Red ochre in a decommissioned quarry in Roussillon, Provence, France. Red ochre gets its colour from hematite. If the particle size is bigger the colour appears to be purple. Red ochre was extracted in Provence from several sites that are now closed to production. In the past, as well as producing large quantities for paint pigments it was also used to colour foodstuffs, cosmetics, wallpaper, linoleum, rubber products and as a medicine. Being non-toxic, ochre is very safe to use. Early humans used ochre for their cave paintings and in Africa it has been used for 200,000 years.