Beautiful, From the Inside Out!

I feel like Beautycounter has become a household name, it’s everywhere we turn nowadays. But, I also work for the company and I am obsessed with the products, so I have to remind myself regularly that just because I eat, sleep and breathe Beautycounter does not mean the majority of people do the same. And, if they don’t know about it, chances are they also don’t know why it’s such an important brand. So let’s break it down, shall we?!?!

Beautycounter is a cleaner, safer beauty and skincare brand that was created by our CEO, Gregg Renfrew (Look her up. She is a force of nature. #goals), seven years ago. Her interest began when she checked the Environmental Working Group rating on a “natural” oatmeal body wash she used to bathe her children. The wash scored an 8 out of 9 toxicity rating. She couldn’t believe it. She decided to take a deeper dive and began looking into the beauty and skincare regulations in our country, or I should say, lack thereof. She discovered that a major federal law hasn’t been passed since 1938. Yep, over 80 years since any type of regulation has gone down. There are less than two pages of laws governing what ingredients are allowed in our products and whether companies even have to disclose ingredients (spoiler alert: They don’t. They can slap words like “fragrance” on a bottle and call it a day. Meanwhile, “fragrance” can mean highly toxic chemicals that are often cancer causing and/or endocrine disrupting. Check out the EWG app. Be prepared to be irate). They can even claim to be “natural” and “organic”, and no one, not even the FDA, is going to fact check that. Why? Because it’s legal. Does this make you mad? Good! Stay with me 😊....

Gregg became obsessed. She began searching for products that were both safe and high performing. It was easy to find one or the other, but impossible to find both components within one product. And this, friends, is where Beautycounter was born. It began with just one line of skincare. Then a bit of makeup. Now, in 2020, Beautycounter is made up of five skin care lines, a baby line, a kids line, a plethora of makeup products, body products and sunscreens. The company bans over 1,800 toxic and potentially harmful ingredients. This year, they launched Our Blueprint For Clean. It contains 12 pillars for defining “clean.” These pillars include sustainable packaging, unparalleled safety screening, and supplier code of conduct, to name a few. They continue to tirelessly advocate for better beauty regulations in state capitols and Washington D.C. Last December, Gregg was even asked to testify as an expert witness before Congress regarding the importance of safety regulations in this industry. It is so much more than just another skin and beauty brand. As Gregg says, if you think we’re just selling lipstick, you’re not paying attention.

So, what to do with this newfound knowledge? Well first of all, soak it in. Once we know it, we can’t un-know it, amiright? Second, Check out the Environmental Working Group app (EWG Healthy Living). A good majority of products are listed in their database. You can find out if your products contain carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, allergy concerns, toxic ingredients, etc. And if you can’t find the product on EWG, a good old fashioned google search will do. I hope that what you’re using right now is on the up and up. I do! But if you find out they’re less than great, consider making the change. It doesn’t have to be an overnight overhaul. That just isn’t realistic for most of us. A slow, safe transition is a transition just the same. Just start somewhere! And lucky for you, I know a fantastic local Beautycounter consultant. That’s right, yogis. Betsy Link isn’t just a super mom, business owner, yoga guru, fitness extraordinaire! She’s also a Beautycounter consultant! You can get zen at Ahh AND place an order with her for products all in one fell swoop. How’s that for one-stop shopping?