Founded in 1994 with a mission to enhance natural beauty while benefitting skin, mineral-based makeup brand jane iredale is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Over the years, the company’s founder—none other than Jane Iredale herself—has certainly become a beauty industry icon in her own right. In honor of this milestone achievement, LovelySkin content manager Jill Talman asked Jane our burning questions about the brand, including what inspired her to start her company, hurdles she’s overcome and the one product she absolutely can’t live without.

Q. What inspired you to start your clean skin care and makeup brand, and how does your personal philosophy shape the brand's ethos?

A. I had a career in the entertainment industry as a casting director and producer. Along that journey, I worked with many actors and models whose careers depended on healthy skin. The camera is brutal when it comes to closeups! A surprising number of women are sensitive to makeup, and thirty years ago, no one was paying any attention to what the ingredients were. I wondered why we couldn’t have a makeup that was good for the skin. From a very young age, I’ve been interested in what we put in and on our bodies. I’ve always read ingredient labels, so it was natural for me to start pulling apart the ingredients in makeup and investigating how I could improve it. That has been the guiding principle on every product we’ve created since.

Q. Can you walk us through your process of selecting ingredients for your products?

A. My guiding principle is: “Do no harm to the consumer or the environment.” When developing a new product, I look first at ingredients that can aid the health of the skin. Once that’s accomplished, I choose ingredients that combine to make the most effective formula, providing they do not harm the skin or the environment. My goal is to create a product that looks beautiful on skin and has lasting qualities with easy application. We never test on animals.

Q. What were some obstacles you faced while building your brand, and how did you overcome them?

A. The first obstacle was convincing chemists we could create a makeup that was good for the skin. Most of the chemists were skeptical. I eventually found a female chemist who I still work with today. She is my rock! The second obstacle was convincing financial institutions we were worthy of their support. We were growing fast and needed access to credit. I maxed out my credit cards, borrowed from family and friends and eventually had a strong enough balance sheet to get the support I needed from the banking community. The beauty industry is very different from the entertainment industry. I’ve always found the people in the beauty industry to be supportive. This has helped a great deal.

Q. How do you stay innovative while staying true to your clean beauty commitment?

A. That is a real challenge. Once you make the commitment to clean beauty, consumers hold you to it. We are interrogated far more than traditional cosmetic companies, and we have to answer the consumer with credibility. Fortunately, ingredient manufacturers have become more aware of the need for responsibly sourced and effective ingredients, so that has increased our ability to innovate. Sometimes, there are products the consumer asks for that we can’t make without compromising our clean beauty promise.

Q. Your brand supports many different philanthropic organizations. Can you tell us a little about that and why they’re important to jane iredale?

A. Our company’s mantra is to enhance the lives of women, so we gravitate toward organizations that support them, nationally and locally. This is very important to me personally and to the company in general, which is overwhelmingly staffed by women. Then, there are the environmental organizations and animal welfare, both of which are integral to our brand. This has now developed into a passion for supporting our local organic farms in the Berkshires. I’ve always thought of food as medicine. Since the skin is the body’s largest organ, what we put in our bodies has a direct effect on the health of our skin, and that’s what we’re all about.

Q. LovelySkin and jane iredale have been partners for many years. From your perspective, what makes us such a great fit?

A. Yes, we have—we are celebrating our 20th anniversary together as partners this year! What makes us such a great fit is the origin and the heart of our brand is in the professional field. Dermatologists provide their credibility and expertise in skin health and have been recommending and using our products on their clients for decades. LovelySkin was a natural fit two decades ago, because the company is dermatologist-founded and run with a team that provides trusted advice and a curated product selection. To this day, we have such a successful and fruitful partnership where we continue to provide quality products and advice to people across the country.

Q. Everyone wants to know … what is your No. 1 must-have, can’t-live-without-it jane iredale product?

A. PurePressed Base in Amber.

Looking for fresh makeup tips? You can learn how to get a no-makeup makeup look in six easy steps with products from jane iredale and more on the LovelySkin Blog.