Welcome to ON BEAUTY, a monthly feature highlighting creative, like-minded people who inspire us.

Snacking has a slew of connotations. Sometimes it feels shameful and sometimes it feels decadent. For Claire Olshan, founder of DADA Daily, a lifestyle brand offering guilt-free indulgences, snacking should be a ritual and most definitely enjoyable (much like your skincare routine). And while she is laser-focused on the emotional aspect of snacking, Claire believes design and aesthetics are equally as important. And no wonder. Her packaging is sleek, playful, and irreverent. 

Claire, who is also the founder of New York-based curated fashion boutique Fivestory, created DADA Daily to fuel her passion for health and wellness. Here, the healthy snack enthusiast reveals the key to omit mindless snacking, how creating a scented space lies in self-care, and why the DADA art movement is her ultimate inspiration.

What is DADA Daily?

DADA, to me, isn’t a snack brand. It’s a lifestyle and a mindset. DADA is about elevating typically mindless moments and putting intention, relation, and inspiration in them; we want to rid the taboo away from snacking as something ‘naughty’ or ‘bad’ and turn those moments into fanatical experiences for one to effortlessly create, consume, and enjoy. 

The DADA art movement was about rebelling against the status quo, breaking the rules, and DADA is breaking the rules of what a snack brand should be. We encourage everyone to be a DADAist; from the dinner table with friends, to their desk at work. We have a few sayings that I live and breathe, which are: Elevate your snacking moment, Make decadence a ritual, and DADA is here to make every moment a blank canvas.

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DADA is about elevating typically mindless moments and putting intention, relation, and inspiration in them.

There’s an onslaught of brands that are both aesthetically pleasing, well-made, and created with a conscious ethos, how does DADA Daily play in that space?

We take pride in the integrity in which we deliver our snacks. We don’t just throw around words like vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, like a lot of other snack brands. Our snacks not only have the cleanest ingredients, but we keep the integrity of the ingredients we are promoting. For example, you open up our cauliflower popcorn or our brussel sprouts and you will see little florets of cauliflower or beautiful buds of brussel sprouts. There are no fillers, no secrets, no tortilla chips, or puff looking things in the bag…leaving you wondering where are the vegetables and how much (insert the veg) is actually in this thing?

Social media and everyday distractions have impacted eating habits and social norms, how does DADA Daily help to solve that?

We align the word experience and moment to snacking. It shouldn’t be mindless or something you “cheat” on. It should be something you not only identify with, but that inspires you, brings you joy, AND is an extension of your aesthetic personality. When we call our customers DADAists, it’s not to make a cult word for people to jump on to, it’s really because we want our customers to pause, take a moment, and infuse joy into a ritual they otherwise might not.

In Fiore is a self-care brand at its core and believes in perfumery as medicine. Certain feelings ensue when taking in a distinct scent, so how does scent and scents around the dinner table, parties, or anything food-oriented fuel DADA Daily?

Little things can completely change a space, a feeling, and an atmosphere, whether it’s a scent in a room, a DADA napkin ring, a place card at the table, or just pouring some snacks in a bowl and serving hors d ‘oeuvres after a long day. It’s the little things that we think of as decadent that can change a person’s entire being, feeling, outlook, and it’s making that decadence a ritual that will force the emotional transformation. 

What makes the perfect dinner party?

First, it’s people. People are everything. Then to me, it’s creating an environment that feels special, different from the everyday. It’s serving DADA snacks as hors d'oeuvres and having a cocktail hour for your friends. It’s having them come to the table that has been set (whether it’s with paper plates or fine china, it really doesn’t matter). It’s about putting a napkin ring on either a disposable napkin or a gorgeous silk one. It’s about writing someone’s name on a place card (the intention of that) and showing them they are special and you’re so happy they are there. 

Lighting our DADA hand candle and creating a scented space all fall’s under care (whether that be self-care, caring for others, or caring for the beautiful energy of the group). Playlists are important (check out DADA’s dinner playlist on Spotify). I like making tablescapes that are edible and layering dips on the table so people can nibble and eat and don’t feel like there is a start and end to each course or the meal, in general. I also love to go to the bodega and buy lots of deliciously healthy chocolates and break them up and put them on tiered trays with dried fruit and nuts and have that be the dessert. It allows people to relax, sit, and drink a little bit more freely.

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It’s the little things that we think of as decadent that can change a person’s entire being, feeling, outlook, and it’s making that decadence a ritual that will force the emotional transformation. 

Favorite ritual?

Waking up at 6:30 am, I put my phone in a drawer and walk to my son’s room, get him out of bed and simply “play” without any plan, any distractions or any of the outside world coming in until 8 am. It’s just the two of us and it’s become my new meditation.

Favorite scent?

I have been wearing Le Labo Santal 33 since the day before they opened their store on Elizabeth Street. I lived above it and honestly went down there and bought it the second I smelled it.

Do you have any tips for long-haul flights?

The minute you get off the flight and you’re in your hotel room, get a bowl of ice and water. Make an ice bath for your face and stick your freaking face in there 10 times, three seconds each. Your face will de-puff and you’ll look and feel totally refreshed.

What’s your favorite beauty food? 

Green juice! It gives me so much energy. I drink it instead of coffee.

What’s your vice?

Chocolate in every way, shape, and form.

Do you have any charms or talismans?

I have a few malachite pieces that hold so much energy from my life in them. I put them on long chains, so they either hit my heart line or my gut—two places for me that I feel hold a lot of my emotion.