Saria lives in a suburb of Milwaukee, WI only 45 minutes away from where she grew up. She’s a Cheesehead born & raised! Go Pack!! Saria loves living in Wisconsin, having grown up on snowmobiles in winter, ATV’s in the spring & fall, with summers saved for a jet ski, boat or riding horseback; she wouldn’t want to live anywhere else! She lives with her husband, Neil and their son, Nathan, along with their three cats – Little Man, Baby Girl and Naughty.

Saria describes herself as a little bit crazy, but with a big heart. She loves her family, friends and working with color in her makeup. You can view all her products at her store. When she is not creating, you might find her reading a good book.

Saria’s favorite quote or saying is – “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are” -Anais Nin

How long have you been creating makeup?

I have been making mineral makeup for almost 4 years.

Why did you start?

Basically I started out of necessity. I have such sensitive skin that I had never really been able to wear makeup for more than a day at a time without breaking out in hives, pimples and a rash. When I decided to go back to school for cosmetology, wearing makeup was looked at as pretty much part of your dress code, so I had to figure something out. I had heard of mineral makeup and that it was supposed to be great for sensitive skin, so hoping it was what I had been searching for, I went out and bought my first jars of mineral makeup.

I had several friends who wore mineral makeup and swore by it, so I thought for sure I would be set! Unfortunately, what worked so well for my friends did not work so wonderful for me. Within hours of putting the products on my skin I had hives, bumps and a rash that started at my collarbone and came all the way up to my nose. People at school were shocked to see how drastic of a reaction I had- but I was used to it. It was the same thing that happened every time I put makeup on – even brands that worked for others with sensitive skin. It was starting to look like mineral makeup was not for me after all.

Being a former RN, I knew if I could figure out what it was in the mineral makeup that set off such an allergic reaction, I could then try and find a brand that didn’t use that ingredient(s) in their products. It was when I was researching the ingredients that I came to the realization that if I wanted a product that was made specifically for me, the best way to do it was to make it myself. So after spending a ton of time researching, I ordered my first batch of ingredients!

Needless to say, it was not as easy as I had thought it would be! It took me over a month to come up with a foundation that was even remotely close to my skin tone. It was several weeks after that when I realized that the color was perfect but the product felt and looked like I had just dusted powder on my face. I should mention I have VERY dry skin as well, so the idea of wearing a powder seemed a bit ridiculous to me, but having seen the great results my friends had with the mineral makeup I couldn’t wear, I knew it was possible to make it look like you were not covered in flour!

Long story short- I know, too late! After about 6 months of trial and error, and hours and hours and days spent researching the ingredients, their chemistry, color theory, and anything else related to minerals, I finally had a formula for a foundation that I could wear! It didn’t look like powder, it matched my skin tone, it didn’t have streaks of color when I put it on, and most importantly, I didn’t break out!

When I started wearing my new foundation to school everyone noticed! Not in a bad way, but in a good way! I had more compliments on my skin in one day than I had had in my entire life. People didn’t notice my makeup- they noticed my skin.

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