Can make up be safe and effective at the same time?

Are my skin care and beauty products toxic?

Did you know that there are more than 1300 harmful chemicals banned from cosmetics in Europe and only 11 banned from cosmetics in the United States www.healthline.com. Toxic makeup ingredients aren’t just harmful to the skin. They can have an impact internally too. Whatever you put on your skin is immediately absorbed directly into your bloodstream. “The most widely reported impacts of toxic makeup and skin care products are development of cancers, hormonal imbalances, and fertility issues, alongside conditions such as Asthma, eczema, or dermatitis.” (www.healthline.com). And to make things worse the United States has little to no rules regulating and labeling the toxins used in your makeup and skin care products.

What companies provide safe, effective skin care and beauty products?

Beautycouter provides safe makeup and skin care products for the whole family including shampoos, conditioners, sunscreens, deodorants, mens products, baby products and more. Since their launch in 2013, Beautycounter has set the highest bar for safety in the beauty industry. It starts with the never list. 1800 questionable ingredients they never use in their formulations. Then, because they are a B corporation they go above and beyond to screen and access every ingredient they use against their strict safety standards.

Beautycounter quality and safety standards include:

1. Unparalleled safety screening

This begins with their never list of 1800 questionable ingredients prohibited in their products. Then they use an unparalleled five step ingredient selection process: each and every ingredient is screened and assessed against 23 safety endpoints, like carcinogenicity and reproductive/developmental harm. They then go one step further to test for trace contaminants that can unintentionally contaminate raw materials through sourcing and manufacturing- such as phthalates and heavy metals in color cosmetics.

2. Ingredient transparency

Every ingredient they use in their formulations is listed on our product packaging and/or on our website—including fragrance, flavors, and preservatives. They fully disclose all fragrance ingredients—an uncommon practice in the beauty industry. They also comply with EU allergen disclosures, meaning they share some components of essential oils and natural fragrance that can be allergens for sensitive populations (not standard transparency in the secretive beauty industry).

3. Responsibly sourced raw materials

They are committed to protecting the people who help bring their products to market, and the way ingredients are farmed, harvested, or mined can have a major impact. They source key ingredients responsibly and have implemented an industry-leading responsible sourcing program, which includes being the first beauty brand to have conducted in-person audits of all of our mica suppliers to require legal mining (a.k.a no child labor) and transparency. We also comply with the California Supply Chain and Transparency Act, we’re members of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, and we are auditing a new sustainable vanilla supply.

4. Sustainable packaging

They take a deep look into the leachability, toxicity, and life cycle impacts of all of our packaging materials. The last thing they want is for unwanted harmful chemicals to leach from packaging into their clean formulas. They examine each component for its effects on human health and our environment.

5. Environmental foot-printing

Each year, they offset select carbon usage for our headquarters (including water usage), and associates’ business travel. They are mapping the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their HQ, retail stores, and entire supply chain. This assessment will help us understand our complete environmental footprint so we can set science-driven goals to reduce it.

6. Awarded for product performance

They never want to sacrifice product performance in the name of safety—that’s the Beautycounter difference. The beauty industry seems to agree and has awarded them for our best-in-class products with Allure’s Best of Beauty Award, Refinery29’s Editor’s Pick, Women’s Health Healthy Skin Award, and Cosmopolitan’s Beauty Award, just to name a few.

7. Quality Assurance program

Beautycounter’s Quality Team performs site inspections informed by their high standards (real talk: the beauty industry has notoriously low standards of manufacturing). They also run an innovative Periodic Monitoring Program where each Beautycounter product is tested for microbial issues, trace contaminants, and physical inspections of finished goods.

8. Trace Contaminant and heavy metal testing

Most materials used in Beautycounter’s formulations are tested for common Never List™ contaminants including phthalates, parabens and formaldehyde. Each batch of every color cosmetic product is tested multiple times for a suite of heavy metals, setting a new standard for safety in color cosmetics. Here are their 2021 third-party testing results for some of our most popular products.

9. Formula and preservation innovation

Preservatives are used in personal care-products to prevent the growth of bacteria and maintain the formulas’ stability. Since this is essential, Beautycounter is dedicated to finding viable alternatives to existing preservatives using green chemistry.Thier in-house chemists work tirelessly to find innovative preservation alternatives as well as to develop ground-breaking self-preserving formulas. They also serve as a founding member of the Sustainable Chemistry Alliance, a coalition of industry leaders who are working together on Capitol Hill to advance legislation that would fast-track greener and safer chemicals to the market.

10. Going Beyond regulatory standards

While international governments generally have more stringent regulations on chemicals in personal-care products than the U.S. and Canada, they seek to always go above and beyond the most health-protective regulatory standards. They also advocate for more health protective laws across North America, seeking to update U.S. and Canadian laws, which have largely stood unchanged since 1938 and 1999, respectively.

11. Supplier code of conduct

Their industry-leading Supplier Code of Conduct articulates the highest standards of labor, health, and safety, as well as environmental conditions that they seek to foster in our supply chain. It requires their supplier partners to uphold those standards in their operations, and outlines best practices to make sure people and the environment are protected. Signing this code of conduct is a requirement for organizations seeking to do business with Beautycounter.

12. Leaping bunny certified

Beautycounter is proud to be certified by Leaping Bunny which represents their commitment to not test ingredients or products on animals. Their suppliers must also commit to the same high standard.

Protect yourself, your loved ones and the environment against unnecessary toxins in your skin care and beauty products. Avoid unnecessary skin conditions, hormonal imbalances and disease by choosing safe, award winning skin care, makeup and beauty products. Personally: 90% of the products in my and my family’s homes are beautycounter. Purchase your beautycounter products here

How do I find safe skin care and makeup for my whole family?

Other safe and effective brands that I recommend:

Young living oils

Native deodorants