My Journey to Beautycounter In Search of Safer Beauty Products
By Megan Elbaum
You reach into your bathroom cabinet and realize your favorite mascara and face wash are almost empty. You head to the local store and browse the aisles for your favorite products. Maybe you look for some items currently on sale. Did you ever stop to think to yourself, “What’s in these products?” We all know that fruits, vegetables and exercise are good for our bodies. But what about the mascara, moisturizers, deodorants and sunscreens we put on our skin, the largest organ in our body? Like most consumers browsing the aisles, I naively assumed these products were safe. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. There are more than 80,000chemicals on the market today. However, many don’t have any safety data. This is particularly true of those used in the skin care and beauty industry. The United States has not passed a major federal law to regulate the safety of ingredients used in personal care products since 1938.
Over the past two decades, the European Union has banned close to 1,400 chemicals in the product formulas of personal care products and restricted the levels of over 250 more in such products. The United States has only partially banned 30 to date. Many of these chemicals are linked to cancer, developmental toxicity, hormone disruption, and infertility. This summer, sunscreen got a lot of attention in the news. Hawaii Gov. David Ige on Tuesday signed the first bill in the country that will ban sunscreens containing chemicals harmful to coral reefs. The bill, which was passed by state lawmakers in May, will go into effect January 1, 2021. At that point, the sale or distribution of over-the-counter sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate, which help filter UV rays, will be prohibited. A study by Haereticus Environmental Laboratory, a nonprofit scientific organization, found the chemicals cause bleaching, deformities, DNA damage and ultimately death in coral when they’re washed off beachgoers or discharged into wastewater treatment plants and deposited into bodies of water. In humans, oxybenzone is linked to irritation, sensitization and allergies, and possible hormone disruption.
Upon learning about the dangerous and unregulated ingredients lurking in our cosmetics, I went in search of a safer option. That’s when I discovered Beautycounter.
Beautycounter is a company that is committed to a health and safety standard that goes well beyond what is legally required in the United States. Their famous Never List™ is made up of more than 1,500 questionable or harmful chemicals that are never used as ingredients in their products. This company believes that scientists shouldn’t be the only ones able to decipher the label on a cosmetics bottle and advocates for a full transparency approach in which every ingredient is revealed and explained, and they share all of the fragrances, flavors, and preservatives that they formulate with. Over 80% of the ingredients they use are organic, natural, or derived from plants, and the rest are held to the same rigorous standard of safety and performance. This company won’t put anything in its products that hasn’t been tested, and it bans 1500 plus contested chemicals! Their products are amazing, guilt-free, and make your skin glow. Beautycounter is a certified B Corporation. The B stands for “benefit,” and it means that, unlike the traditional corporate structure, they will consider people, planet, and profits equally. They use the power of business to help to solve social and environmental problems by voluntarily meeting higher standards of transparency, accountability, and performance.
I joined Beautycounter as a consultant six months ago because I wanted to educate my friends, family and customers about the harmful ingredients lurking in our cosmetics and skincare products and be a part of the movement to protect us all from harmful chemicals. I was inspired by their advocacy work, impressed with their high-performing products and excited about the opportunity to provide my children with safe products that help them flourish and protect their health!
Beauty should do no harm and we should start and finish every day with a clear conscience that we made an environmentally, physically, and chemically safe decisions for our skincare. Come find me this year at Guts and Glory Wellness Expo and learn more about this amazing company and its products!
Megan Elbaum is a local mom and independent consultant for Beautycounter. Meet her at Guts and Glory 2018 and you can learn more at www.beautycounter.com/meganelbaum or connect with her at [email protected]
