In its April 2016 issue, Fast Company magazine features skin-care and cosmetics company, Beautycounter, both for its remarkable growth as well as its efforts to reform oversight of the entire industry. A newcomer to the field, Beautycounter was founded on the belief that skin-care products should be toxin-free. They believe so strongly in this mission that they aren’t just making their own products that way – they are advocating for safer ingredients and better regulation across the board.

The History

The FDA’s only guidelines for intervention come from a 1938 bill that has remained virtually unchanged. The agency has neither the power to check ingredients before they go to market nor the ability to recall products that are believed to be harmful. The European Union has banned about 1,400 ingredients from cosmetics. In America, that number is 11. ~ Lauren Schwartzberg for Fast Company

The Champion

A certified B Corporation, Beautycounter entered the market in 2013 with a small handful of toxin-free products. By 2015, the company had expanded its line to include cosmetics, hair care and baby products and they sold 2 million products. They credit the impressive growth to the efforts of their employees and the quality of product as much as they do to the company’s commitment to creating integrity in the industry.

The Revolution

Beautycounter does not pay for traditional advertising. The company’s success is fueled by the company’s at-home sales consultants, whose classic door-to-door and in-home sales party strategies are matched by their advocacy efforts.

Its consultants’ regular “socials” are as much mimosa-filled sales parties as they are calls to action, complete with letter-writing campaigns to local lawmakers…

Gregg Renfrew, Beautycounter’s founder and CEO, spends time on Capitol Hill talking to legislators about safety in skin-care products and cosmetics. And she inspires and encourages her employees to do the same.

Our consultants are educators. Yes, they’re selling a product, but they’re also serving the larger solution of getting safe products into the hands of everyone by talking to as many people as they can, said Renfrew.

Beautycounter has candor at its core. It’s fostering an open, honest dialogue about what it believes is important. Its leadership is demanding accountability with and among competitors and regulators. The company is transparent in its mission to change the industry.

Their relentless dedication to communicating the facts is causing momentum among consumers.  Now an industry that has historically fought regulation is starting to heed to the pressure.

Through candor, Beautycounter is focused on being more than an industry leader. They are out to change an entire marketplace.