This month, Hello Products will enter new personal care categories—deodorant, hand cleaners and lip balm—and launch additional SKUs in oral care, the marketplace where this fast-growing Montclair, NJ-based brand began its journey back in 2009. 
 
Taking its friendly approach into new territory has always been part of the plan, Hello Founder Craig Dubitsky told editors in an online launch event held last week.
 
“We started out in oral care, but the brand was always Hello Products—it was never Hello Oral Care Inc.;” Dubitsky said. “We thought there were a lot of areas where we could bring our friendly approach to the party.” 
 
Now, a year after it was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive, that party is underway.
 
Dubitsky and the Hello Products team are keeping their focus on well-designed products with sustainable packaging and efficacious formulations—and that quirky friendliness that Hello fans have come to love, too.
 
“We are in the business of making beautiful things that elevate the everyday, that people can fall in love with, because we use thoughtful ingredients and we love design,” Dubitsky said.
 
The new options include products for a range of needs, including hand cleansers—a personal care staple that has risen in prominence during the pandemic. 
 
Specifically, Hello has launched foaming hand wash and antibacterial hand sanitizer spray. 
 

The hand washes, which come in three variants (lavender + eucalyptus, meyer lemon + vitamin E; and aloe + sea minerals) are formulated with natural fragrances and plant-based and biodegradable ingredients and contain no preservatives, dyes or SLS/sulfates.
 
There are four hand sanitizer sprays. In addition to the three scent combinations from the hand wash line, a fresh mint + tea tree oil variant is available. All formulations contain ethyl alcohol (62%).
 
Hello also expanded further into the AP/deo space, a sector that witnessed a flurry of new brands in recent years. Hello is touting two new deodorant SKUs, sage + eucalyptus and sweet coconut with shea butter, both housed in 100% recycled packaging. The aluminum-free deodorants offer clinically-proven 24-hour odor protection, according to the company.
 
Also new are vegan lip balms. They contain no beeswax and rely on coconut and olive oil to moisturize. There are two scents, natural sweet mint and strawberry, sold in tubes made with 60% PCR material.
 
 
Expanding Oral Care 
 
New developments are underway in oral care formulation and sustainability, too. For starters, Hello has unveiled peppermint oil and coconut oil infused floss, fresh breath tablets that have a special textured designed to clean the tongue, and a kids’ fluoride toothpaste in juicy grape.
 
Hello also added a sensitivity and whitening toothpaste that contains the highest level of potassium nitrate allowed by the FDA (5%) and sodium chloride to help strengthen enamel.
 
“It is as effective as the leading sensitivity toothpaste,” asserted Connie Gregson, who heads R&D for Hello Products.
 
But, she insists there are more reasons why this paste has an edge on the competition. In addition to a rose gold tube that will look great on one’s vanity, Gregson said this toothpaste tastes great. 
 
“Some sensitive toothpastes don’t taste all that great due to the potassium nitrate at 5%,” Gregson said. This paste’s “flavor system helps mask the metallic and saltiness that you would get from potassium nitrate,” she said.
 
During the event, Hello Products provided a sneak peek at some new pastes due out in March—Good Morning and Good Night fluoride-free toothpastes, which have unique components designed for when consumers would brush. Good Morning has a flavor combining mint and meyer lemon along with coconut oil, ginseng and guarana; Good Night combines mint with calming lavender and chamomile, and both are designed to naturally whiten teeth by removing surface stains and plaque.
 
Hello also rolled out a reusable toothbrush that marries aesthetics with sustainability. 
 
“This is the future of brushing,” insisted Dubitsky, who has always been obsessed with design. The new brush has a replaceable head with “floss tip” bristles that attaches to an ergonomic, aluminum handle. It is made with 85% less plastic compared to the standard manual toothbrush.
 
“We wanted to make something that was obviously going to be beneficial for the environmental and also something that would be beautiful for your personal environment,” he noted, adding that Hello’s goal was to take sustainability to a new place to go from “sustainable to the realm of the eternal.” 
 
The idea was to make something so beautiful that you wanted to keep it, Dubitsky said.
 
For Dubitsky, this new brush checks many boxes—it saves on materials, doesn’t compromise the efficacy of the brushing experience, and elevates the experience by “bringing something that is just gorgeous to hold.” 

Hello Products' parent company, Colgate, this week rolled out its own sustainable brush, Colgate Keep.
 
As Hello broadens its reach across personal care, it plans to remain true to its roots by offering products that bring a friendly, fun feel to what are necessary but typically mundane daily rituals. 
 
“We like to say we are making personal care personal again,” Dubitsky said.