BabyDonna Sunscreen

About Us

I'm Dalaisé Hickey, The Founder of BabyDonna. I am a Social Worker, a mom of two and I started BabyDonna because I faced a common problem that many parents of color encounter – finding a sunscreen that actually works for our kids without leaving them with that annoying white cast and making them feel less confident about their skin. For years, I always struggled with finding non chemical sunscreen options for my children.  After my daughter was diagnosed with eczema it became even more crucial to locate a sunscreen that wouldn’t irritate her skin, but also didn’t leave her with a completely thick white cast. Finally, after searching for years and realizing the limited options in the market for Black and brown children, I decided to create BabyDonna in 2022 and we launched in May of 2023. 

Our Mission 

At BabyDonna, our mission is simple: To create safe, effective products for your little ones, while using our platform to create meaningful change and positive opportunities for youth. Our goal is to revolutionize the skincare industry by providing safe and effective sunscreen and skincare products that work for all skin tones, but are tailored to children of color, empowering families to protect their little ones skin without compromise. As a social worker, it was important to me that BabyDonna was purpose driven and I spent many months trying to determine how to fuse my two passions. I decided to ensure we make a commitment to driving meaningful change for youth impacted by the juvenile justice and foster care systems by partnering with our pledge partner One Simple Wish to utilize a portion of our sales to grant the wish of youth in foster care each month and actively engaging with communities to address systemic challenges. Our vision extends beyond sunscreen; it's about redefining the skincare industry to be inclusive and representative while making a lasting impact in our community.

The Problem With The Skincare Industry

There is a profound lack of sunscreen options tailored to the unique needs of children of color. For far too long, parents like me have faced a daunting challenge when seeking sunscreen that is both safe and effective for our Black and Brown children. The options many of us are left with are either chemical based and harmful for both our children and the environment or leave a thick white cast on our skin. As a result, many parents of color use chemical based sunscreens because it won’t leave as much of a white cast vs a mineral sunscreen and are unaware of the potential harmful effects of chemical sunscreen or don't use sunscreen at all. The absence of suitable sunscreen options not only impacts the well-being of our children but also sends a message that our needs and concerns don't matter. BabyDonna was born out of my frustration with this problem, and I wanted to ensure that no parent had to go through the same struggle.

What We're Doing to Solve This Problem

 At BabyDonna, we are addressing the problem through innovation and social responsibility and working to disrupt the norm one size fits all in the skincare industry. Our sunscreen works on all skin tones, but was developed to ensure it blends better on darker skin, is gentle for sensitive skin, and doesn't contain many of the negative aspects of sunscreen which prevent people within our community from using it. We have developed a sunscreen stick that is is free from harmful chemicals, vegan, reef safe, has 80 minute water resistance, sized for easy every day application and is Pediatrician & Dermatologist approved, ensuring that parents can provide effective sun protection for their kids without compromise. Along with providing safe sunscreen options, we are working to bring awareness and education to our communities about using sunscreen and safe sunscreen through various platforms such as social media, podcasts and our newsletters.  

We're not just selling sunscreen; we're actively contributing to initiatives that support and uplift youth impacted by systemic injustice. By partnering with community organizations and advocating for systemic change, we are working to address the root causes of these challenges.  As we grow, expanding our product line to include more skincare products and scale, our Big Vision is to to hire youth impacted by the juvenile justice and foster care system in order to offer paid employment, mentorship and positive opportunities. We believe in empowerment, advocacy, and creating a brighter, more equitable future for our children. Since our launch in May of 2023, we have been able to donate over $2800 in kind and monetary donations to non profits that work directly with youth and families. 

Why We Are Raising Funds

We are raising $50,000 to expand our product line and meet the growing demand from our customers. Your donation will also help us with pursuing the needed certifications in order to expand and  sell our sunscreen in other countries. We have received amazing support and feedback from both current customers and prospective customers requesting our sunscreen stick in a larger size that is more suitable for older children and adults. When I created BabyDonna, I poured my savings into it and have bootstrapped the company since. I worked a full time job, while juggling as a Soloprenuer and a mom. It is something that I an very proud of. However, sunscreen is costly to manufacture and because our sunscreen is made with the best ingredients to ensure it is ethical, safe and effective, it is more expensive than the typical sunscreen.  Crowdfunding allows us to gather the necessary resources and support from our community to develop and bring a larger sized sunscreen stick to the market and extend into a global market. 

How You Can Help

Donate: By supporting us, you are helping us not only make an impact in our company and for our customers, but a broader impact in our community.

Share:  Please share our campaign as it helps to bring more awareness to our fundraiser. This can be through social media, email, text or plain ole in person conversations. We appreciate it either way.

Since Our Launch

Since our launch in May of 2023, we've made some tremendous strides! BabyDonna was voted as Best Kids Sunscreen for Melanated Skin by The Today show and updated to editors pick in 2024. We've been featured in Black Enterprise, Afrotech, WFSB eyewitness and over 10 other publications. Most recently we had the amazing opportunity to offer a pop up at Macy's in June 2024. Our customers love the sunscreen which has made this journey so worth it. :)

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your donation, generosity, kindness and support. I know that BabyDonna has even more great things in store with your help. :)