Founded by veteran film and television makeup artist JoAnn Fowler and developed with experts in the field of green formulation, SAPPHO New Paradigm was first released as Sappho Cosmetics in 2008. With 20+ years of experience, an Emmy nomination and a Leo Award win under her belt, JoAnn was at the height of her career when some of the talent she worked with on set began requesting products that were paraben-free. As she researched ingredients and unravelled the risks associated with carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, her personal and professional conscience drew her to having a natural alternative in her kit. 

 

At the time, as Head of the Makeup Department on Showtime's  The L Word series, JoAnn had access to all the natural makeup available on the market then, but none of it worked well enough on camera.  It was with the encouragement of the actors on the show that she began formulating her own products and introduced her trailblazing makeup line, SAPPHO. In fact, most of the first few shades of its bestselling Essential Foundation were named and matched for them. It didn't take long after launching SAPPHO and seeing it used on production sets that stores started calling, wanting to carry her high performance natural makeup. Eventually, her line took on a life of its own and with a healthy wholesale business and growing web sales, JoAnn quit working in film to dedicate herself to growing her company. With a personal history of cancer among close loved ones, integrity and transparency of ingredients were always important to JoAnn and remain at the core of our brand's ethos to this day.

 

Fast forward to 2016, when Fowler relaunched her line as SAPPHO New Paradigm, a new name for a new era: redefined original formulas and a fresh approach to business, embracing women-led standards in business practices. Now totally vegan, with more organic content and the addition of phytonutrients and low heavy metal minerals, a number of new products joined the beloved line-up, all beautifully packaged with a luxurious appeal using more and more sustainable materials.