What Andrea Faulkner Williams learned from nightly baths with irritated skin

Tough skin still wants a joyful bath. That tension sits at the center of baby care, where foam and fragrance often fight with comfort, and where parents are asked to choose between fun and calm.

Andrea Faulkner Williams chose not to choose. With her husband Brian she launched Tubby Todd from San Diego in 2014, after two years of work with professional formulators. The spark was domestic rather than commercial. They wanted a small family company, and Brian had spent time in sales and marketing around a lab that made formulas, so he had watched bases and scents get selected. One night driving home he rang Andrea to say they should create their own bath range for kids. The name arrived fast. The formulas took longer.

Their second baby arrived during development with quite severe eczema, which forced a rethink. The goal stopped being a plant based wash that foamed nicely and smelled pleasant. It became a daily practice that would suit raw, dry skin. When they bathed their son Walker in the early hair and body wash, his skin cleared fully. Parent bloggers passed the story on, families wrote back, and a bathtub community formed.

Reading the interviews closely, the method looks simple and plant centered. Jojoba esters for glide, camellia leaf extract for ease, colloidal oatmeal at one percent for comfort. The habit is a nightly one and it stays slow. Cleanse lightly, cream every day, lock in with balm where dryness lingers. That pattern repeats through ten years.

It began at the tub with a body wash that calms and hydrates skin while leaving moisture in place and avoiding irritation. The About page line sounds like copy until you hear the home test behind it. What stayed out, what stayed in, and would the maker bathe her own four children in it.

That cleanser was the start for us. We set out to use clean plant ingredients, yet we were tired of options that smelled dull. Much of what sat on shelves looked thin or weak. It made a little foam and then left skin tight and dry, which is wrong for a young child.

Brian knew production from the inside, the way labels pick bases and scents and target costs. We felt we could work another way. With four small children at home, we make only what we would keep in our own bathroom. That turned into our filter. If we would not reach for it each night with our own kids, we would not sell it.

Our debut was a hair and body wash released in 2014. It needed two years. We partnered with formulators, we trialed batches, we revised. We sought something pure and hypoallergenic, built with botanical extracts and plant derived cleansing, that still gave real lather. Foam counted because bathtime should feel pleasant. Kindness counted more, because skin should feel settled after.

You started the early brand with no retail budget by building a Shopify site together and mailing product to mommy bloggers, what did those early parents show you that paid ads never could.

They shaped how we speak. With no budget for stores, we posted our own Shopify pages and mailed wash to bloggers and held our breath. After Walker skin settled, people shared it in plain terms. They wrote about tub time, night waking, scratching, soft cheeks. Those specifics improved us.

We hold that we would prefer no paid ads over chasing growth through algorithms. It may sound obstinate, yet it kept us inside the Tubby Todd Mamas group and inside messages and replies. By 2024 the circle held a big Instagram audience and a private group near twenty thousand parents. When twenty thousand caregivers describe midnight tube use, you learn fast what truly helps.

We also keep a rule against publishing what we would not wish to read, use or watch. If it would not serve a friend, we skip it. Never make anything you would not forward to a friend. The line seems plain. It cuts plenty.

Lavender and rosemary move through the wash plus the lotion and bubble bath, while the ointment and diaper paste remain fragrance free, how do you choose which steps hold scent and which stay quiet.

We look at contact time and location. A wash or bubble soak covers the whole body briefly. Fragrance there can lift the mood, then wash off. Lavender offers a gentle herbal softness. Rosemary keeps it from turning drowsy or powdery. Honeysuckle and grapefruit play a like role in the bubble bath, bright yet not harsh.

A balm that remains behaves differently. The All Over Ointment rests on skin for hours, often on cheeks or cracked spots. Fragrance free fits better there. The same logic guides Sweet Cheeks Diaper Paste, which contains fourteen percent zinc oxide to help treat and prevent diaper rash by sealing out wetness. That zone is already tender. We leave it unscented.

We also hold fragrance free editions of the wash and lotion. Certain households require unscented across the board. Others enjoy scented evenings and neutral mornings. We aim to cover both while keeping the same mild base.

Your second child arrived with quite bad eczema while you were still formulating, and Walker skin clearing after the home wash is now brand lore, how did that shift the brief from pleasant natural products to care that must work on irritated skin.

Everything shifted. At first we pictured natural goods that smelled nice and suited an ordinary bath. Then we cared for an infant whose skin stayed dry and sore nearly all the time. Nice was not sufficient. Nice offers little at two in the morning with a restless child.

Those months taught us what calms while still cleaning. A wash should tend hair and skin with one to two pumps, then clear away without that tight squeak. That squeak signals you removed too much. In our home, we moved toward stages. Wash with care, then soften and hydrate each day, then shield the driest patches with a denser layer.

That is why they suit bath time for anyone prone to sensitivities, especially eczema. We crafted simple body staples for small children and mothers as well. Grown ups with reactive skin reach for the same pots. A newborn cheek and a mother hand in winter share traits. Both shed water quickly. Both prefer plain support that remains.

You often say you prefer using whatever ingredients work best over thinning a formula to meet a shelf price, where did that rule start and how does it live in the All Over Ointment with jojoba esters, camellia leaf extract and one percent colloidal oatmeal.

It grew from seeing price set the formula. Thinning a blend to meet a target is simple. We refused that path. We prefer to state a price plainly rather than quietly weaken what is inside. Caregivers sense richness in a salve. It either keeps dampness in or it fails.

Our All Over Ointment proves that promise in use Families nickname it a balm for everything, and we welcome the label because it matches real use. It feels thick and creamy, built from plant derived parts like jojoba esters and camellia leaf extract to moisturize skin. Jojoba esters lend sleek protective glide with no waxy drag. Camellia leaf adds a mild leafy ease that sits well under cover.

The newer eczema relief edition includes one percent colloidal oatmeal. We add it to help calm itching linked to eczema and other sensitivities You smooth it onto dry, irritated or eczema prone spots as an all over balm. At home that means after bathing, over slightly damp skin, pressed gently. Then again at sunrise on elbows, knees, cheeks, anywhere dryness collects.

We kept testing at the sink until the wash calmed and hydrated while leaving moisture in place and avoiding irritation.

Andrea Faulkner Williams

The brand promise rests on a three step rhythm of wash plus everyday lotion and ointment, can you show how you use those three at home, with amounts and order and the spots parents often miss.

We call it Good Clean Fun, while the order stays the same Start at the sink with the Hair and Body Wash Foam one to two pumps between palms to gently clean hair and skin. No cloud of suds is required. Use warm water, wash briskly, rinse thoroughly. Clean yet supple is the aim.

Next, over skin that remains faintly damp, apply the Everyday Lotion to soften and moisturize sensitive skin. It holds natural extracts and plant-based ingredients, sold in lavender and rosemary plus fragrance free. Spread daily from head to toe. Caregivers often skip behind ears, neck folds, and upper arm backs. Dryness often begins in those spots.

Then lock in where required with ointment. Glide it over dry, sore or eczema prone spots In some kids that means winter cheeks. In others it means elbow and knee creases. Warm a slim coat between hands first for easy spread. Evenings get the full trio in our house. Mornings often get lotion with a dab of balm.

You say you spent two years with professional formulators before the 2014 launch, what were you requesting that needed that time, and what did you learn about plant based ingredients that foam without drying.

We chased two aims that rarely align. We sought botanical cleansing that bubbled like a true bath soap, while still leaving hydration. Nearly every trial met one side. Either texture felt nourishing yet foamed poorly, or it foamed and stripped skin.

So we kept cycling. We would sample a base, live with it for baths, then return for changes. We explored natural extracts that aid softness instead of masking with strong perfume. Lavender and rosemary lent a fresh herbal character that caregivers enjoyed, and we later held a fragrance free edition for highly sensitive homes. Listening drove that split. Certain families adore bath scent. Others cannot tolerate any.

Patience was the takeaway. A blend that performs in glassware can act otherwise in a small tub of warm water with a squirming toddler. We kept washing until the wash calmed and quenched while keeping moisture in and keeping calm skin That phrase remains on our page because it served as our home benchmark.

In January 2026 you launched nationwide in Target and became a leading baby skincare brand in those stores, how did you keep the formulas and the family tone steady while moving from direct community to a national shelf.

We held the same standard. Choose strong ingredients, never water down for a shelf tag. Target brought scale, but jars needed to perform alike whether ordered from us or lifted in a distant shop. The wash still had to lather richly using only one to two pumps The balm still had to feel full through jojoba esters.

Voice had to travel too. I am Andrea Faulkner Williams, and I am so happy to welcome you to the TT fam That welcome starts our About page for new readers It stays warm because we feel it. We make the best selling skincare products for little ones and for grown ups too. That sentence concerns users rather than ranking. A father with chapped hands, a grandparent, a toddler.

We remain family operated in San Diego, in our Tubhub. I meet each new hire myself. It seems minor, but it guards tone. If you know you know. You have got this. To us those phrases are not taglines. They are words for an exhausted caregiver.

You are a mother of four leading a team with your husband Brian, what does a calm botanical routine look like on a real evening, from water temperature to the final press of balm.

It appears regular, which delights me. Keep water lukewarm rather than hot. Allow a brief soak. Cleanse with one to two pumps, scalp first then limbs, so bath water stays fresher. Rinse completely. Lift out and pat gently, never rub. Skin should appear calm, not flushed.

Then cream without delay. We store the pump within reach to avoid gaps. Glide over legs, tummy, arms, cheeks if the child accepts it and the recipe suits. Then dab ointment across dry zones. A bit on cheeks during cold spells. A bit on hands. Press softly instead of pulling. That press counts. It beds balm down with less friction.

Cradle cap or tangles or a rash flare get their own plain handling. Yet typical nights need only those three moves. Settle the day. Bring in a little quiet. Let the rush of daytime ease. Botanicals do their soft work as rest follows.

You close many notes with comfort like you have got this and if you know you know, what would you tell a parent starting a business while raising small children, beginning with your own line that if you have an idea do not wait for anyone else to do it.

I urge that if you have an idea or feel passionate about starting a business, do not wait for anyone else to do it. We lacked capital or retail doors. We owned a tabletop question and a lab ready to revise with us. We coded the shop ourselves. We packed parcels ourselves.

Keep your eyes on the place you want to reach. That saying steers me. Select a bearing, then make a small advance. For us that meant a single solid wash in 2014, then lotion, then salve. It meant hearing more than speaking. It meant serving shoppers like a best friend rather than talking about the brand itself.

And hold the home test. We only make products that we would want to use inside our own homes. If a bottle falls short for your own basin or bath, it stays unfinished. That measure has always held.

Closing note from the desk

What lingers from this talk is the order of operations. Lather lightly, cream while damp, add balm where tightness appears. Botanicals carry clear tasks here. Oatmeal for ease, jojoba for hold, camellia for softness, lavender and rosemary to signal night. Each earns its place in the wash day line.

Tubby Todd aimed to craft body care basics for little ones and mamas too, minus stripping moisture or causing irritation. Ten years later the approach still shows in bathrooms and aisles. It remains a household firm that expanded the household way, one bath after another.

Product spotlight

All Over Ointment Eczema Relief, 36 dollars for 8 oz fragrance free, plus 3.5 oz for 22 dollars and tube sizes. A dense botanical salve with jojoba esters, camellia leaf extract and one percent colloidal oatmeal to help soften the appearance of irritation linked with eczema. Smooth over dry or eczema prone patches post bath, warmed in palms and pressed down.

Hair + Body Wash, 40 dollars for 25 oz in Lavender and Rosemary, plus 8.5 oz for 17 dollars, 2 oz for 13 dollars and refill options. A pure hypoallergenic cleanser with natural extracts and plant-based ingredients that foams richly but rinses away. Work 1 to 2 pumps between hands to gently clean hair and skin, then add lotion while dampness lingers.