Beauty Goes Green In Waverly

Root in downtown Waverly creates mineral-based cosmetics—all beautiful and easy to use.

Krista Dolash is carving out a niche in the multibillion-dollar cosmetics industry with Root, a Waverly-based natural and organic makeup company that has green beauty bloggers buzzing.

The business grew from a hobby, which stemmed from Dolash’s desire to eliminate toxic chemicals from her everyday life. Reading the ingredients on the supposedly natural makeup she was using, she discovered a list of what she considered to be harmful fillers.

“I felt misled and honestly kind of bummed out,” says Dolash. That prompted her to order raw ingredients and start formulating her own vegan, gluten-free mineral-based foundation in her kitchen. In October of 2013, Root launched online. The vividly pigmented products, with their hot pink packaging and affordable prices (eyeshadow is $10 and tinted lip balm is $8, for example), were a hit.

“The industry has just blown up,” Dolash says. “It’s been insane that people are so conscious about natural products, and I feel fortunate that we were at the forefront of it.”

In the last few years, Dolash has focused on expansion into lines for hair, home and skin care while keeping the company’s growth as organic as her products. Find the business in downtown Waverly (100 E. Bremer Ave.) or online at rootpretty.com.

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