Last week, I met up with the lovely Anne Dardick, the founder of Do t& Lil, a Montreal based company that sells handmade beauty products, to talk about her growing business, beauty and style!

How would you describe Dot & Lil?

Dot & Lil makes bath & body and skincare products that combine vintage and modern design. Our products are entirely made in our Montreal facility. We make a young, fresh, high quality Canadian-made product with great design. Simple, classic, addictive scents and always a special attention to packaging!

 How did Dot & Lil get started?

A few years ago, my sister and I started Dot & Lil as a small winter project to help raise money for my sister’s grad school tuition. We started off with just lip balms but quickly expanded to soaps and perfumes! My sister left the company shortly after, to go to the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. She now lives in California where she now works as a fiber artist! My sister saw Dot & Lil as a fun project to make some extra money, but I really loved it and new I wanted to make it into a full time career! I’v always been obsessed with fragrances and I also loved making things, I grew up in a family that were very into crafting, so Dot &Lil was the natural choice for me!

What is your favorite fragrance?

Right now my favorite scent is Rose, because it has a simple and classic scent, with a slight vintage feel!

What is your most popular product?

Satsuma (Japanese tangerine) body butter and soap! I think the scent is popular because it’s harder to find here, making it a little more exotic and different!

How did you choose your name Dot & Lil?

It’s funny everyone always asks me that! Well when my sister and I first started this brand, we knew from the start that we wanted an ampersand in our name, and we wanted two people’s names. Part of the vintage feels we wanted for the brand made us focus on old film stars. After searching and searching for that perfect duo, we hit on Dorothy & Lillian Gish, who not only were movie stars….they were sisters! And so we, sisters, named our fledgling business after two sisters from long ago!

What do you love most about your job?

The creative aspect for sure! I love designing the packaging and the overall product concept development part of the job!

Describe your personal style in three words!

Classic, simple and vintage inspired, which are three words that also describe the aesthetic and feel of Dot&Lil!

Finally, what do you love most about Montreal?

It such a happy city! I love that there is a vibrant handmade community that is really supportive!

Dot & Lil products are available at all Boutique Onze stores!

Feel like making your own beauty products check out Anne’s DIY Face Masks!