Heather Smith-Hillman spent seven years pampering people in a luxe Denver day spa.
But five years ago, a scare with her Newfoundland puppy prompted this Colorado businesswoman to shift her health-and- beauty focus from people to pets. The result is her organic dog-salon line, Pure Puppy.
Here’s what happened: Smith- Hillman, 40, took her then 4-month- old pup, Olaf, to a groomer who used a shampoo that was labeled “natural.” By that evening, Olaf itched incessantly.
A day later, a vet diagnosed Olaf with a staph skin infection. After ruling out food allergies and other possible causes, Smith-Hillman checked the groomer’s shampoo labels and found what she believed to be the culprits: sulfate chemical detergents, synthetic preservatives and tar-based dyes.
“The products were labeled as being natural, but they were far from it,” says Smith-Hillman, who ran the now-closed Bella Fiore Day Spa in Cherry Creek North. “I didn’t want to use that kind of stuff on myself, much less my 4-month-old puppy.”
Her inability to find a local, all- natural dog grooming product spurred Smith-Hillman and husband Eric Hillman, a former New York Mets pitcher, to develop their high-end, Colorado-based pet line.
Marketed as 100 percent natural, Pure Puppy shampoo, conditioners and leave-in treatments rely on such ingredients as avocado oil for shine and hydration, a yeast complex for deodorizing and honeysuckle-extract preservatives. One more green perk: Certified organic materials are biodegradable.
“I use it as shampoo for myself because I see no reason not to,” says Julie Neva, owner of Chewy’s Bonetique in Denver. The store has used Pure Puppy in its dog-wash station for four years, and offered feedback to Smith-Hillman as she perfected her potions.
An 8-ounce bottle of Pure Puppy shampoo or conditioner is $15 to $17.
“People are used to going to the hair salon and making that special purchase because they like the quality of the shampoo and the results,” Neva says. “Now (that’s) carried over to our fur children.”
Last year, Americans bought $3.51 billion in pet grooming and boarding services, according to the American Pet Products Association. The number of companies promoting organic and natural pet products has grown so much in the past two years that the APPA’s trade show added a special section for those vendors, says association president Bob Vetere.
“I’ve seen all types of pet- industry companies promoting natural and organic products,” Vetere says, “from leashes and grooming brushes to vitamin supplements and shampoos.”
The pet-product industry also remained stable during the down economy, Smith- Hillman says. That gave her the confidence to close her Cherry Creek day spa to focus on Pure Puppy.
“Even when you are going through a stressful time, people don’t skimp on dinner and grooming for their dogs,” she says.
Smith-Hillman also pushes for transparency in ingredient labeling, teaching consumers how to be savvier green- product shoppers.
Beware of these buzzwords, she says:
“Gentle coconut-based cleansers” — These are likely sodium laureth and laurel sulfates, detergents that have been linked to cancer, Smith- Hillman says.
“Hypo-allergenic, non-soap cleansers, natural emollients, natural conditioners, natural anti-static agents” — These are what the green industry calls “inky-names” that should be individually listed.
Natural and organic can be a Catch-22 when it comes to shampoos, says Deidre Hered, a nationally certified master groomer and owner of Denver’s The Wag Shop. Shampoos must have a compound that helps cut dirt, she says.
“Her products just have a more naturally derived way of cleaning,” Hered says of Smith-Hillman’s line.
Hered started a chronically itchy pooch on the Pure Puppy products and saw a marked difference in the dog’s coat in less than a week.
For her part, Smith-Hillman loved the spa business but worried she wasn’t making a difference. Now she devotes more time to animal charities.
“Everyone loves their dogs or cats,” she says of the satisfaction derived from Pure Puppy. “People want to make sure their animals are as healthy as possible and do what they can to take care of them.”
Sheba R. Wheeler: 303-954-1283 or swheeler@denverpost.com
