Beautycounter has 40,000 ways to clean up the beauty industry

Direct-to-consumer skincare and cosmetic brand Beautycounter refuses to use more than 1,500 legal but questionable chemicals in its products, but for founder and CEO Gregg Renfrew, there’s another number that’s even more important: 40,000. That’s how many remote salespeople help promote the company’s expanding line of clean-beauty products, such as its new biodegradable makeup-remover wipes. These Beautycounter “consultants” are also instrumental in lobbying at the state and federal level for tighter regulation of the $86 billion beauty and personal-care industry. The Santa Monica, California–based company helped lead successful efforts this past year to ban sunscreens in Hawaii that are harmful to coral reefs and to require professional salon products used in California to list all of their ingredients. Renfrew and 100 members of her sales force also met with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., last spring to push for further FDA regulation of consumer products. The U.S. currently prohibits only 30 chemicals, compared with 1,400 in Europe. “[Our community] believes in being part of something bigger than they are as individuals,” says Renfrew. The company’s average annual revenue grew 33% in 2018. “It’s not a trend or a fad,” she says. “Clean beauty is here to stay.”