Is it time to admit that beauty brands marketed as “natural” are not as safe as once believed? Beautycounter would say so. Beautycounter, a new popular skincare and makeup brand, has gained popularity on Hillsdale College’s campus. Marketing clean and safe products, Beautycounter is a leader in a new beauty movement.
“Beautycounter is different because it’s not just ‘natural,’ it’s safe,” Reagan Antonio ’20 said. Safety is Beautycounter’s priority, which is why its mission as a company is threefold: formulate, educate, and advocate.
According to Antonio, the EU has identified hundreds of ingredients in popular makeup that have potentially serious health effects for women, such as hormonal disruption, fertility issues, allergies, and severe inflammation.
Many brands, even those marketed as natural, use these ingredients. Beautycouter is changing this norm by creating the Never List: a list of 1,800 potentially harmful ingredients.
Junior Morgan Billingsley, senior Victoria Marshall, and 2020 graduate Reagan Antonio work as consultants for Beautycounter. Each of these women feature Beautycounter’s products on their social media platforms and use their influence to help share Beautycounter’s mission.
“Education is propelled by consultants like me who represent the company, and the company advocates for changes to make the entire beauty industry safer, so that every woman, whether she shops at Walgreens or Sephora, is putting safe products on her skin,” Antonio said.
Antonio joined Beautycounter because she needed another source of income and flexibility. “I can work at Beautycounter as much or as little as the seasons of my life permit, yet it’s helped make college finances more manageable,” Antonio said. “More importantly, I’ve helped friends find peace in their own skin and take small steps to a safer routine.”
Billingsley started using Beautycounter products in the spring during quarantine after watching Antonio’s Instagram stories. After falling in love with their products and skincare line, she said she decided that Beautycounter was the type of brand she wanted to share and support.
“My summer plans for employment got thrown off and my family was also in the middle of moving so I needed some sort of easy and flexible income that could be adaptable to moving states and having various time on my hands,” Billingsley said. “I also just really believed in the mission because it’s not like this is just a skin care line or makeup line that is nice. It also works and is clean. They have super ethical and responsible sourcing so the whole chain is something I admire, and I think that we should support it with our money and time.”
Victoria Marshall was also drawn to Beautycounter through Antonio and was impressed with the idea of minimal products. She says she values clean beauty products and being mindful of what she puts in her body.
“I really like all those aspects and admired Reagan, so one day, I just ordered a lip product,” Marshall said. From that point she said she fell in love with the products and switched to clean beauty and makeup. Becoming a representative was a way to make a little money on the side and educate herself on clean beauty.
“I’m a senior so I’m about to graduate, and upon entering the professional world I really want to be confident in who I am and how I present myself,” Marshall said. “I saw Beautycounter as a way to take care of my body, but also help me present myself better. Having a couple of products I can rely on that are going to be good for my skin and that are going to give me the results I want while also maintaining the level of professionalism is what I saw Beautycounter has.”
Antonio, Billingsley, and Marshall advocate Beautycounter products on their social media platforms. Through frequent Instagram stories and videos, they share information about new and favorite products as well as their own makeup routines. In addition, they are happy to discuss products and options on an individual basis.
Sophomore Meg Scheske began using a few products after watching Billingsley’s Instagram stories and praises their quality for face care.
“The things I have tried so far have helped clear up acne and make my face look better and feel healthier,” she said.
In addition to receiving praise for its products, Beautycounter brings a sense of joy and pride to its supporters.
“The best part of the job is seeing women fall in love with products,” Antonio said. “Safe products are good, because they’re good for us. But Beautycounter products are luxury too— they stand the performance test next to other luxury beauty or skincare brands, but without the bad ju-ju. Beautycounter is restoring something very feminine in my own life by allowing me to give friends freedom from acne and help women establish a simple make-up routine they feel confident in.”
