Reality TV has always had a way of sending beauty trends straight from the screen to real life, and Love Island has become one of summer’s most-watched beauty references.
Every season, viewers see a villa full of bronzed skin and glossy makeup, with each episode making the look feel easier to recognize off-screen. But this year, that glow has moved past makeup and settled more directly onto the skin, where color has become part of how people want summer to look and feel.
The problem is that the sun tied to that color is also one of the fastest ways to damage the skin, which has made the search for a safer glow feel more urgent. Lux Unfiltered has watched that search take shape, as more people trade sunbeds and long beach days for sunless color that fits more easily into daily life.
Love Island may be where the look caught on, but the real draw is the glow itself, and why so many people are chasing it before summer even starts.
Reality TV Is Driving Summer Beauty Trends Again
It all boils down to the Love Island Effect, which describes how reality television, and shows like Love Island most of all, drive that vacation-ready look into the routines people follow at home.
Viewers study the cast closely, tracing the makeup and the routines behind each on-screen look. And platforms like TikTok and Instagram speed all of it up, turning the cast's summer looks into the ones people everywhere try to copy.
Much of that copying comes down to trust, and Oakland University professor Erin Meyers credits fandoms with making people look up to someone stylistically for their fashion, and also for their general lifestyle.
Beauty brands have taken note, with NBCUniversal finding reality television lifts likeability by 42% over the usual television average. And all that attention keeps circling one look the cameras love most: sun-kissed skin.
The Return of Bronzed, Camera-Ready Skin
Radiant skin never really goes out of style, but the bronzed, sun-kissed look is back, and today’s version starts with skin that looks hydrated before makeup ever touches it. The flat-matte look of recent years has given way to cream bronzers and liquid textures, letting warmth melt into the complexion instead of sitting on top of it.
Makeup still finishes the look, but more of the glow begins with the skin underneath, which is why celebrity makeup artist Jenna Garagiola told beauty outlet Women that “gorgeous glowing makeup always starts with gorgeous glowing skin.” A bronze finish like that suggests adventurous getaways and the ease of a luxury travel lifestyle, even when the routine happens at home.
To create that full vacation-ready effect, people are treating the skin on their body more like the skin on their face, with Allure reporting that dermatologists are seeing more patients look for products that feel good on the skin as much as they work.
Poolside Beauty Has Become Its Own Category
Inspired by that same glow that Love Island has created, poolside skin has grown into a beauty category all its own. The look is meant to feel fresh and easy, like skin that still looks cared for after hours of heat and humidity. But sunscreen sits at the base of the routine, with Glamour noting that summer makeup often starts with skin care and SPF.
To get the color and shine people associate with the trend, gradual self-tanners add soft warmth over a few days, while body shimmer catches the light along the shoulders and collarbones. Byrdie describes poolside skin as sleek and wet-looking without sunburns or harsh tan lines, keeping the focus on glow rather than damage.
A safer version of that poolside look also fits the way beauty is shared now, with routines built to show up in swimwear photos and social feeds, without making sun exposure a concern.
Why Consumers Want the “Vacation Look” Without the Vacation
The vacation look has become appealing at a time when the actual vacation is often harder to get. Travel is expensive and a long weekend away is not always possible for people who still want to look rested.
But beauty products have become one of the easier ways to borrow that feeling, with self-tanners and glow-focused products offering the color people associate with time spent somewhere warm. The appeal is not only the bronze itself, but the way it makes the skin look hydrated and cared for without requiring a real trip.
And plenty of people are looking for that effect, with Google searches for the sunkissed look up 89% over the past year. The routine also gives people a small sense of control over how they show up, especially on mornings when real rest is in short supply.
A glowy face and a soft tan do not replace a holiday, but they do help create the visual signs people connect with one. And that is why the trend keeps moving beyond practical summer beauty and into something more emotional, where looking like the vacation becomes the closest version of taking it.
Conclusion: More Than Just a Beauty Trend
Sun-kissed skin has been around for decades, but Love Island has made it feel current again by tying it to confidence and time spent somewhere sunny.
However, the best way to achieve that glow now comes from products designed to build color without sending people into the sun for it. And self-tanners do that by giving skin a gradual golden finish, while hydrating body care helps make the color look softer on the body.
“The appeal isn't just the color itself. It's how a glow makes people feel,” says Sivan Ayla, founder of Lux Unfiltered. “There's something about looking rested, radiant, and confident that people associate with being on vacation. More consumers are realizing they can achieve that look without spending hours in the sun, which is why sunless tanning has become such a staple in modern beauty routines.”
A routine built this way keeps the focus on glow while taking sun exposure seriously, especially since the American Academy of Dermatology says sun protection helps reduce the risk of skin cancer and premature skin aging. Skin is the body’s largest organ, and the smarter summer glow is the one that gives people the look without asking the skin to pay for it later.
Author: Sabrina Punja, Head of Marketing at Lux Unfiltered
