Clean Up Your Skincare Routine

By Rachel Jones + Maggie McCauley

We’re all very conscious of the food that we put into our bodies. Whether it’s organic, free-range, or grass-fed, we’re always reading labels. What about your skincare routine? Knowing what ingredients are in your skincare and makeup products is very important, as the skin is the body’s largest organ and must be cared for accordingly. That’s why companies like Beautycounter, EVER Skincare, and Aveda are committed to not only making products with safe ingredients, but also demanding that products cannot be made with harsh or unhealthy ingredients.

Four years ago, Gregg Renfrew started Beautycounter as a way to make safe, yet high-performing, beauty products. “Beautycounter’s mission is to get safer products into the hands of everyone,” says Carley Weissert, senior manager of Beautycounter. “We believe the minimal regulation in the beauty industry is a public health issue and that we, as women especially, shouldn’t have to compromise our health for the sake of beauty.”

As a consultant, Weissert educates clients on the industry and the lack of regulation for ingredients. Currently, only 30 harmful ingredients are banned or restricted in the U.S. by the FDA. But Beautycounter bans 1,500 ingredients from its skincare, hair and body, makeup, and kids and baby lines. And it’s continuously working to get stricter regulations on this. Consultants have even traveled to Capitol Hill to meet with senators and representatives to discuss these issues. 

Until these changes can be made, Weissert stresses the importance of doing your own research when shopping for skincare and beauty products.
For example, “chemical-free” isn’t a real term because even water is a chemical. “So companies that claim to be ‘chemical-free’ are simply using marketing terms to appeal to consumers’ growing concerns for using safer and healthier products,” she explains. The use of terms like “natural” and “healthy” are other ways to create buzz without actually guaranteeing anything, which is why taking the time to research the products you buy is vital.

When creating the products for EVER Skincare, CEO Jessica Herrin made sure to put an emphasis on the use of clinically certified, botanical ingredients. “What we put on our bodies is just as important as what we put in our bodies,” says Dana Hanna, associate director of EVER Skincare. “EVER’s products are made with LSR10®, a botanically derived ingredient from the magnolia plant.”

EVER also follows EU guidelines for beauty products, banning over 1,300 ingredients from being used in its lines and rigorously testing the ones that make the cut. The company worked obsessively with skincare scientists who ruled out thousands of ingredients because “good-for-you” was essential. The result is a supercharged system for all skin concerns, which is customizable and luxurious.

While we strive to only use products that benefit our health, it’s also important to look for ones that improve the health of our planet as well. Aveda aims to set an example for environmental leadership and responsibility — not just in the world of beauty, but around the world. Its founder, Horst Rechelbacher, was inspired by his mother’s herbal remedies, meditation and yoga, and a retreat to India, where he learned how to implement Ayurveda into his life and his work.

“He adopted a holistic thinking, the belief that individual beauty is directly linked to the beauty of the world around us,” says Amy LeBard, assistant marketing manager of Aveda. “His ideas would revolutionize the beauty industry.”

The company is committed to using organically grown herbs and ingredients, which are extracted in an environmentally friendly way, using CO2 to reduce toxic residue. Aveda is also the first beauty company manufacturing with 100 percent wind power in its primary facility! “We believe there is no responsible alternative to doing business other than through the pursuit of environmental sustainability and this belief guides every decision we make.”  

So before you add another cream to your skincare regimen or test out a new face mask, be sure to study up. As Weissert says, education is one of our most powerful tools and the one that will yield the best results for us in the long run. “By empowering people with knowledge, they can make safer choices for themselves and their families.” 

EVER Skincare’s Pure Results Regimen
Customizable to fit your skin type, the all-encompassing routine accounts for everything your skin desires in four steps:

1 Cleanse
With Luminous Nutrient Rich Cleansing Balm or Rebalance Gentle Purifying Cleanser

2 Exfoliate
With Reveal Biommetric Peel Pads

3 Treat
With Youthful Quattro Peptide Face & Eye Serum

4 Moisturize & Protect
With Daylight Radiance Moisturizer with Broad Spectrum SPF 20 and Hydralift Moisture Injection Cream

Beautycounter, beautycounter.com. EVER Skincare, everskin.com. Aveda, aveda.com.