Hi! I'm Kristin Donnelly, and I started this company with a simple mission: To make intriguing lip balms for grown-ups.
It was an idea that started over cocktails. While drinking well-made martinis, I realized blending ingredients to make lip balm would be a lot like mixing up drinks. A cookbook author and former Food & Wine magazine editor, I knew it was important to start with great ingredients; in the case of the lip balm, I started playing with organic oils and butters and golden beeswax. In a market flooded with bubblegummy scents, I wanted something more subtle, more grown-up, inspired by everything from cocktails to the seasons. Instead of using flavor oils made in a lab, I used pure essential oils distilled from botanicals. For sensitive lips, I wanted to create the best unscented lip balm you could find.
I spent about a year tinkering until I developed my line of organic, all-natural lip balms that I liked better than any other on the market.
After I settled on my formulas, I needed a name. My husband, Phil, and I cycled through lots of ideas, and then one night, over dinner, he said, "What about our middle names?" And thus, Stewart & Claire was born.
We launched our little company in Manhattan in 2011 and soon after moved to Brooklyn. We recently relocated to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where we continue to create new products and sneak in the occasional cocktail while raising our young daughter.
Stewart & Claire
