Brand Profile & Interview with Krista Dolash of Root

When you think of the qualities you are looking for in a company you are interested in buying your products from, things like safe, high-quality ingredients, attractive packaging and products that are made with the utmost attention and love come to mind – Root checks all of those boxes and then some! With their gorgeously branded products, constant innovation, and wonderfully clean ingredients, founder Krista, has created something very special that has caught the attention of green beauty lovers across the globe.

From humble beginnings in Krista’s home kitchen in October 2013, Root began with just two products – her Pearl Powder Mineral Foundation and the Original Bronze Powder. In the past three years, Root has grown at an incredible rate, now producing over 50 products, shipping to customers around the world and they even have two retail locations in Iowa!

Root was founded on the principles that healthy and safe products shouldn’t be a luxury, and their mission is to make natural and organic products that are affordable and of the highest quality. Everything Root makes is vegan and gluten free and is made with the best skin loving ingredients and no unnecessary fillers.

Root is quickly becoming a one-stop-shop that many ingredient conscious consumers are flocking to for everything from foundation and lipsticks to skincare, hair care and home cleaning! Krista is constantly striving to create the products her customers are asking for while keeping quality up and prices down.

I believe 110% that the makeup you wear to achieve professional results doesn’t have to be full of harmful chemicals & cost you a fortune. Why sacrifice your health for beauty when you don’t have to? – Krista Dolash, Founder of Root

If you aren’t familiar with this brand, we are so excited to introduce you to them!  They are a personal favorite of The Greenly Guide, and are loved by beauty enthusiasts as well as those new to green beauty.  Krista was kind enough to tell us a little more about her inspiration and her products and what upcoming Root collections have her feeling overwhelmed with excitement to share!  Read on for the complete interview below plus an exciting surprise at the end!

The Greenly Guide: How did you first become interested in natural beauty products?
Krista: I had always worn what I thought & was brainwashed to think was the most natural products. While I was pregnant I turned a little crazy and began researching EVERYTHING. I started looking at my makeup, the makeup that I thought was natural & saw it was far from it! I was shocked that companies were able to say this and not be it, because I trust everyone & everything I heard up until that point when I realized they had totally brainwashed me. From there it was my mission to find better, actually natural products.

The Greenly Guide: How did you go about starting to formulate and create your own makeup and skincare products? Do you have any formal training or did you work with someone to help you formulate the products?
Krista: I wish I had an exciting story for this, but I literally looked at the ingredients in my current “not so natural” foundation & pulled out all of the fillers and unnecessary toxins. Ordered those minerals & started mixing & mortaring away! I’ve always had a huge passion & knack for cooking & making things. This to me felt just like cooking! I have zero formal training & have tirelessly researched ingredients, procedures, recipes, formulating methods, & FDA guidelines.

The Greenly Guide: What finally inspired you to start your business and sell the products you were making?
Krista: When people started asking me about my makeup I started sharing it with people. When people told me how much they loved it & how much they liked it even MORE than the makeup they had been wearing from large companies it was a huge boost in my confidence!

The Greenly Guide: What is the inspiration behind the name ‘Root’?
Krista: I had been wracking my brain for what seemed like an eternity trying to think of something that had a natural sense to the word, but was still unique & not too natural sounding! I also love really quaint words & wanted something simple! When I thought of Root it really just stuck from there! I can’t imagine Root being named anything else!

The Greenly Guide: It cannot be easy running such a quickly growing business – how do you balance work and home life, and what is your favorite way to relax at the end of a long day?
Krista: Oh boy, I have been really bad at balancing my life the past 3 years. The first “official” 9 months of Root I was the sole employee. Up until this past week I never really cut back hours and kept taking on more and more. I officially have cut back my hours to no more than 50 hours a week, so I can focus on my family! I’m so happy that I am able to cut back a little bit to be with them. My favorite way to relax at the end of the day is to make dinner for my family & snuggle with my kids.

The Greenly Guide: I know you are in the midst of the annual Root Model Search – what inspired you to start this competition and why do you think it is important to have a Root spokesmodel?
Krista: My mission for Root is to always have a deep connection with my customers. I want them to feel like they are part of this brand and can always get a hold of us for absolutely any reason. I also strongly believe in showcasing how real we are, by not using models to represent us, by not photoshopping our images & by using REAL customers. Not just REAL people, but REAL Root customers and the people who love us and Root products! Have you seen how gorgeous you people are?! Why wouldn’t I want you to be our models? Root is also a Social Media born & raised brand. We don’t advertise, but we do party pretty hard on social media! I feel like it matches my mission of always connecting with our customers & making them part of Root. With our Spokesmodel, they are able to be another go to person for us. Another key person who is representing us and people just like them with a fresh take! Sometimes I get caught up and don’t think of something they do or they have fresh new ideas that inspire me.

The Greenly Guide: You always do such a great job listening to what your customers want, and are always coming out with products everyone has been looking for – can you share what you are most excited about for the future of Root?
Krista: My goal is to never stop making new things. That’s what started this all! I am always looking at trends and being a relatively small company we can literally think of something & have it done the next day. I want to keep expanding all areas of Root, cosmetics, skincare, haircare, body, men’s & home, but I am also extremely excited to launch two new collections, baby+kids & essential oils. I want Root to be a one stop shop for everything you would use for personal & home care.

As much as I love our baby+kids products, our essential oils are going to be extremely unique to the essential oil space. We know how valuable essential oils are & how important they are in natural products! All of our essential oils are organic or wild crafted & the absolute top of the line oil. All of our wholes are handpicked for their purity & potency, so much so that we have multiple suppliers of our oils in order to make sure we are getting the very best of that specific oil. We are starting with our beauty blends, which are made to be used with your skincare, but also plan to release really fun and unique blends for personal and home use. All of our blending & filling is done right in our main lab in Waverly, Iowa. It has been an extremely thoughtful process and I couldn’t be prouder of what we are going to be putting into the hands of our customers.

The Greenly Guide: Anything else to add? 
Krista: One of the first things I noticed about natural and organic products were that people felt like they had to sacrifice the quality of their products for safe products. Or if there was something in the market that was amazing they had to pay a fortune for it! I knew I wanted to keep my prices as affordable as possible, but keep the quality & ease of use everyone loves with traditional products! Root products are made to be the highest quality products on the market, not just in the natural space but in the entire cosmetic space. We want them to rival, if not beat the quality & professionalism of tradition products. From there I also wanted as many people as possible to be able to use them so I immediately made them gluten free & vegan.

With so many products, where do you start?

Root offers so many wonderful products to choose from, you may be wondering where to start when exploring this amazing brand. We are thrilled to have the advice of the expert herself, founder Krista, who is sharing with us five of Root’s bestsellers and delving into the ingredients that make these products beneficial and special.

—Below Product & Ingredient information provided by Krista—

BEAUTY SLEEP • our top selling skin care product for good reason! We have seen drastic improvement in people with acne, eczema, psoriasis, aging skin, dry skin, oily skin & even normal skin!

It is packed with nutrient rich ingredients including:
● Argan Oil, aka “liquid gold”, is used in Beauty Sleep as our primary moisturizing ingredient. It is rich in vitamin E & fatty acids. It is wonderful because it is non-irritating, non-greasy & absorbs into your skin easily. Argan Oil is extremely effective on dry skin, eczema & psoriasis while being very soothing & nourishing to sensitive skin.
● Organic Helichrysum Essential Oil is used in Beauty Sleep is the primary repairing ingredient. The Helichrysum plant is referred to as “The Everlasting Flower” because of its rejuvenating properties & ability to naturally boost your complexion. It is known for its natural medicinal properties which help to repair all skin conditions. Its strong antibiotic & antimicrobial properties promotes healthy skin & clearing of acne, redness & scarring, while remaining ultra-gentle unlike traditional acne treatments.

PEARL POWDER FOUNDATION • comprised of the highest cosmetic grade minerals, this is a TRUE mineral makeup. There are zero fillers & no irritants in this game changing foundation. Using ONLY the purest ingredients you can take this powder foundation & turn it into the perfect full coverage liquid foundation or concealer with just a few drops of water. Yes, just water! The best part of this foundation, besides the minimal ingredient list, is whether you apply it lightly or as full coverage it will not budge until you wash it off, proof that this is the highest quality natural foundation in the beauty industry. Our Pearl Powder Foundation is amazing for all ages & all skin types. The biggest trick is less is more, which is something that takes some getting used to after wearing traditional cosmetics. It is a highly concentrated product & you really only need a tiny amount. One jar should last you up to a year! It should never feel heavy, look cakey, or settle into lines. If it does, you’re using too much!

The star ingredients are:
● Yellow & Brown Iron Oxides provide the natural mineral pigment, which is the ingredient that gives our foundation the skin tone coloring. No artificial dyes, simply the best natural pigment here!
● Zinc Oxide is used to act as a barrier for your skin & protect it from natural elements. It is soothing to dry & chapped skin while offering natural SPF.
● Mica gives our Pearl Powder Foundation a healthy dewy look! Though our Pearl Powder Foundation might “appear” shimmery, it isn’t shimmery once applied. Mica gives you a subtle skin brightening effect. Mica also works to bind all of the ingredients together & give you excellent coverage, whether you want light or full coverage.

POMEGRANATE CLEANSER • natural anti-aging is the REAL DEAL with our Pomegranate line of products! What better place to start than with a good cleanser. Cleansers are often overlooked & skipped in skincare routines but they are VITAL for your skin to absorb other products! The best way to cleanse your face is by first removing your makeup with a makeup remover (we love our R&R Makeup Remover or Refreshing Coconut Micellar Water) & then applying one pump of Pomegranate Cleanser to a DRY face. Massage the cleanser all over your face for as long as you’d like. You can even let is sit on your skin for 2 minutes to absorb all of the lovely ingredients. Then, rinse with water. Cleansing on dry skin helps to undilute the natural ingredients & letting the cleanser do all the work buffing away dirt & oil while nourishing your skin with vitamins & antioxidants. Cleansing your skin is also important to gently open your pores in order to deep clean your face & allow it to absorb the products you apply next. After cleansing we love to apply our Pomegranate Serum for ultra anti-aging goodness.

The full ingredient list will truly knock your socks off but some of the key ingredients used in our Pomegranate Cleanser are:
● Pomegranate Extract is full of Vitamin C & antioxidants. It naturally plumps your skin & promotes collagen & elastin production. It also works to reverse sun damage & hyperpigmentation.
● Geranium Essential Oil is a wonderful natural wrinkle reducer! Geranium Essential oil is a natural astringent that induces gentle contractions. These contractions tighten facial skin which slows down the effects of aging. We’re big fans of the benefits of Essential Oils in our skincare!

PRETTY BALM • the ultimate go-to lip product! We like to refer to Pretty Balm as a lip moisturizer, lip gloss & lipstick all rolled into one convenient tube! They’re easy to apply, feel so soothing to your lips & pack a big punch of color. We love that you can apply just a swipe for a little bit of color or build up the color with a few more layers.

Here are our favorite ingredients we use to make our Pretty Balms:
● Organic Oils including: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Oil & Jojoba Oil are highly moisturizing & give you a pretty glossy effect.
● Organic Shea Butter & Candelilla Wax is the primary base giving you a smooth barrier & lovely layer of deep conditioning.
● Tin Oxide & Iron Oxides provide the natural mineral pigments in all of our lip products!

PRESSED PRODUCTS • with our goal of making the best natural & organic products, we also strive to push the limits & boundaries to make healthy cosmetics with all of the perks of traditional cosmetics! When deciding to introduce pressed products it was our goal to make super pigmented colors with lasting wear! Our pressed products are known for their professional quality, insane variety of colors while at an affordable price. We also promote reusable packaging by selling them in just their pan to be used with any of our reusable compacts or palettes. Our pressed products include eyeshadows, blushes & bronzes with more pressed products in the works!

The ingredients that make our pressed products stand out are:
● Jojoba Oil is our main binding ingredient in all of our pressed products. This gentle oil is used in place of harsh alcohols to give you a silky application. Jojoba Oil is actually considered a liquid wax, which allows our pressed products to wear all day.
● Tin Oxide, Iron Oxides & Ultramarines provide the natural mineral pigment without the use of artificial dyes which are often irritating to the skin.

[[CLOSED]] Congratulations to the five winners: @conventionaldrop_out, @vineripebeauty, @laurablushing, @fireflyfieldsliving & @reganewebster

Surprise!  FIVE of you will have an opportunity to win a best seller mentioned above in an amazing giveaway!

The Greenly Guide & Root have partnered to bring you an incredible giveaway for not just one but FIVE lucky readers!  We will be giving away one product to each of the five lucky winners!

For full details on how to enter see below or head over to The Greenly Guide Instagram feed HERE!  GOOD LUCK!

Giveaway is open to residents of the United States only and will run from Friday, November 11, 2016 to Thursday, November 17, 2016 at 11:00 PM EST.  Winners will be chosen randomly and announced here at the bottom of this post as well as over on our Instagram page on Friday, November 18, 2016.

HOW TO ENTER: 

–Make sure you are following The Greenly Guide AND Root over on Instagram

–Comment on the Instagram giveaway photo tagging three friends

–Leave us a comment below telling us what ONE product you would be most excited to win – Beauty Sleep, Pearl Powder Mineral Foundation, Pomegranate Cleanser, Pretty Balm OR a pressed eye shadow.  Make sure to comment with only one product as there will be ONE winner for each of the five products.  (make sure to include your Instagram username in your comment here so we know it’s you!)

***OPTIONAL–Receive 5 extra entries by reposting our giveaway photo on Instagram (make sure to tag us in your repost!)