The Monave Story
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The Monave story begins with a young woman with an Eastern Armenian/Caucasian background named Deborah Bilezikian with a very light olive complexion. She continues her story with a search " for a good foundation shade for my skin until the day I made one myself. Many manufacturers assume that if you are olive, that you are dark, which isn't the case."
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"When I first started in mineral makeup, I was managing retail for another mineral line. From the day that I opened my first store in Baltimore, the product flew off of the shelf. It was more than I expected. Little by little however I began to be dissatisfied with the products that I was selling. Their range of colors was gorgeous, but the products were marketed more toward teenagers. I had a lot of traveling business women that loved the concept, but needed more sedate textures and shades! So, I started shopping around. What I found was that the wholesale mineral makeup market was priced for high-end salons and spas. The retail prices would have been too high for a market like Baltimore. Women often have brand loyalty, and when I started in this business, mineral makeup wasn`t as well-known as it is today. So, I was forced into creating my own brand/line. It was also during this time that I decided what ingredients I wanted to include in my line, and what ingredients I wanted to exclude.
With assistance from professionals in the industry, from chemists, and from my own endless research, I began to slowly build manufacturing into my business. This was a period that took great faith. I was in new territory, and if I hadn't had tremendous dedication and pure interest in the product line that I was trying to create, I would have given up. My education and training as an artist and makeup artist helped immensely.
Everything that I experienced during those early years has influenced how I run my business today, from customer service policies and pricing, to minimums. I try to make it simple and convenient to purchase our products. You shouldn`t have to jump through hoops, or pay oodles of money just to try something new.
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| My manufacturing is done without any animal testing at all. The only animal by-product that is used is beeswax, in our potted, and liquid gloss. 95% of Monave products are actually vegan. Paper, glass, and plastics are recycled in our warehouse, and we ask that our customers do the same. I hire locally, live within walking distance of my warehouse, and try to always source out local suppliers. We print on paper that has the highest recycled content available, and use low-watt light bulbs.. I provide a pleasant, clean and healthy working environment for Monave staff, as well as competitive pay. We are multi-cultural, and no one is ever mistreated or discriminated against."
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....and finally, when asked how she came up with the name Monave for her product line her answer: MONAVE stands for "MODERN", "NATURAL" and "VERSATILE"
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