Welsh Entrepreneurs Make a Deal With Deborah Meaden And Peter Jones In The Den
Kelli Aspland (44) and Laura Waters (40), from Cwmbran in South Wales, appeared on Dragons’ Den on Thursday, 6th April, securing an £80,000 investment for their sun care product – Solar Buddies.
Solar Buddies is a no-mess applicator that enables children to put sunscreen on themselves. Kelli and Laura came up with Solar Buddies in response to the ‘no touch’ policies at their children’s schools. They found that, without help, their kids would make a massive mess of applying their sun cream or end up sunburnt if they forgot to reapply it.
Kelli said: “Going into the Den was a heart-in-mouth moment. But we know our business inside out, so as soon as we started talking, the nerves disappeared.”
Laura said: “We’re so thrilled to be working with Deborah and Peter. To have such titans of the industry come on board is incredible.”
With Spring and Summer around the corner and many families preparing for their holidays, now is a really important time to be thinking about sun protection.
Solar Buddies rose to fame thanks to the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt trend. Influencers, including Juliana Claire (45.8mn likes), At Home With Shannon (39.6mn likes), Lauren Clutter (32.9mn likes) and Hello Happy Mom (24.6mn likes) love their product.
Before launching Solar Buddies, Kelli had a placement at Cardiff University for nursing, and Laura was writing a book. They describe Solar Buddies as a ‘sliding doors’ career moment for them both.
Solar Buddies can be used universally with all lotions. Kelli and Laura have heard from painters who have used the product to create art and farmers who have used it to apply sunscreen to their animals!
Solar Buddies’ top five sun safety tips:
- Use water resistant sunscreen with a minimum SPF of 30. Pick a broad-spectrum sun cream with a 5-star rating, as these offer both UVA and UVB protection.
- Apply sunscreen at least 20 minutes before going out and reapply every 2 hours to ensure full ongoing protection.
- Cover all exposed areas, and don’t forget places like the back of the neck, backs of knees, and the tops of ears, nose and scalp.
- As well as using sunscreen, wear a hat and sunglasses. Keep well hydrated and covered up with SPF protective clothing. Make sure you seek shade between the peak times of 11am-3pm when the sun is at its strongest.
- Use sun protection in all weather. It doesn’t have to be sunny to get sunburnt. UV rays can penetrate through clouds, and even though we cannot see them, they can still damage our skin.
Find out more here!
