Learning to Formulate in Italy

When people ask where Butter & Blush began, they often expect the answer to be a laboratory, a beauty counter, or a business plan.

It was none of those.

It began with Planettoon®.

Long before Butter & Blush existed, Planettoon® was the dream that occupied my days. At the time, it lived on sheets of paper filled with drawings, handwritten notes, ideas, and an unwavering belief that it could become something meaningful. My father believed in that vision just as deeply as I did. He knew that if I wanted to give Planettoon the greatest opportunity to grow, I needed the time and space to dedicate myself to it completely. Italy gave me that opportunity.

I did not move to Italy to create a skincare company.

I moved there to develop Planettoon.

From the very beginning, I never imagined Planettoon as simply an animated series. I envisioned an entire universe where children could learn through imagination. Animation was only one part of that vision. I saw books, games, toys, environmental education, and experiences that would encourage curiosity, kindness, and responsibility.

As those ideas continued to grow, another branch naturally emerged.

I called it Giggles & Glow.

Giggles & Glow was never intended to be a standalone skincare brand. It was conceived as Planettoon’s educational branch dedicated to teaching children about skincare, hair care, hygiene, and self-care in a way that was engaging, approachable, and rooted in knowledge rather than marketing.

The idea came from one simple belief that has stayed with me ever since.

Before we can take care of others, we have to learn how to take care of ourselves.

That philosophy became the foundation of Giggles & Glow. If children could understand why their skin deserved care, why healthy habits mattered, and why taking care of themselves was an act of self-respect, those lessons could stay with them for life.

But almost immediately I found myself asking a difficult question.

How could I teach children and families about skincare if I did not truly understand it myself?

Reading articles and repeating marketing claims was not enough.

If I was going to educate others, I first had a responsibility to educate myself.

So I began studying cosmetic formulation.

Not because I wanted to launch a beauty company.

Not because I dreamed of creating luxury skincare.

I wanted to understand ingredients, how they behaved, how they interacted with the skin, why certain materials performed better than others, and how thoughtful formulation could make a real difference.

Italy became my classroom.

I immersed myself in cosmetic science, ingredient technology, skin physiology, preservation systems, and formulation techniques. The deeper I studied, the more I realized that great products are never accidental. Every ingredient should serve a purpose. Every percentage matters. Every decision influences stability, safety, performance, and the experience someone has when they use a product.

Those years also taught me to question assumptions.

I wanted natural preservation systems to work. I genuinely did. I spent years testing preservation systems because I loved working with botanical ingredients and wanted to create formulas that reflected nature without compromising quality. In total, I evaluated dozens of preservation options, hoping I would find one that met every expectation.

Most did not.

Especially in formulas rich in botanicals, I learned that what sounds appealing in theory does not always perform reliably in practice.

That experience became one of the most valuable lessons of my education.

Never choose an ingredient because it is fashionable.

Choose it because it serves a purpose, performs reliably, and helps create a product that is thoughtful, stable, and beautifully made.

More importantly, Italy taught me how to think.

It taught me patience.

It taught me curiosity.

It taught me that every formula tells a story long before anyone ever opens the bottle.

Looking back, there is one distinction that I believe is important to make.

Planettoon did not become Butter & Blush.

Giggles & Glow did not become Butter & Blush.

Planettoon® remains my registered trademark and the intellectual property that first brought me to Italy. Giggles & Glow was always envisioned as one educational branch within that larger world. Because Planettoon itself was a much larger ecosystem that included animation, books, games, toys, and environmental education, it was never realistic to develop Giggles & Glow independently before the broader Planettoon vision moved forward.

Life, however, has a way of preparing us for moments we never see coming.

Everything I learned while preparing for Giggles & Glow gave me something I never expected.

Knowledge.

Knowledge that would later become part of the foundation for Butter & Blush.

At the time, I had no idea why I was learning any of it beyond Planettoon.

Years later, when my mother became ill, that knowledge would find an entirely different purpose.

It would begin with a single cream.

And that is where the story of Butter & Blush truly begins.