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ST Y L E & DESIGN beauty heritage
FROM THE GROUND UP
The seeds of Jane Iredale’s mineral makeup empire were sewn more than two decades ago, when she realized there was nothing pure, natural or skin-nurturing about existing cosmetics. By Bonnie Davidson
66 M A N H AT TA N S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 6
healthy vegetables and flowers as she does about nurturing a beautiful complexion. The genius behind makeup that doubles as skincare, Iredale created Iredale Mineral Cosmetics Ltd. in 1994 with one product (a mineral-based loose powder that’s a foundation, concealer and sunscreen) and one collaborator (a California chemist with whom she still works). Today, her company, based in rural Great Barrington, Mass., has blossomed to 180 employees and more than 400 goodfor-you products for face, eyes, lips and body, which are available in 52 countries. “We do especially well in Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom, but the one that’s really surprised me is Bulgaria,” she marvels. “We’re the No. 1 brand in that country. It’s just amazing.” Stateside, you’ll
JANE IREDALE PORTRAIT BY MEREDITH HEUER
ity the poor Japanese beetle that invades Jane Iredale’s organic garden. “I’m merciless,” she says softly, with a sweetness that belies her current activity—using a leaf, as one would a tissue, to squish any hungry little pest she finds lurking among the bushes bearing thimble-size raspberries, clusters of tiny black and white currants, and fat gooseberries. “I don’t want to get the goo on my hands,” she explains. Strolling among impeccably manicured beds of tomatoes, squash, kale, Brussels sprouts and peas (not to mention lavender, hydrangea, foxglove and veronica), Iredale seems almost as knowledgeable about growing
GREEN GODDESS Clockwise lockwise from top left: New BeautyPrep face cleanser ($28), toner ($33) and moisturizer ($45) boast cucumber and lemongrass extracts; the local community is always welcome in Iredale’s garden in the Berkshires; PureMoist lipsticks ($25 each) in ripe, juicy shades.
OFFICE PHOTO OF JANE IREDALE COURTESY OF IREDALE MINERAL COSMETICS LTD.; JANE IREDALE PORTRAIT BY MEREDITH HEUER
“We want to give women the tools to feel the best they can about themselves. It’s not about smoky eyes or ruby lips or the most fabulous cheekbones in the world. It’s about what makes you feel good.”
GOOD NATURE Clockwise from top left: Jane Iredale with some animal crueltyfree products in her company’s headquarters, an adaptive reuse of an abandoned middle school; the new lineup includes six shades of shadow/ primer Smooth Affair for eyes ($32 each), anti-aging Smooth Affair facial primer & brightener, and Smooth Affair for oily skin primer & brightener ($48 each); all profits from Lemongrass Love hydration spray ($30) benefit Living Beyond Breast Cancer; Iredale revels in country life with her husband and their dog, Cookie.
find her ever-expanding line of beautifying and beneficial powders, creams, serums, lotions and sprays in spas and dermatologists’ and plastic surgeons’ offices, and on janeiredale.com. A British transplant, Iredale studied at New York University, then spent many years as a casting director, writer and producer for television, movies and theater. “I was working with Spielberg and Coppola and… then we went on Broadway. But there was a point when I got absolutely burned out. So I started thinking: What else can I do?” she recalls. The lifelong devotee of natural health and wellness noticed that actresses and models, who were constantly applying and scrubbing off heavy makeup, were developing acne, eczema, rosacea and a host of other skin ills. So she set out to create an easy-on, easy-off makeup composed of holistic, nontoxic, noncomedogenic, crueltyfree ingredients that would moisturize, nourish and protect, rather than irritate and damage, the body’s largest organ. “We removed makeup additives, like talc, dyes and mineral oil, and were left with the pure pigment, which was titanium dioxide, zinc dioxide and iron oxide,” says the cosmetics icon. “We substituted bismuth oxychloride with boron nitride and mica. When you’ve got that, you’ve got enormous payoff—great sun protection and ingredients that are anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial.” Like the flora that thrives outside her home and adjacent LEEDcertified corporate headquarters, Iredale’s business flourished. “We started getting picked up by doctors, and we really gained credibility,” says the mineral makeup pioneer, who insists that every product is rigorously tested for “so many different things—comedogenicity, sensitivity, phototoxicity, heavy metals, shelf life and so on.” Since then, botanicals and antioxidants have been added, new products launched (their colors and fragrances inspired
by her garden’s bounty) and a global empire established. “We want to give women the tools to feel the best they can about themselves,” notes Iredale. “It’s not about smoky eyes or ruby lips or the most fabulous cheekbones in the world. It’s about what makes you feel good. People think of makeup as being trivial, but it’s actually an important part of a woman’s life, her self-confidence. That’s what we all work for here— to help people feel comfortable in their own skin and have that skin be the healthiest it can possibly be.” janeiredale.com
67 M A N H AT TA N S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 6
FROM THE GROUND UP
The seeds of Jane Iredale’s mineral makeup empire were sewn more than two decades ago, when she realized there was nothing pure, natural or skin-nurturing about existing cosmetics. By Bonnie Davidson
66 M A N H AT TA N S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 6
healthy vegetables and flowers as she does about nurturing a beautiful complexion. The genius behind makeup that doubles as skincare, Iredale created Iredale Mineral Cosmetics Ltd. in 1994 with one product (a mineral-based loose powder that’s a foundation, concealer and sunscreen) and one collaborator (a California chemist with whom she still works). Today, her company, based in rural Great Barrington, Mass., has blossomed to 180 employees and more than 400 goodfor-you products for face, eyes, lips and body, which are available in 52 countries. “We do especially well in Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom, but the one that’s really surprised me is Bulgaria,” she marvels. “We’re the No. 1 brand in that country. It’s just amazing.” Stateside, you’ll
JANE IREDALE PORTRAIT BY MEREDITH HEUER
ity the poor Japanese beetle that invades Jane Iredale’s organic garden. “I’m merciless,” she says softly, with a sweetness that belies her current activity—using a leaf, as one would a tissue, to squish any hungry little pest she finds lurking among the bushes bearing thimble-size raspberries, clusters of tiny black and white currants, and fat gooseberries. “I don’t want to get the goo on my hands,” she explains. Strolling among impeccably manicured beds of tomatoes, squash, kale, Brussels sprouts and peas (not to mention lavender, hydrangea, foxglove and veronica), Iredale seems almost as knowledgeable about growing
GREEN GODDESS Clockwise lockwise from top left: New BeautyPrep face cleanser ($28), toner ($33) and moisturizer ($45) boast cucumber and lemongrass extracts; the local community is always welcome in Iredale’s garden in the Berkshires; PureMoist lipsticks ($25 each) in ripe, juicy shades.
OFFICE PHOTO OF JANE IREDALE COURTESY OF IREDALE MINERAL COSMETICS LTD.; JANE IREDALE PORTRAIT BY MEREDITH HEUER
“We want to give women the tools to feel the best they can about themselves. It’s not about smoky eyes or ruby lips or the most fabulous cheekbones in the world. It’s about what makes you feel good.”
GOOD NATURE Clockwise from top left: Jane Iredale with some animal crueltyfree products in her company’s headquarters, an adaptive reuse of an abandoned middle school; the new lineup includes six shades of shadow/ primer Smooth Affair for eyes ($32 each), anti-aging Smooth Affair facial primer & brightener, and Smooth Affair for oily skin primer & brightener ($48 each); all profits from Lemongrass Love hydration spray ($30) benefit Living Beyond Breast Cancer; Iredale revels in country life with her husband and their dog, Cookie.
find her ever-expanding line of beautifying and beneficial powders, creams, serums, lotions and sprays in spas and dermatologists’ and plastic surgeons’ offices, and on janeiredale.com. A British transplant, Iredale studied at New York University, then spent many years as a casting director, writer and producer for television, movies and theater. “I was working with Spielberg and Coppola and… then we went on Broadway. But there was a point when I got absolutely burned out. So I started thinking: What else can I do?” she recalls. The lifelong devotee of natural health and wellness noticed that actresses and models, who were constantly applying and scrubbing off heavy makeup, were developing acne, eczema, rosacea and a host of other skin ills. So she set out to create an easy-on, easy-off makeup composed of holistic, nontoxic, noncomedogenic, crueltyfree ingredients that would moisturize, nourish and protect, rather than irritate and damage, the body’s largest organ. “We removed makeup additives, like talc, dyes and mineral oil, and were left with the pure pigment, which was titanium dioxide, zinc dioxide and iron oxide,” says the cosmetics icon. “We substituted bismuth oxychloride with boron nitride and mica. When you’ve got that, you’ve got enormous payoff—great sun protection and ingredients that are anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial.” Like the flora that thrives outside her home and adjacent LEEDcertified corporate headquarters, Iredale’s business flourished. “We started getting picked up by doctors, and we really gained credibility,” says the mineral makeup pioneer, who insists that every product is rigorously tested for “so many different things—comedogenicity, sensitivity, phototoxicity, heavy metals, shelf life and so on.” Since then, botanicals and antioxidants have been added, new products launched (their colors and fragrances inspired
by her garden’s bounty) and a global empire established. “We want to give women the tools to feel the best they can about themselves,” notes Iredale. “It’s not about smoky eyes or ruby lips or the most fabulous cheekbones in the world. It’s about what makes you feel good. People think of makeup as being trivial, but it’s actually an important part of a woman’s life, her self-confidence. That’s what we all work for here— to help people feel comfortable in their own skin and have that skin be the healthiest it can possibly be.” janeiredale.com
67 M A N H AT TA N S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 6
