When Michelle asked, I knew exactly what to do. I've spent
15 years manufacturing health and beauty products. I know why traditional lotions take forever. They're oil-based emulsions fighting against your skin's natural 64% water composition.
I went to Iuliia right away. She's the best formulator I've ever known and said: "I need a water-based platform that works like aftershave but formulated for legs." She's worked for some of the biggest skincare companies and has seen everything.
She said: "Michelle's right, that doesn't exist. Let's make it."
One day I was just out an everything shower. I was standing there thinking I should moisturize my legs, but I couldn't talk myself into the whole routine. Squeezing out the lotion. Spreading it. Rubbing it in over and over. Waiting 10 minutes for it to dry. Rubbing it in more.
Then I thought, you know, why can't I use my husband's splash on after shave? So, I did. I took it from his medicine cabinet and splashed it on. I couldn't believe how much easier it was. It was dry before I could finish spreading it on.
I texted Ash and said, I can't believe how easy this is to use. Why doesn't this exist for women?
— Michelle
We made 12 versions over six months. Michelle tested every single one.
Version 1
Too thin, absorbed too fast, no moisturization
Version 4
Stung her skin, but we found the ingredient, and removed it from the mix
Version 7
Perfect absorption but smelled weird. (We found the weird smelling ingredient and removed it)
Version 9
Close, but still too greasy, not good enough yet. As we get closer each hour. Putting hard work into a project that could change the world.
Version 12
This is it. It absorbs in 30 seconds and my legs feel incredible.
Behind the Scenes
Version 7 – the one that smelled weird
Testing the pH levels
Early morning formulation session
Prototype bottles, take 12
Michelle's notes from the lab
The ingredients that made the cut
Ash reviewing the final formula
The moment we knew we had it
Celebrating the final product
We didn't make The Smooth just for Michelle.
We made it for every woman who's stood in her bathroom, stepped out of the shower, looked at her lotion bottle and thought: 'I don't have 10 minutes for this.'
You're not lazy. You just didn't have a product that worked like the Smooth.
— Ash & Michelle, Bellacqua Co-Founders
Shop The SmoothQuestions?
If you have ADHD, sensory processing differences, or just hate traditional lotion textures, Michelle gets it. Email her.
We're a little different here.
I spent years buying products I saw when influencers posted about them.
Most didn't work.
Then I learned how it actually works: Brands send PR packages with talking points. Influencer posts on Tuesday. Collects check. Posts about a competitor on Thursday.
I'd buy it. It didn't work. I'd try something else. It didn't work.
When we decided to make this product real I knew I didn't want to do that to other women.
If you see someone posting about Bellacqua, it's because they tried it and loved it. That's it. No PR packages. No scripted posts. No checks.
Ash spent 15 years manufacturing health and beauty products for other brands.
He watched the same pattern over and over: 70% of the budget goes to marketing. 30% goes to the product.
Gorgeous packaging. Polished Instagram campaigns. Mediocre formulations.
When I asked him "why doesn't this exist for women?" we saw a chance to flip it.
Put 70% into the formulation. 30% into marketing.
That's why we made 12 versions before launching. That's why development took six months. That's why we use clinical-level ingredient concentrations, not the bare minimum to list it on a label.