In today’s post, I’m sharing the background on WHY I started a safer skincare column, why I am deeply committed to Beautycounter‘s mission, and 3 different ways YOU can join this important health & human safety movement.
Today’s blog post started as an Instagram post …but then, it turns out, I had a LOT to say. This topic is important and, instead of putting it up as a fleeting photo on social media, I want it to live somewhere forever. I’m on my way home from a weekend with Beautycounter, one of the companies I partner with here on Fed & Fit. Beautycounter jives beautifully with my mission and I’m honored to be a consultant. I got to spend the weekend in Santa Monica, CA with a fantastic group of real movers and shakers in the “education is power,” safer beauty movement. It was an inspiring, uplifting, and empowering treat. I’m walking away feeling the urgency to pay it forward …to you.
SO, here’s my extra long Instagram-turned-blog post. I hope you enjoy…
Beautycounter came into my life about 2 years ago when my book left edits and went to print. I was looking for a new project and decided to finally expand on my “Fed & Fit Beauty” column. You see, a part of my job (as a healthy lifestyle blogger) is to relentlessly test, sample, and research new products. I’m constantly on the hunt for safer products to recommend to you! When I learned (years ago from my friend/mentor Liz Wolfe) that my personal care products contained really bad-for-my-health ingredients, I started the long process of switching to safer. At the time, homemade was my only viable option. SO, I littered my bathroom with mason jars of coconut oil, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar. I oil-cleansed and no-poo’d (my hair) for over a year before the first worth-my-time/money products were made available. At the beginning, the for-purchase safer products I found were really …crunchy. I felt less like a modern woman making good decisions about my health and more like crab without a shell. I wanted something MORE. I wanted products that were safe, high-performing, made by a morally-sound company, and that came in pretty packaging. I wanted an eye cream, foundation, and lip gloss that stood up next to drug store products. My wish became a reality when I was introduced to Beautycounter two years ago. The products drew me in (an anti-aging night cream that doesn’t contain toxic goop? YES PLEASE.) and the mission behind the company won me over. I used the products for 2 months, loved the way my skin looked, and decided to join as a consultant in an effort to share my new-found love of this safer skincare line with YOU.
Little did I know that this small decision to help spread the word about safer skincare products would evolve into a profound part of my business. I started working with Beautycounter *only* to let you know that a FANTASTIC safer + high-performing product line was available …and I’ve ended up as true partner in a significant movement for health and human safety. The more I learned about the company, the more I understood the unique education-based culture, the more I wrapped my head around their TRUE mission (to get safer products into the hands of EVERYONE …not *just* Beautycounter products into the hands of everyone), the more I wanted to help. I opened the doors of my team to work with other consultants who wanted to make a difference. I started participating in more company events. I’ve kept my finger on the pulse of the important advocacy work, the research, and the progress Beautycounter is making …and I’ve done it in the capacity of a true partnership.
Why tell you all of this? Because this role is NOT reserved just for bloggers. In fact …it is more-so designed for YOU.
My Beautycounter partners and mentors! Pictured left to right: Liz Wolfe of Real Food Liz, Arsy Vartanian of Rubies & Radishes, and Kate Criswell of Kate’s Healthy Cupboard.
“I want to be around people that do things. I don’t want to be around people anymore that judge or talk about what people do. I want to be around people that dream and support and do things.” – Amy Poehler
This is important. If you identify with Amy (like I do on a PROFOUND level), I need you to know that you can find a tribe of DOERS. They’re out there and you don’t have to accept (what feels like) complacency. I am so incredibly thankful to have found this group of true doers. The women pictured above are SMART and forward-thinking. They have big hearts, enormous compassion, a sense of personal responsibility, and inspiring drive. These women are my mentors in Beautycounter. They have mentored me in thinking bigger than Beautycounter as an affiliate for my blog. They have helped to inspire this leg of my business into (what has become) a significant contribution to my Fed & Fit Mission (“empower healthy lifestyles with grace, respect, and integrity”). What a special and pleasant surprise to find that the safer skincare and makeup products I loved so much represented something so important. The products, the movement, and the company represent the opportunity to add financial stability to my business, the opportunity to surround myself with women who REALLY inspire me, the opportunity to mentor others as they build their rewarding business, and the opportunity to (of course) share these high-performing, safer products with my family, my closest friends, and YOU.
Now, let’s talk about the work laid out for us…
DID YOU KNOW that (per a recent study) 80% of Americans do not know that their personal care products contain ingredients that are questionable or harmful to human health? 80%!!! We have SO MUCH WORK to do, friends. When we know better, we do better …so, we need to educate.
Beautycounter is THE undisputed leader in the effort to get safer products into the hands of *everyone.* Through research, advocacy for more protective regulation, and the development of safer products, they’re making it happen. So, if you’re looking for a way to DO something, this can be an avenue.
How-to do something:
If you feel called to help get safer products into the hands of everyone, here are three possible avenues:
FIRST, educate yourself.
Start Googling (or dive into the number of safer beauty articles on my blog), start asking questions of your products (EWG Skin Deep can tell you the contaminant rating), and start talking about it.
SECOND, vote with your dollars.
Stop spending money on harmful products and start spending it on safer ones (like Beautycounter and Primally Pure). This single act alone can have a TREMENDOUS impact on the movement. The big personal care product companies will start listening when their customers move elsewhere. They’ll be more motivated to consider safer alternatives and, therefore, more motivated to make safer alternatives available for EVERYONE (not just those who know to ask).
- If you want recommendations, these are my favorite Beautycounter products: charcoal cleansing bar, face oils, spa-quality shampoo/conditioner, foundation, eye shadow, volumizing mascara, rejuvenating day cream, rejuvenating night cream, sunscreen, hand lotion, activated charcoal mask, tinted SPF moisturizer, cream blush, bronzer, brow pencil, lip gloss.
- These are my favorite PrimallyPure products: deodorant, complexion mist (toner), body butter, dry shampoo, body oil, and lip balm.
THIRD, become an active member in the mission by joining Beautycounter as a consultant.
If this interests you, PLEASE EMAIL ME. You can join my team and together we’ll brainstorm how you can build a financially rewarding business that has a significant social impact. My email address: beauty@fedandfit.com.
I got to spend this past weekend on a Beautycounter incentive trip to the Biltmore Four Seasons Resort in Santa Monica, CA. They treated us like royalty and while the trip was lovely, it’s not what actually motivates my work. What motivates my work, what inspires me to continue to support Beautycounter‘s mission (as a consumer and as an active consultant) is the opportunity to advocate for health & human safety from a different and powerful vantage point. I want to empower you in sharing the safer skincare conversation with your mom, with your sister, and with your best friend. I want to encourage you as you build a LIFE-CHANGING, financially-rewarding business that has stay-at-home flexibility. I want to see safer products on the shelves at my grocery store. I want to support healthy consumer decisions through compassionate education …and I want to do it with people who have unwavering integrity.
I’m proud to do business with Beautycounter, proud to be led by the owner/founder Gregg Renfrew, proud of the products, and proud of the impact we’ve already made.
Join me in this mission. Let’s be doers together.
Email me if you’re interested in joining as a consultant at beauty@fedandfit.com.
