ABOUT US

We are two women from Woodstock, New York, who had a desire to create makeup that was pure and beautiful.

Nancy Caigan, as founding partner, had the vision, researched the formula, secured our resources and found our brilliant chemist.

Susanna Ronner added her graphic design talent and creative eye in the development of the lip color palette, as well as the design of the logo, packaging, web, and all visual material.

Together, the two of us are friends, dancers, mothers, wives, and committed business partners, dedicated and enthused about creating and growing Primitive Makeup.

Our mother's and grandmother's used to share a traditional European saying with us, (along with a kiss on the forehead and love in their hearts) — a phrase we've adopted to share with all who wear Primitive —"Wear it in Good Health".

Nancy Caigan (photo/left) and Susanna Ronner (photo/right) / founding partners

PHILOSOPHY

We all like to look our best. The desire to enhance our natural beauty is timeless and ageless. And every woman has experienced how sometimes just a touch of the right makeup in the right place can be truly transformative - it can build our self confidence, our feelings about ourselves, and what we project to others.

There is no reason why we need to sacrifice our health in the everyday pleasure of wearing makeup. We wanted to move away from 'conventional'/synthetic makeup - and we knew that we probably were not alone in this desire. This is why we created Primitive Makeup.

Primitive Makeup, Inc. was first created in 2003 when founder Nancy Caigan wanted to wear natural makeup to go with her growing desire to live a more natural, healthy lifestyle — a result of having two little girls at home. While there were healthy food choices, the few natural cosmetics that were available did not perform nearly as well as commercial, synthetic brands. She wanted her brand to be modern and sophisticated, so she invited award-winning graphic designer Susanna Ronner to be her business partner. In addition to Susanna's design eye, she also brought her long time background of healthy and natural living — having been a practitioner of yoga and an instructor for many years.

Together, the two of us set out to create an exceptional, natural line of makeup — one that would be sophisticated in its quality, performance, color, packaging, and presentation. For us, it is essential that the makeup line be 100% all natural, made entirely of naturally occurring ingredients, with no synthetics, additives, or preservatives. We wanted to create a lipstick that felt wonderful, with color choices that were beautiful and appealing to all women, and happened to be all natural. As consumers of cosmetics ourselves, we understood that women will not make the switch to natural cosmetics unless the performance, colors, taste and feel are on par with 'traditional' synthetic products. We proudly feel that we've created an exceptional line of cosmetics — lipsticks, lip glosses, and lip pencils, that surpass traditional cosmetics, and other natural cosmetic lines as well.

We are most proud of the fact that we regularly get "fan mail" from store buyers and customers who take the time to thank us for creating Primitive. They love its feel, its taste, its emollient quality, its color palette, and its packaging.

We believe that beauty should not come at the expense of our health. According to many published reports, the average woman consumes four to nine pounds of lipstick in her lifetime! This supports our belief that what we put on our lips be simple, pure ingredients formulated from Nature herself. Primitive was born from this awareness, with the hope and intention to contribute to the well-being and beauty of women everywhere. Primitive Makeup. Wear it in good health.

JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE

Founded by renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, the Jane Goodall Institute is a global nonprofit that empowers people to make a difference for all living things. Their work builds on Dr. Goodall's scientific work and her humanitarian vision.

Primitive admires and appreciates the core values of the Jane Goodall Institute, which are:

To respect, nourish and protect all living things; people, animals and the environment are all interconnected
That knowledge leads to understanding, and that understanding will encourage us to take action
That every individual has the ability to make a positive difference
That flexibility and open-mindedness are essential to enable us to respond to a changing world
Integrity and compassion is required in all that we do and say.

JGI created the 'Good for All' brand in 2007 to recognize companies and environmentally conscious products that reflect Dr. Goodall's core values. Primitive is honored to be among these companies, and the first in cosmetics.

Dr. Goodall personally selected two Primitive Lipsticks — Belize and Tahiti — to carry the 'Good for All' mark. A percentage of the sales of these lipsticks will go directly to JGI to support its programs. We are thrilled to help make a difference in this way and we are happy that you too get to contribute to the work of this outstanding organization, through your purchase of these beautiful lipsticks.

You can learn more about Dr. Jane Goodall and the Jane Goodall Institute at www.janegoodall.org

COMMON QUESTIONS

Are your products vegan? Two of our lipsticks are, in fact, vegan. They do not contain any animal products at all. These colors are Tahiti and Taj Mahal. However, other products do contain beeswax, and/or carmine. We decided that we wanted to create a superior lip color, in a modern, wearable palette. This would have been impossible for us to do without the use of carmine to achieve certain colors.

Are your products tested on animals? None of our products are tested on animals.

Are your products organic? Our lip pencils are certified organic by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Our lipsticks and lip glosses are completely natural, but not yet certified organic. Interestingly, certain ingredients, such as iron oxides, cannot be certified organic, as they are, by definition, "inorganic".

Are your lip products really all natural? Yes, and we stand behind all of our ingredients.

Are all products labeled "natural" really natural? We can only speak for the products we produce. We encourage you to carefully read the ingredient labels, then decide for yourself!

Samples are approximately 1/8th Teaspoon size packaged in a mini zip lock baggie or small polycon recyclable jar. Some samples may be smaller. They are designed for one or more uses depending upon the product. They are not made for reselling. They are made for individual use. These are not produced by the manufacturer, but only through Natural Solutions. The size and price were determined by the largest size container the manufacturer has available and evenly proportioned. Please read our policies under Customer Service Desk as not all items are returnable. Every person's skin is unique, and as with all cosmetics we recommend that a person apply a small amount of the product to the inner wrist for 1-2 days before applying elsewhere to ensure comfort and compatibility. We encourage everyone to read the ingredient labels carefully to avoid allergens.