If you have ever picked up one of our pastel boxes and thought, “How is this tiny thing supposed to replace my $50 salon conditioner?” this episode is for you.![]()
Our founder, Kate Assaraf, sat down with Bonnie Lippincott on the Entry Level Mom podcast to talk about building Dip Sustainable Hair Care, grief and motherhood at the same time, and why she refuses to let sustainable hair care become scolding or boring.
This is the heart of Dip in one conversation. Here are the good parts.
Hair care that actually works comes first
Kate said it best on the show: “It is very serious hair care for not so serious people.” We do not lead with plastic free lecturing. We lead with performance.
Our conditioner bar is formulated by a salon chemist with 40 years of experience and it is so concentrated that one $32 bar can replace up to 12 tubes of luxury conditioner. That is a real number, not a marketing sentence. If you have curly hair or you are detangling swimmers, that can be $200 to $500 a year back in your budget.
So even if you do not care about plastic or oceans or refill stores, you still win. That is on purpose.
Built for real families, not perfect Instagram showers
Kate is a runner and a mom. She showers a lot. She also knows what it is like to try to detangle a kid who would rather do anything else. That is why she designed Dip so one set of bars can work for an entire family. Different curl patterns, different hair textures, same bar.
“If you have a dad with type four hair, a mom with fine blonde hair, and four kids, you should not need six bottles in the shower.”
That is a huge win for parents trying to reduce plastic and visual clutter. It is also the reason so many dads write to us and say Dip made detangling finally ouchless.
Why Dip is not on Amazon
This is the part of the interview people always stop and listen to.
Kate explains that Dip works with zero waste shops, refill stores, salons and surf shops all over the country. Many of those stores are owned by women and moms. If we put Dip on Amazon, those stores lose the sale and sometimes the customer.
“I want people to shop in their towns so their money stays in their schools, libraries and fire departments.”
So yes, it is slower growth. Yes, Amazon would be “easier.” But we are not trying to be the biggest plastic free hair care brand on the internet. We are trying to be the brand that helps small stores stay open.
The Surfrider partnership is real, not performative
In the episode Kate shares something we have been quietly proud of.
By the end of the year, Dip will have donated $50,000 to Surfrider Foundation to support ocean protection. That is a big number for a brand that sells shampoo and conditioner bars that last six to twelve months.
Kate is very clear about why she does it.
“I cannot do all the ocean work on my own so I partner with the people who go to Congress.”
That is the model. Make a good product. Keep plastic out of bathrooms. Then send money to the people who can change policy.
Clean fragrance, on purpose
One of the smartest parts of the interview is when Kate talks about fragrance. A lot of people assume essential oils are always better. She pulls the curtain back on that.
She chooses Credo-level clean synthetic fragrance because she can control it, she can avoid pesticides that may be present on plants used for essential oils, and she can keep bars smelling amazing without irritating skin.
If you are fragrance sensitive, we still have fragrance free bars. You get to choose.
Motherhood and audacity
The first part of the interview is tender. Kate talks about losing her own mother while she was pregnant and how that loss shaped the way she builds Dip now. She wants a company she can run without missing the “magical years.”
That is why she said no to influencers, no to Amazon, and yes to slow, steady, community centered growth.
“You can bank on yourself.”
If you are a mom building something during nap time or late at night, you will hear yourself in this episode.
Why you should listen to the full episode
The podcast goes deeper into:
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how to make sustainability fun
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how to shop plastic free without feeling guilty
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how to support refill stores in your town
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how to run a seven figure brand without burning out your family
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how to teach kids to care about the ocean in a non anxious way
Listen to Kate Assaraf on the Entry Level Mom podcast and hear the full story. Then go to dipalready.com and use the store locator to find a local refill or zero waste shop that carries Dip, so your purchase supports a real human.
