Andrea Faulkner Williams and the nightly tub and balm ritual

The foam is low and soft, and the scent of lavender and rosemary lifts off warm water before the rinse. That first touch explains Tubby Todd better than any claim.

Andrea Faulkner Williams and her husband Brian began Tubby Todd in San Diego in 2014 because their own bathroom lacked what they needed. She keeps returning to a line she loves, look where you want to go, and the brand has followed it in a literal way. The gaze stayed on home, on hands, on the tub.

The couple had long talked about building a family business and had tested other concepts before kids arrived. Brian held a sales and marketing role at a formulation facility, where he observed how products were actually assembled. On a drive home one evening he phoned Andrea with a plan to create their own childrens bath line. The name arrived fast. The formulas took much longer.

Two years of work with professional formulators followed, a cycle of making and testing and remaking. In that period their second child arrived with pretty bad eczema. The brief widened from a natural wash with pleasant lather and scent to basics that could rest on dry, irritated skin. When the family tried the first hair and body wash on their son Walker, his skin completely cleared up. Mommy bloggers noticed, parents wrote in, and a nightly community formed around the bathtub.

Read the sources slowly and the plant story feels practical rather than perfumed. Slip comes from jojoba esters, calm from camellia leaf extract, comfort from colloidal oatmeal at one percent. Formulas stay simple with intent. The rhythm stays nightly and unhurried. Cleanse softly, moisturize every day, seal in moisture where skin needs it. That thesis repeats across a decade.

It began with a body wash that comforted and hydrated skin while keeping moisture intact and avoiding irritation. The About page line could sound like copy, yet across longer interviews it sounds like method. What was removed, what remained, and would it be used at home on their own four children.

That wash truly marked the start. We wanted clean, natural ingredients, and we were tired of products that smelled flat. Much of what sat on store shelves seemed thin or weak. It foamed briefly and then left skin tight and dry, which fails a small child completely.

Brian had watched manufacturing from the inside, how labels select bases and fragrances and price tiers. We believed we could choose another way. With four little ones at home, we make only what we would keep in our own bathrooms. That rule held. If we would not reach for it nightly with our own kids, we would not produce it.

Our first release was a hair and body wash that arrived in 2014. It required two years. We partnered with formulators, we trialed, we revised. We sought something pure and hypoallergenic, built on natural extracts and plant-based ingredients, that still produced real lather. Lather counted because bathtime should feel good. Gentleness counted more, because skin should feel good afterward.

You built the early business without funds for retail by building a Shopify site yourselves and sending product to mommy bloggers, what did those first parents show you that paid ads could not.

They shaped our wording. Without funds for shelves, we mailed wash to bloggers and waited. After Walker skin cleared, people discussed it online in their own terms. They wrote about bathtime, sleep, scratching, softness. Those specifics improved us.

We hold a belief that we would rather do no paid ads than rely on the algorithm to boost growth. It can sound stubborn, yet it kept us near the Tubby Todd Mamas group and near comments and messages. By 2024 that circle included a large Instagram following and a private group of about twenty thousand parents. When twenty thousand people explain how they use a tube at midnight, the lesson lands fast.

We also hold that we will not share content we would not want to read, use or watch. If it would not serve a friend, we do not post it. Never make anything you would not happily send to a friend. The phrase seems plain. It cuts plenty.

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

We held the same standard. Choose the finest ingredients, never water down a formula to meet a shelf price. Target brought reach, yet the products needed to feel identical in a distant store and on our site. The wash still had to foam with one to two pumps. The ointment still had to feel rich from jojoba esters.

Tone had to hold too. I am Andrea Faulkner Williams, and I am truly glad to welcome you to the TT fam. That welcome sits at the top of our About page. It sounds warm because it is sincere. We make the top selling skincare products for little ones and for grown ups too. The line concerns who reaches for the jar, not rank. A dad with rough dry hands, a grandparent, a toddler.

We remained family run in San Diego, in the space we call the Tubhub. I interview every hire. It sounds minor, but it guards the voice. If you know you know. You have got this. To us those are not slogans. They are what you say to a tired parent.

Your second child arrived with pretty bad eczema while you were still formulating, and your son Walker skin clearing after you used the wash at home is now woven into brand history, how did that shift the brief from pleasant natural products to something that had to soothe irritated skin.

Everything shifted. At first we sought natural products that smelled nice and suited an ordinary bath. Then we cared for a baby whose skin stayed dry and irritated nearly all the time. Pleasant stopped being sufficient. Pleasant offers little at two in the morning with an uncomfortable child.

We used that period to study what calms without stripping. A wash must clean hair and skin with one to two pumps, then rinse clear without that squeaky sensation. That squeak signals too much was removed. For our household, the answer became stepwise. Cleanse softly, then soften and moisturize daily, then cover the driest zones with something richer.

That is why they suit anyone prone to sensitivities, especially eczema. We created body care basics for little ones and mamas, too. Adults with sensitivities reach for the same jars. Newborn cheek skin and a mama hand in winter share a pattern. Both shed moisture quickly. Both prefer something simple that remains.

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

We requested two qualities that rarely pair easily. We asked for plant-based cleansing that bubbled like a true bath product, and we asked for moisture left behind. Nearly every trial delivered one side. Either texture felt rich yet foamed weakly, or it foamed and left skin dry.

So we kept iterating. We trialed a base, lived with it, bathed with it, then returned. We reviewed natural extracts that sustain softness instead of masking with strong scent. Lavender and rosemary lent a fresh herbal note that parents liked, and later we maintained a fragrance free version for the most sensitive homes. Listening shaped that split. Some families enjoy scent in the bath. Some cannot tolerate it at all.

Patience was the lesson. A formula that performs in the lab can behave otherwise in a small tub of warm water with a wiggly toddler. We kept testing until the wash felt soothing and hydrating without stripping moisture or causing irritation. That sentence remains on our site because it served as our home test.

You often say you prefer using whatever the best ingredients are over diluting a formula to hit a shelf price, where did that rule begin 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 pricing steer choices. Thinning a formula to meet a target is simple. We refused that path. We prefer to explain a price openly rather than soften a formula quietly. Parents sense the gap in a balm. It either holds moisture or it fails.

Our All Over Ointment shows the stance. People describe it as a balm for everything, and we cherish that label because it mirrors real family use. It feels rich and creamy, built from plant-based ingredients like jojoba esters and camellia leaf extract to moisturize skin. Jojoba esters supply sleek, protective slip with no waxy drag. Camellia leaf adds a gentle, leafy calm that layers well under occlusion.

The updated eczema relief version includes one percent colloidal oatmeal. We include it to help soothe irritation caused by eczema and other sensitivities. You smooth it onto dry, irritated or eczema prone areas as an all over balm. At home that means after bathing, over slightly damp skin, pressed slowly. Then again in the morning across elbows, knees, cheeks, wherever dryness collects.

We kept refining until the wash soothed and hydrated while keeping moisture intact and avoiding irritation.

Andrea Faulkner Williams

The brand promise rests on a three part rhythm of wash, everyday lotion and ointment, can you share how you use those three at home, including amounts, order and the spots parents tend to miss.

We call it Good Clean Fun, though the sequence stays fixed. Begin with the Hair and Body Wash. Foam one to two pumps between palms to softly clean hair and skin. A tall cloud of foam is unnecessary. Warm water, swift wash, thorough rinse. Clean should still feel supple.

Then, while skin remains a little damp, apply the Everyday Lotion to soften and moisturize sensitive skin. It holds natural extracts and plant-based ingredients, and it is offered in lavender and rosemary and fragrance free. Spread daily, head to toe. Parents commonly skip behind the ears, the neck folds, and the backs of arms. Dryness often begins in those areas.

Then lock in moisture where needed with the ointment. Smooth onto dry, irritated or eczema prone areas. In some children that means winter cheeks. In others it means elbow and knee folds. A slim layer suffices, first warmed between palms so it glides. At night we complete all three steps. Mornings often mean lotion plus a small touch of balm.

Lavender and rosemary breathe through the wash, lotion and bubble bath, while the ointment and diaper paste stay fragrance free, how do you choose which formulas hold scent and which should stay quiet.

We judge by use and by site. A wash or bubble bath touches the whole body briefly, then leaves. Scent there can render the bath cheerful before it rinses off. Lavender lends soft herbal calm. Rosemary brightens it so it avoids a sleepy or powdery cast. Honeysuckle and grapefruit perform a like role in bubble bath, fresh yet not sharp.

A leave on balm behaves another way. The All Over Ointment rests on skin for hours, often across cheeks or cracked areas. Fragrance free fits that wear. The same logic guides Sweet Cheeks Diaper Paste, which includes fourteen percent zinc oxide to help treat and prevent diaper rash by sealing out wetness. That zone already runs sensitive. We leave it plain.

We also stock fragrance free versions of the wash and lotion. Certain households require unscented everything. Others prefer scented ritual at night and quiet in the morning. We aim to allow both while preserving base gentleness.

We created Tubby Todd as an answer to our own family struggles with sensitive skin. The line is simple, and that simplicity reveals much about this brand.

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

It appears ordinary, which delights me. Lukewarm water, never hot. A brief soak. Wash with one to two pumps, hair before body, so water stays cleaner longer. Rinse completely. Lift them out and pat, never rub. Skin should look soft, not pink.

Then lotion at once. We store the pump close so no gap occurs. Glide it over legs, belly, arms, face if the formula suits and the child accepts it. Then ointment across dry spots. A dab on cheeks in cold months. A dab on hands. Press, never drag. That pressing move counts. It settles balm without friction.

Cradle cap or tangles or a rashy day get separate, simple care. Yet most evenings follow those three moves. Steep the day down. Infuse a little calm. Let the texture of the day soften and rest. Botanicals perform their quiet work as sleep handles the remainder.

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

If you feel pulled toward a business idea you love, I would say start it yourself and do not wait. We began with no funding or retail. We had a kitchen table question plus a formulation lab ready to iterate with us. We assembled the site ourselves. We shipped boxes ourselves.

Keep your eyes on where you want to go. That quote steers me. Choose the direction, then make the next small move. For us that meant one lovely wash in 2014, then lotion, then ointment. It meant listening beyond speaking. It meant caring for customers like a best friend rather than talking about the brand itself.

And hold your bar at home level. We only make products that we would love to use in our own homes. If it falls short for your own sink or tub, it stays unready. That test has never failed us.

Closing note from the desk

What lingers after this talk is the tactile steadiness. Wash lightly, smooth lotion over damp skin, press balm where dryness gathers. The botanicals are not styling here. Oatmeal for comfort, jojoba for moisture hold, camellia for softness, lavender and rosemary to scent the evening. Every element earns its place in the ritual.

Tubby Todd aimed to craft body care basics for little ones and mamas too, without stripping moisture or causing irritation. Ten years on, that intent still reads on shelf and in the tub. It remains a family firm that widened the way families widen, one night at a time.

Product spotlight

All Over Ointment Eczema Relief feels rich on fingertips at 36 dollars for 8 oz fragrance free, plus 3.5 oz for 22 dollars and tube formats for the bag. A dense plant-based balm with jojoba esters, camellia leaf extract and one percent colloidal oatmeal to help soften the appearance of irritation from eczema. Smooth over dry or eczema prone areas after bathing, first warmed between palms and pressed in.

Hair and Body Wash, 40 dollars for 25 oz in Lavender and Rosemary, also in 8.5 oz for 17 dollars, 2 oz for 13 dollars and refill sizes. A pure hypoallergenic wash built on natural extracts and plant-based ingredients that foams gently yet rinses clear. Lather 1 to 2 pumps in hands to gently clean hair and skin, then layer lotion while skin stays damp.