Some products show up everywhere — subway ads, Instagram, celeb endorsements. With this series, we're testing such products to conclude one thing: Does it live up to the hype?
What's everyone talking about?
UPDATED: 7/27/2020
Hello Bello is now at CVS! Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have expanded their premium, yet affordable, diaper and baby products line to your corner drugstore, CVS. (PRNewswire)
Original: 7/21/2020
Hello Bello – the premium quality diaper brand created by Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard. They also make wipes, baby skincare products (like shampoo, conditioner, diaper balm, and so much more), SPF for kiddos, plant-based bug spray, and even vitamins for the whole family. Plus, it’s all sold at Walmart.
What's the buzz about?
Premium diapers are expensive. But everyone wants the best for their kiddo, right? So what’s a family to do? A year's worth of quality diapers can cost thousands of dollars, but buying less-expensive diapers full of phthalates, fragrance, VOCs, and even known carcinogens is a hard sell, too. Kristen and Dax have the answer to a parenting dilemma that moms and dads deal with eight to 12 times a day. They made premium diapers that are actually affordable.
Where's all the hype coming from?
- Founders Kristen Bell (14.5M Instagram followers) and Dax Shepard (3.2M Instagram followers)
- A large Instagram following (310K)
- Camp Hello Bello, which launched during April’s quarantine
- Walmart’s baby expansion (Forbes)
- Press from snatching former Honest Company president (WWD)
So does it live up to the hype?
How'd we come to this conclusion?
What makes me a diaper expert?
I had a baby in January, which means I have changed nearly 2,000 diapers (10-plus a day, multiplied by 177 days, is a lot of f*cking diapers). I feel like that makes me an expert diaper changer and an expert at knowing which diaper brands actually work. Because any parent will tell you if you ask, they don’t all work. (Cue blowout from the other room.)
I honestly had no idea how many diapers we would need before we had our son. I feel like you read about it and it doesn’t actually click until you have this tiny human (which I referred to as a potato that poops) who needs anywhere between 10-15 diaper changes a day.
My son was born two weeks early, so he was a tiny peanut for a little bit (before he grew in to the chubby ham he is now). I never thought I’d have a baby who weighed only 6.4 pounds, and my mistaken thought process nearly put us in a stinky situation. We only had size 1 diapers at home. But since Hello Bello bundles are sold at Walmart, we were able to stop by the store on the way home from the hospital to snag a box without waiting for them to be shipped.
Do the Hello Bello diapers work?
OK, so you’re wondering, "Do they work?" Yes. They work. Blowouts and leaks are minimal. No diaper is perfect all the time, all parents know that. But the goal is to find diapers that minimize the amount of outfit changes — because fewer outfit changes means less laundry, and we all need that.
What’s actually in their diapers?
They're made from sustainably harvested fluff pulp and a plant-derived core. Huh? Yeah, lots of lingo that the average parent probably doesn't know much about. All diapers use wood pulp, but Hello Bello supports sustainable farming for its wood pulp. Traditional disposable diapers use plastic and petroleum practices (which is non-renewable and unsustainable) to create cheap diapers. But, Hello Bello uses renewable, natural resources (like plants) to make their diaper cores.
Also, Hello Bello makes their diapers without fragrance (so your baby's sensitive skin doesn't suffer from irritation), without phthalates (a plastic used for absorbency in some diapers, but known to cause health issues), without lotion (moisture causes rashes), and without latex (most diapers these days are latex-free, but it's a common allergen, so companies disclose it).
Lastly, they're 100% chlorine free. Bleaching fluff pulp makes it white and, well, fluffy. We tend to see white as "clean" when it comes to clothing, diapers, etc. Most practices around bleaching diapers with chlorine were eliminated as long ago as the 1990s, but since the process produced dioxins, a cancer-causing chemical, diaper brands disclose their dedication to "chlorine-free" as a benefit to personal health.
What else does Hello Bello make?
They just keep expanding! The personal care products include everything from diaper rash cream and nose wipes, to hair detangler and hand sanitizer. Their vitamin line contains multivitamins for the whole family, prenatals, and sleep aids. Plus, they've even introduced sunscreen, bug spray, and organic laundry detergent.
What makes Hello Bello a company worth supporting?
Beyond the fact that Kristen Bell is a dream, each week, Hello Bello chooses a family and gives them free diaper bundles for a year. They choose families in need, and I've been found to read the stories about each family while eating ice cream and subsequently crying after my baby goes to sleep. True story.
Also, Kristen and Dax run their business with the belief that all babies are "our" babies. When COVID-19 caused schools to close in March of 2020, they started "Camp Hello Bello" to give parents a little bit of reprieve. From sing-alongs to arts and crafts, from story time to cooking, parents could look forward to having their kids entertained by something other than Paw Patrol.
OK, time to shop!
