If you’re obsessed with skincare and beauty products that benefit your body inside and out, you’ve probably heard of the clean beauty brand, Beautycounter. Created in 2013 by the ultimate girlboss, entrepreneur and businesswoman, Gregg Renfrew, Beautycounter’s mission is “to get safer products into the hands of everyone,” according to their site. As a Certified B Corporation (B is for Benefit), Beautycounter meets a high standard of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.
To spread the word about the clean beauty movement and Beautycounter’s mission, the brand uses consultants, who are often regular people like the rest of us. VALLEY’s own Digital Marketing Director, Zoey Gottlieb, is a Beautycounter Consultant who works hard to educate friends, family, Penn State students and more about the benefits of the brand she loves.
VALLEY had a couple of questions for the #BetterBeauty advocate to learn more about Beautycounter.
VALLEY: What is Beautycounter?
Zoey Gottlieb: Beautycounter is a mission-driven company that I believe is devoted to impacting change and initiating progress. It’s about educating on the current harms of the beauty industry due to toxic ingredients and how products like Beautycounter are actually safe and not filled with harmful chemicals.
V: Why are clean beauty products so important? Why are they important to you?
ZG: There are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market today with hardly any safety data backing them up. There are so many studies that clearly indicate health issues, for example: cancers, infertility, etc. It’s so important to understand what we are putting on our bodies because they absorb everything. Clean products are so important to me because it really does blow my mind that The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t have the authority to remove harmful ingredients from products we use daily — ones that scientifically prove are causing serious health problems.
Companies can pretty much do whatever they want with no government oversight because the last piece of legislation on this was passed in 1938. The impact of clean beauty products on our bodies is simple: they are not harmful. We should be treating our bodies with the best ingredients without the potential for them to lead to serious issues down the line.
V: What makes Beautycounter better than other brands? What toxins and other harmful ingredients does Beautycounter leave out that many other brands don’t?
ZG: I believe there has been an immense change in the clean beauty industry, with a lot of companies popping up each year. I believe all of these clean beauty products are doing unbelievable work and one does not outdo the other. However, Beautycounter is a company filled with incredible advocates and teams that are working extremely hard toward not only creating great products, but also creating change in the industry itself. We want people to be taking action and creating change, while also changing over their products to help them be healthier as well. The Beautycounter “Never List” is made up of 1,500 questionable or harmful chemicals that are found in products — all of these listed are ones we never use. Some of these products include synthetic fragrance, EDTA, PEG compounds, oxybenzone, etc.
You can find the Beauty Counter “Never List” here.
V: Where can people purchase Beautycounter products?
ZG: People can purchase our products on their website, through a consultant and at the flagship store in New York City.
V: Why did you decide to become a Beautycounter consultant? What do you do as a consultant?
ZG: I decided to become a Beautycounter consultant because I have always had a love for their products, but more importantly their mission. I am very conscious about preventative health; I have been plant-based for three years now, but I knew there was so much more I could be doing to help my body be the healthiest it could be.
As a consultant, I am able to meet incredible people, educate on safer beauty, help lead a movement and succeed as a team. Consultants are surrounded by a serious community of amazing people all working towards the same mission. I am able to work on my own time and create a business for myself, which for me is an amazing, confident feeling knowing I can help people and myself.
V: How has Beautycounter and its products impacted your life?
ZG: Beautycounter has completely changed my life for the better because I feel completely confident in the products I am using. It’s making me an educator in an area I have always wanted to learn more about for myself and now also sharing important information with others. I am proud to say my skincare, haircare, shower and makeup routines are completely toxic-free and I feel incredible from it. I have met so many people through this company and I know there is amazing change coming in the future.
How do you incorporate clean products into your beauty and health routines? Tweet us at @VALLEYmag.
