binks realised Sundae had developed a community. “It kind of happened gradually,” she said. After the Shower Foams launched, customers began sharing the products without being asked. “We started seeing people share Sundae as part of their real routines... filming their showers, layering scents, telling us which fragrance took them back to a fond memory.”

The content became part of the brand's story because people were creating it themselves. Seeing something that began as an idea become part of another person's routine remains difficult to take for granted. “Our community is honestly the most rewarding part of building Sundae…It still blows me away that something that started as an idea in my head has become part of so many people's everyday routines.”

The early days of the business were complicated by circumstances that were largely outside Binks' control. Launching in the middle of COVID definitely wasn't part of the plan, and manufacturing delays and shipping chaos became part of launching a new beauty brand. The packaging brought another unexpected challenge.

“We wanted the shower foam to look like a can of whipped cream, and it turns out you can't just buy whipped cream caps.”

Sundae had to invest in custom tooling before the first product had been sold. Looking back, Binks believes those challenges forced the business to become more resourceful.



“As a founder you quickly learn there's no time to panic… you just solve the next problem in front of you. And then the next one!”

The first real indication that the brand had connected with its audience came after the Shower Foams launched. People started posting about Sundae without any prompting, and what mattered was the way people were talking about the products.

“They weren't just reviewing the product, they were filming shower routines, showing off the texture, sharing their favourite fragrance and genuinely having fun with it…That has probably been the biggest compliment.” As the brand has expanded, Binks has remained focused on keeping Sundae recognisable. Every product and campaign comes back to the same question. Does this feel like Sundae? Which became a way of deciding what belongs within the brand as new opportunities emerge.

“We know exactly who we are, and just as importantly, who we're not.”

Growth can create pressure to pursue every new trend. Binks has resisted that approach. “We've never wanted to be everything to everyone, we'd rather do a few things really well and continue building on the reason people fell in love with the brand in the first place...We're constantly throwing ideas around, but not every idea makes it through...We ask ourselves what people are wanting, what's missing from the category, and how we can surprise our customers in a way that still feels unmistakably Sundae.”

Beauty is an increasingly crowded market, and Binks believes brands are often competing around similar functional claims. Her interest lies in what happens beyond a product's basic function. “Beauty is incredibly crowded, but most of it competes on the same claims (in my opinion)...I think people often focus on solving functional problems, when the bigger opportunity is often emotional…The brands that cut through are the ones that make people feel something, whether that's through genuine product innovation or storytelling people actually connect with.”

The next chapter will involve “more innovation, more playfulness, and hopefully a few more category-first moments.” Binks is also thinking beyond individual products and towards the wider body care routine. “We're looking beyond individual products and thinking about complete routines, new formats and new ways to surprise people.” There is plenty of room for that exploration. “There are still so many everyday moments we want to reinvent.”



That ambition also extends beyond Australia. Binks believes Australian beauty brands have developed a distinctive way of connecting with consumers, with a reputation for creating effective products while retaining a sense of personality. “We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we pride ourselves on making products that work and I think we have earned a reputation for being innovative without being intimidating.” Australia's relatively small domestic market also means brands with larger ambitions often have to consider international customers early. “Australia is a relatively small market, so if you want to build a big brand, you can't just think locally.” Yet when Binks reflects on what she is most proud of building with Sundae, it comes back to the people who have made the brand part of their lives.

“Honestly, the emotional connection people have with Sundae.”

She is proud to see the brand on shelves around the world, but the messages from customers hold a different kind of significance. “What means the most are the messages from people saying our products genuinely brighten their day, remind them of a favourite memory, or have made them excited about body care again.”

It is a fitting reflection of the idea that started the business in the first place. Binks wanted body care to be something people looked forward to using, and watching customers develop their own rituals around Sundae has become one of the clearest signs that the idea resonated. For anyone considering launching a beauty brand, Binks has a simple piece of advice: “Spend less time looking at your competitors and more time understanding your customer.”

She believes the strongest ideas come from paying attention to consumer behaviour and understanding the details of people's everyday lives. “The best ideas come from really understanding consumer behaviour - what people love, what frustrates them, what they wish existed, and the little moments in their day that could be made better.” Her advice is to remain curious throughout the process. “Stay curious, ask lots of questions and spend as much time listening as you do creating.”

It is an approach that has followed Sundae from its earliest days. Binks saw an opportunity in a category she felt had been overlooked and built a brand around the experience she wanted people to have. As Sundae enters its next chapter, that same curiosity remains at the centre of where the brand goes next.

“There are still so many everyday moments we want to reinvent.”