The Politics of Beauty + Advocating for Better

I have a few health and fitness habits that are so ingrained that I don’t even think twice about them now: Drinking a full glass of water as soon as I wake up. Scanning ingredient labels on food at the grocery store. Doing leg swings before a long run. Checking beauty products for parabens. And the other day, I took a face serum out of the box and automatically scanned the label for parabens. And then I realized that it was completely unnecessary because it was Beautycounter.

All our beauty products should be like that – we shouldn’t have to scan them to make sure they don’t have ingredients directly linked to cancers. We shouldn’t have to worry about heavy metals in our makeup. We shouldn’t have to wonder if our makeup and the stuff we use on our entire body and on our family’s bodies every day is toxic. Some people argue, well we don’t really know if these ingredients cause issues. My thought: I’d rather not push my luck. That’s why I love Beautycounter’s Never List because I know I don’t have to scan the ingredients of their products.

The Politics of Beauty

While I’m generally not a fan of more regulation in business (which is another topic for a different blog), I’m headed to Capitol Hill with Beautycounter March 3-5 to advocate for more health protective laws in the cosmetics and personal care industry.

The United States has not passed a major federal law to regulate the safety of ingredients used in personal care products since 1938.

Some stats above worth repeating: Over the past two decades, the European Union has banned more than 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.

Personal care products are just that…personal. Their safety affects all of us. Every year, Beautycounter leads “March Forth” advocacy efforts and this year, I get to participate in Washington D.C. Two consultants from each state were invited and I’ll be representing North Carolina. We’ll meet with Congress and share with our elected officials why better beauty matters, and I’ll also receive training so I can better help all of you with your Beautycounter questions. (You can read a Fast Company article about the Beautycounter March Forth trip last year here.)

 

How you can advocate for better in the personal care industry

Educate yourself. The more you know, the more informed decisions you can make for you and your family. And when you’re more informed, you can vote with your dollar.

Support beauty brands that don’t just “follow the law”. Choose brands that follow health and safety standards well beyond what’s required by U.S. law. And to be honest, I don’t know many that are as committed to this as Beautycounter. Or as transparent.

Beautycounter is actually a B Corp, which you can read about here. They are ranked with Patagonia, Seventh Generation and others as a company that uses business for good. It’s a pretty small group that earns the distinction.

Join the movement as a Beautycounter consultant. You can help make change in the industry while making extra money for whatever goals your family has — taking vacation with your kids, paying your mortgage, paying off debt, reducing the need for student loans, extra shopping money. These are all things the people on my team do with their Beautycounter income and it’s amazing to see the personal growth and confidence they gain growing a business for a good cause. OR, you can still advocate for safer beauty as a consultant without working to earn a paycheck. Many women join for the community, the product discount, the personal development and training.

You can read more about why I became a consultant here and my answers to FAQs about being a consultant here. You can also see my skincare and makeup routine here.

How you made this trip happen for me

Part of the way I earned this trip is through my sales from YOU. Thank you so, so very much for shopping through me. I’m so grateful for your support and I’ve really loved getting to connect with my readers on a more personal level through Beautycounter. Something about emailing back and forth just makes the internet friendship seem more real. 🙂

Thank you again! I can’t wait for the trip – I just bought my plane ticket today and mapped out my marathon training for the next few weeks so I can get my long runs in around the trip!