Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/608904
50 | I NSIGH T • D e c e m b e r 2 0 15 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m M any business success stories start by filling a need that a market le empty. For Ashley Prange, a healthy cosmetic line was not easy to come by. When she started creating her own makeup she realized she was onto something that could also help others. "I never really thought of having a business. I was just blending pigments in my kitchen in (Washington) D.C. for myself aer I was taught how to do it," says Prange, owner and founder of Au Naturale Cosmetics. "From there I thought I could private label with a few people on a few different products." Au Naturale products are made from natural ingredients less likely to cause skin irritation and other health problems. Most makeup is weighted with many synthetics, Prange says, including ingredients deemed toxic in some parts of the world. Her mission is to make a pure makeup line that is professional in endurance, but also in purity, so consumers are not compromising health or beauty. "Sixty-five percent of what you put on your body ends up inside your body. Makeup should be treated like food, and in Europe, they have many regulations that back up this theory. Here in the U.S. they do not," Prange says. Since starting her business four years ago, sales have doubled each year as more clients become aware of the Transparency in a local business model leads to worldwide demand A clean foundation in focus { s m a l l b u s i n e s s } B y A n d r e w S c h a i c k products. Prange says her business goes the extra step to ensure what it is selling is "clean," meaning, they feel natural on the skin. "What puts us on the map is we take everything to the next level where we are using many more organic ingredients," Prange says. "When other companies say their product is 'organic' they may be only using one organic ingredient, which legally they can do." Prange says she knows exactly where every ingredient comes from. Even though some locally-sourced products are not yet certified USDA organic, Prange and her team say they personally know the people who make them. Ashley Prange, owner of Au Naturale, prepares a batch of lip gloss that could potentially be distributed to customers world-wide. C O U R T E S Y A U N AT U R A L E