incognito® – How It All Began. By co-founder Patricia Conlon

Deep breath (you not me), writing my first ever blog is a big step, particularly for someone who likes to hide, incognito® by name, incognito by nature! 

So why now,  you might be wondering?  Firstly, 2026 marks our 20^th year.  Secondly, I’ve finally accepted that as a brand co-founder, hiding is no longer an option.  The world has changed enormously over the past two decades; we all reflect much more deeply than ever before on what we buy, why we buy it, and from whom.  Understanding a brand’s values matters to me, and if I keep hiding, I’m doing a disservice to our amazing customers - without whom, incognito® simply would not exist.    

People that know and trust incognito®  deserve to understand the people behind it.  And there are a lot of people, believe me.  It’s taken 20 years to build the small yet extraordinary team of dedicated, hard-working superstars who make incognito® what it is today.

incognito® reaching the 20 years milestone is more than a bit of a miracle, it’s evidence that miracles are real.  Looking back, myself and Howard were so naïve to think that we could break into an industry with so many barriers to entry.  Yet here we still are (thanks in no small part to you - the person reading this!). 

incognito® was born from a desire to do insect repellents differently – 100% effective, 100% natural and sustainably produced.  It has not been easy to achieve and we had many ups and downs over the years but we kept going. 

My journey into incognito® began on a trip to Peru and Ecuador in my late twenties.  I was working in IT at the time for SAP and found myself yearning to reconnect with nature.  Through a friend, I discovered the enormously inspiring Pachamama Alliance (https://pachamama.org) and joined one of their life changing trips to Peru and Ecuador.  It was a privilege I will never forget – during those few weeks everything changed. 

I had packed a natural repellent I bought in a health shop along with the recommended industrial strength DEET based product.  Travelling by plane, boat and foot, I found myself deep in the Ecuadorian rainforest.  I encountered nature at a depth I had never experienced before.  There were no roads, let alone wastewater treatment facilities.  I quickly realised that whatever I wore or washed off my skin would end up in the same river the local community relied on for food, water, cleaning and play – for everything. 

I found myself unable to wear the DEET repellent.  I simply refused to wash it into the same river local children were laughing, splashing and swimming in (and eating from).  I couldn’t even bring myself to bin it knowing that it would ultimately end up buried in the ground.  So I carried it all the way home.  Sadly, the natural repellent I bought with me seemed to attract not detract the local mosquitoes.  That was the moment I decided that there needed to be something natural that actually worked. 

Creating genuinely necessary products - not just more unnecessary ones - was something that aligned with my values.  That, I was willing to do.

From my time at SAP I had expertise in Supply Chain Management.  What I did not have was any knowledge of manufacturing, retail, marketing, sales or anything else involved in starting a repellent business.

I met Howard in February 2005 on a course in London while still working for SAP.  His story is told in his own blog (link), but in short, he was very motivated to develop a natural repellent that actually worked having contracted malaria followed by dengue within a six-month period.

Together we decided that if no-one else was going to sustainably develop and produce an effective, natural insect repellent then we should.  Protecting people naturally and achieving this in as environmentally responsible a way as possible, became our core mission.  Honestly, had we known how difficult it would be, I’m not sure we would have started.  Many times, the only thing keeping us going was the steady stream of heartfelt ‘thank you’ messages from our incredibly loyal (and highly appreciated!) customer base, alongside our stubborn refusal to give up. 

We produced our first bottles in 2006 – a far cry from where we are today.  Because equality is very important to us, we produced 5000 bottles with a dancing woman on the front and 5000 with a dancing man, we wanted to see which one customers preferred. We practically had to give the dancing man bottles away! 

Looking at the then and now images, you can see why I said at the beginning that incognito® surviving all these years is nothing short of miraculous.  It would not have survived without people: our loyal and ever-growing customer base and everyone who has worked with us along the way.  You know who you are.  Thank you. 

Then - 2006:

Now - 2026:

Interestingly whilst writing this I noticed that the Pachamama Alliance (https://pachamama.org) is celebrating its own 30^th anniversary this year.  Their mission - “to restore relationships with the Earth, each other and ourselves” - still resonates deeply with me.  Those shared values are the foundations upon which incognito® was built:  for people and for the planet.  Perhaps that’s why it has survived.  That’s how incognito® began for me.  Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

That’s how incognito® began for me.  Thank you for taking the time to read my story.