How Beautycounter Does Beauty Better {Interview!}

Find out how the Beautycounter brand makes game changing personal care and cosmetics products that are free from harmful ingredients.
What Makes Beautycounter Better via mindfulmomma.comI have to apologize. I’ve been using a new beauty brand behind your back. It’s not that I intended to keep it a secret – but life has been moving way too quickly and I just haven’t had time to share until now. I may receive commissions from purchases made through links in this article. Full Disclosure

I may receive commissions from purchases made through links in this article including Amazon Affiliates. Full Disclosure

Why Beautycounter?

The brand I’m talking about is Beautycounter. Have you heard of it yet? There’s been quite the buzz on social media. Here’s what stands out to me about Beautycounter – and why I think they are much more than just another beauty brand:
  • Dedicated to getting safe products into the hands of everyone (that’s their mission)
  • Ingredient selection and testing process goes above and beyond (details in interview below)
  • Part of the movement to ask for stricter regulations on their own industry (unheard of!)
Read my full Beautycounter review here!

An interview with Mia Davis – VP of Health and Safety at Beautycounter

Mia Davis - Beautycounter I met Mia Davis, Beautycounter’s head of health and safety, at a Beautycounter event in Minneapolis a while back. The former director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Mia is incredibly knowledgeable about ingredients and super passionate about product safety. At Beautycounter, Mia is the go-to person who vets all the ingredients for Beautycounter products. After our meeting, I had the chance to ask her more about that process and what makes Beautycounter unique. Enjoy!

Tell us how Beautycounter’s ingredient selection process is different from most beauty product companies.

Beautycounter makes beautiful, performance-driven, safe skin care and color cosmetics. Every ingredient we select must help us achieve this.  We have a large and growing list of ingredients that we do not allow into our products – over 1500. Our “Never List,” which we have online and which our Consultants carry with them and use as an educational tool, is in itself robust; there are over 30 chemicals/families of chemicals that we will never use. Add to that the ingredients banned in the European Union (nearly 1400), and the ingredients that have not passed our industry-leading Ingredient Screen, and the number is greater than 1500, right off the bat. (By the way, there are only 11 ingredients banned or restricted in the US. Stark contrast.) We’re proud of the huge list of ingredients we don’t use, but the Ingredient Screen I mentioned is really the key piece of our ingredient selection process, and is what makes us different. Screening every single ingredient helps us to choose the safest ingredients we can, and to avoid something called “regrettable substitution.” When companies remove one potentially harmful chemical, like a paraben from lotion or BPA from a polycarbonate baby bottle, and then replace it with a chemical that has the same or similar health effects, they have not actually protected the consumer, or moved the market away from toxic chemicals. This happens too often. Someone might be spending more time and money buying a paraben-free or BPA-free product, but does that mean it is safer…? Not necessarily. Screening every ingredient is incredibly time-consuming and difficult, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Beautycounter Essentials CollectionLastly, I want to note that many of the 10,500 ingredients used in cosmetics have little-to-no safety information available. These chemicals simply have never been assessed for their potential links to cancer, hormone disruption, and other endpoints. At Beautycounter, we do not assume that the absence of safety data means a chemical is safe. We try to find out everything that we can about ingredients, we favor ingredients with information over those without, and we’re working with other companies, academics, and researchers to build the knowledge base around these understudied ingredients.

Which product categories pose the biggest challenges when it comes to finding safe ingredients that really work well? Are there any products you have not been able to master yet?

There are definitely some challenging products to make both high-performing and safe.  Powders (eye shadows, blushers, bronzers) and some of the lip colors were tricky- it took us years to meet the standards we’ve put into place, including heavy metal contamination issues. And deodorant! That one is never easy.

Fragrances can be a particularly tricky. How do you get Beautycounter products to smell good but still be safe?

We decided early on that we would avoid synthetic fragrances, which are often loaded with secret, undisclosed ingredients including phthalates and musks, and that we would not break apart natural fragrances and rebuild a scent using the natural components, which is common (often called simply “natural fragrance”). We use only whole essential oils. Creating the right blend takes a lot of work. My colleague Christy Coleman, our Head of Creative Design, leads that part of product development. She has a wonderful sensibility for fragrance – the feelings scents evoke, how they will work with other products in our line, how long they will last on the skin.  We work to avoid common allergens, but of course even some natural essential oils irritate some people. Some of our products are unscented to keep them very simple, for products around the eye, for example. At the end of the day, we feel the scents we’ve created speak to our brand– they are safe, fully disclosed, fresh and clean. A lot of citrus, some mimosa… Lovely.

Why aren’t many other companies adopting stricter ingredient standards? How do you see the beauty industry changing over time?

Beautycounter CosmeticsBecause it is hard, and complicated!  Most people think that the cosmetics must be regulated, that products for sale on shelves or online must be safe. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case: companies are allowed to use virtually any ingredient they want in the products people put on their bodies every single day, including chemicals linked to cancer.  Until a few years ago, companies were under no pressure to even consider the long term safety of their ingredients. Most companies start and stop with a “free of” or “restricted substances” lists (e.g. “paraben free”)- if they are talking about safety at all. On the bright side, there is a strong and growing consumer awareness, thanks in large part to organizations like Breast Cancer Fund, EWG, Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, Healthy Child Healthy World, WVE and others.  I do think that many companies are starting to see the writing on the wall. It is time to work together to create safer, greener cosmetics ingredients from the get-go.  Beautycounter wants to work with these companies to move the industry in the right direction. We can do this!

What are your personal favorite Beautycounter products?

I love the Nourishing Cream Cleanser (it cleanses, removes makeup and tones the skin all in one) and the Body Oil in Citrus Rosemary. And the Rejuvinating Eye Cream from our graceful aging line called Countertime.  Everyone I give that product to just loves it. [clear-line] Thank you to Mia for such an awesome interview! Having tried both the cleanser and eye cream mentioned above – I can tell you they are excellent products!

Have you tried Beautycounter yet? What are your favorite products?

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23 Comments

  1. I’m always looking for healthier cosmetics to try. I’ll have to check them out!

    1. You’ll love Beautycounter Carissa – they are all about safe ingredients and transparency! Plus their products really work!

    2. Carissa,

      If you have not found a consultant yet I would be happy to help you and answer any questions you may have about products 🙂

      1. Thanks Nicole – I’m already in touch with one! Best of luck with your Beautycounter business!

        1. Natalia Lazarus says:

          I really enjoyed your article and appreciate the strict health standards set by Beauty Counter…they are truly paving the way!

  2. I’ve been curious about Beautycounter so thanks for sharing the info. I like knowing there is a safe place to find a range of beauty products.

  3. I LOVE how Beautycounter is starting a conversation about safe cosmetics. You can tell they are really committed to safety. My favorite product is the Face Oil – love that studd!

    1. I have yet to try the any of their oils – for body or face – but they are next on my shopping list!

  4. Cosmetics are incredibly confusing. I struggle with finding safe or safer products all the time. I spend hours standing in the aisles of Whole Foods reading labels and researching ingredients. I love so much about Beautycounter-but at the top of my list are two women who work for Beautycounter, Mia and Lindsay. Both are so knowledgeable on cosmetic ingredients and the industry as a whole. I also admire that Beautycounter, doesn’t assume that the absence of safety data means a chemical is safe. Something we all should remember!

    1. I’m with you Lori – it helps that people we know and trust believe in the brand!

  5. It’s refreshing to see that going green or getting away from harmful chemicals in cosmetics doesn’t have to mean giving up our favorites, from eye cremes to even lipsticks.

    1. I agree Anne – companies like Beautycounter are very refreshing!

  6. Lisa Sharp says:

    I always love trying new makeup. I have been meaning to check out Beautycounter. Sometimes it can be hard to love makeup but only want to use natural makeup. So happy more and more brands are coming out.

  7. Organic Baby University says:

    I was reluctant to try it because of the petrochemicals in their lipsticks but I did decide to give the anti aging line a shot. I am a week into it and honestly and reluctantly I am impressed!

    1. Hi Jennifer – Beautycounter has a helpful FAQ about their occasional use of safe petrochemical ingredients. I hope this helps you feel more comfortable with the lipsticks!

      ARE YOUR PRODUCTS PETROCHEMICAL FREE?
      No. Beautycounter does not use petrochemical ingredients that are linked to health concerns, including sodium laureth sulfate, PEGs, petrolatum, toluene, MEA, DEA or TEA. But there are some safe ingredients that are derived from oil, and the majority of plant-derived ingredients have at one point been processed using other chemical ingredients that are derived from oil (though those processing ingredients are not left in the final products). This is why we do not make the claim that we are free of petrochemicals across the board.

      An example of a petrochemical that we might use is a silicone or an alcohol, which can serve important functions such increasing the “slip” of a makeup product like tinted moisturizer, or detangling hair in conditioner.

      Beautycounter uses our industry leading safety screen to assess the safety of each and every potential ingredient in our products, whether the ingredient is found in nature or lab-made. Lab-made ingredients are often derived from petroleum or mineral sources, but that doesn’t mean they are inherently unsafe, and natural ingredients are not inherently safe, either.

  8. I love this Micaela! I have been thinking of trying Beauty Counter as a toxin-free makeup and this article is so helpful.

  9. I’ve also been reluctantly converted to Beautycounter products. The Nourishing Cleansing Balm and I are having a definite relationship!! I love the feeling of rubbing it into my face at night, I can just hear my skin saying “Aaaaaaahhhhh.” And I don’t have to freak out about chemicals at the same time!

    1. Yes, it’s nice not to have to worry about nasty ingredients when you use Beautycounter. Another reason to say “Aaaaahhh!!”

  10. Thank you for this article. I have heard about beauty counter but didn’t know what all the hype was about. Definitely going to try them out.

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