5 beauty products that are sweeping Instagram this summer

Never mind hotdog legs and Aperol spritzes at sunset. If you really want to nail the holiday humblebrag this summer, it’s all about Instagramming the right products.

And the same can be said for the beauty brands trying to make it big, with the squares on our feeds now proving to be the most effective form of advertising. Accordingly, it’s here that you’ll find summer’s real cult products.

From social media-induced sellouts to superstar endorsement, here are the #shelfie stalwarts currently racking up the most likes.

1. Sand & Sky

When Sand & Sky launched its Australian Pink Clay Face Mask last summer, it promptly sold out of its 60,000-strong stockpile, which resulted in 2,000 people joining the UK waiting list in just one weekend.

Within a year, half a million customers had been convinced by the very persuasive social media campaign, featuring before and after snaps of converts including Huda Beauty, the world’s biggest beauty influencer, showcasing their brighter, tighter, pore-purged complexions.

Last month, the brand welcomed a second product — the Flash Perfection Exfoliating Treatment (£34.90) — to similar fanfare, with 15,000 people signed up to the waiting list ahead of its launch. Proof that Aussie (skin) rules. (£39.90, sandandsky.com)

2. Coco & Eve

The beachy-haired, Bali-loving duo behind Coco & Eve first blended raw virgin coconut with fig, argan oil and shea butter as a salve for their own sun-and-sea-ravaged locks.

Just eight weeks after landing on our shores, the brand sold more than 85,000 tubs of its now cult hair mask, which has been wowing its 75k+ Instagram followers with videos showcasing its ability to turn straw-like strands into gorgeously glossy gold — alongside dreamy paradise-island snaps, natch. (£34.90, cocoandeve.com)

3. Sol de Janeiro

Along with football stars and caipirinhas, Brazil is a nation famous for its bums. But for those who aren’t naturally blessed with a backside to rival Adriana Lima, Sol de Janeiro has bottled the secret for a Rio-worthy derriere with its Brazilian Bum Bum Cream.

This rich and heavenly scented body cream is loaded with guarana — an Amazonian plant that contains five times more caffeine than coffee — along with hydrating cupuaçu butter, açaí and coconut oil to stimulate circulation, smooth cellulite and generally perfect your posterior, and everywhere else in fact.

Needless to say, it’s been a roaring success. When it landed on Sephora in 2016 it sold out in just four days, while sales for UK retailers are up a whopping 817 per cent on last year. Now the brand has expanded to include other beach-bound essentials, including its new Brazilian Bod Buff smoothing scrub and shimmering Glow Oils, the latter of which sold out in hours after going on sale earlier this month. (£18, cultbeauty.co.uk)

4. Fenty Beauty

With each launch from Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line comes hype on royal wedding scale. Her summer collection, Beach, Please, is no exception. But there’s one product in particular intent on breaking the internet, the Body Lava Luminizer, which has sold out, been restocked and sold out again in less than a week of hitting counters last month.

This is probably down to the sizzling demo video RiRi uploaded ahead of the launch and the fact that every beauty blogger worth their ring flash has posted their own #bodylava #nofilter endorsements.

The glitter-drenched body shimmer comes in two shades:Who Needs Clothes? (a glistening rose gold) and Brown Sugar (a sunbaked bronze), which can be blended onto arms, legs, shoulders and collarbone using the Fenty Beauty Kabuki body brush (£26). The full collection, which includes colour-pop foil highlighters and iridescent lip glosses, lands today. (£46, harveynichols.com)

5. Bali Body

Made-in-Melbourne tanning oil brand Bali Body sells a product every 45 seconds, 365 days of the year on its site worldwide. With more than 1.1 million Instagram followers, the influencers’ favourite is tagged in a post every 10 minutes. Fans include bikini blogger Devin Brugman (1.3m followers) Khassani Swimwear founder Mathilde Tantot (1.2m) and Aussie model Belle Lucia (1.2m).

Founded by husband-and-wife team Laura Foley and David Oosterloo in 2014 while the pair were living in Bali, the brand (arriving in the UK this month) offers a natural tanning solution suitable for sensitive and eczema-prone skin, with fruity cocktails laced with ingredients such as pineapple, watermelon and cacao in cute ’grammable bottles. Pair with a pink flamingo pool float and watch the likes come flooding in. (£18.95, uk.balibodyco.com)