The cosmetics counter is chock full of four-syllable ingredients the average consumer can neither pronounce nor identify, and many of those ingredients are toxic chemicals. Direct retail brand BeautyCounter launched 18 months ago to promote safe ingredients and offer high-performing personal-care alternatives. BeautyCounter Founder and CEO, Gregg Renfrew, appeared on Bloomberg TV’s Market Makers to share the company’s vision.
“We are exposed every day to toxic chemicals through our personal-care products. Those chemicals can often be linked to cancer, reproductive issues and endocrine disruption,” says Renfrew, who founded the company as a result of her own research into environmental toxins and their links to prevalent health issues.
Over the past two decades the European Union has banned or restricted more than 1,300 ingredients, while the U.S. government has banned just 11 to date. As Renfrew notes, the U.S. has not passed a federal law regulating the ingredients used in personal-care products since 1938. In the midst of that regulatory vacuum, BeautyCounter has imposed its own standards, banning more than 1,500 ingredients from its products.
The company has signed on 4,000 consultants to market its natural beauty line, which is also available through its e-commerce website. Renfrew uses the term “direct retail” to describe the company’s multi-channel approach. BeautyCounter has generated 23 percent average monthly revenue growth, with 424 percent sales growth since January 2014.
