How it all Started

One night, while I was giving my kids a bath, it dawned on me the commercial products I was using on my own kids weren’t quite right. I was using premium natural baby products that were perfectly good but were clearly targeted with me in mind (think Lavender and a clean Spa look), and not with the preference or enjoyment of my children in mind. And why was everything labeled and formulated with a “baby” or most likely, an infant in mind?! It also dawned on me that my kids (then 7,7 and 6) weren’t babies any longer. Their skin and hair was so different than when they were tiny newborn babies. My kids were at an age where when they saw the word “baby” on their shampoo and bubble bath, they were not amused. Also, I was kind of annoyed with the obvious gender-based marketing behind some of the brands. The “sexy, coy” strawberry character and the superhero robust apple characters I’d see on their shampoos bummed me out.

As I sat there I realized the children’s segment wasn’t being properly addressed. I watched my kids play and mix one shampoo with a different shampoo, and claim to have just created “strawberry milkshake” (mixing strawberry shampoo with a vanilla bubble bath). This became the eureka moment behind the creation of Dabble & Dollop.

At my previous company, I created and orchestrated a “Kids Science Day” to help foster an interest and understanding of science and natural ingredient technology. Every year, we’d have 20—30 little ones in who loved learning about the science of ingredients and LOVED “formulating” their own shampoos and bubble baths. It was so obvious (and cute) that picking out fragrances and customizing was their favorite part and at the end of the day, at least two would declare they were going to be scientists when they grew up. Seeing children so inspired in that environment became the source of inspiration for me and ultimately the purpose behind the creation of Dabble & Dollop.