Southern Belle in Training

Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle Blog || Est. 2012 || Virginia Beach, VA

October 24, 2019

I Tried Beautycounter: My Unbiased and Honest Review!

     If you've been hearing a lot of buzz about a skincare and makeup brand called Beautycounter, and are curious what the hype is, today's blog post will break down everything for you! I'm not a Beautycounter consultant myself, nor am I being paid to share positive reviews (I was gifted these products but this isn't a sponsored collaboration!). I just wanted to test out these products that have been getting a lot of hype, and after testing them write a truly honest blog post review- which is exactly what's here in today's blog post!

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     The popularity of beauty and skincare brand Beautycounter seems to have exploded over the past year, and my curiosity about it kept growing every time I'd see someone mention it on Instagram. A lot of bloggers that I enjoy following (KristaJennaLizPayton, and many more than I can count off the top of my head) have been open about switching over to Beautycounter products, or even deciding to sell it.

     Beautycounter is traditionally sold by consultants, and I know many consultant based companies often get a bad reputation for using the MLM business model. But something seemed different about this company! The bloggers I follow that were promoting and wearing their products were all people that I trusted reviews from. Beautycounter's claim to fame is that they are a 100% clean beauty line. Their company has a "never list" of 1500+ questionable chemicals used by other beauty lines that you will never find in Beautycounter items. I've tried various clean beauty products from other brands here and there over the years, but have never been blown away by anything enough to keep purchasing. My curiosity about Beautycounter kept growing, and so was perfect timing a couple months ago when a consultant friend reached out to me to do a review!

    It is a cool story how I got to know my Beautycounter consultant, Susan! We met a few years ago, when I was in college. During my senior year, I babysat for two sweet elementary school aged girls who lived close to where I went to college. A few days a week, I would meet them at their bus stop in the neighborhood and watch them after school. I was usually the only babysitter waiting at the bus stop- it was me and all of the neighborhood moms! They were also so nice to me and always included me in their conversations. Anyways, one of the moms from the bunch, Susan, is now a Beautycounter consultant! She's kept up with my Instagram and blog since those babysitting days and reached out to me in September to see if I wanted to review some products. I had already been super curious about Beautycounter, so the timing was amazing!

    Susan sent me eight different products to test and review- a mix of some of Beautycounter's best makeup and skincare products. I spent the last four weeks testing everything- I wanted to give myself ample time before writing the review so that I could give a full perspective on everything. I'll start with the skincare reviews, and then we will chat makeup!


      First up is the Beautycounter Overnight Resurfacing Peel. This product is the priciest one that I reviewed, it retails at $63. This is a leave-on peel that you apply at bedtime, and then rinse off in the morning. It's supposed to help dull away surface cells, and reveal a brighter complexion over extended use. The bottle recommends using it a few days a week, so I've been using it every 2-3 days at night before moisterizing. I didn't dislike this product by any means, but in all honesty I haven't noticed that many skin changes since starting to use it. My skin seems pretty similar to what it was with the serum I was previously using before this. Where this product is at a higher price point than some of the other things I tried, my honest opinion on this one is if you're curious about Beautycounter, maybe try other products I'm reviewing in this post before investing in this one! Just my thoughts though. 😊
    The product next to it is the Charcoal Cleansing Bar. It's a detoxifying bar that is perfect for oily and acene prone skin- it's designed to absorb impurities without drying the skin too much. I really like this bar! I've been using it to wash my face in the mornings, as well as at night in the shower. In the past my face hasn't been prone to bad acne, but in the past couple months I've been breaking out a lot (Just to clarify- this isn't from using Beautycounter products! My worst breakouts started before starting to use Beautycounter and they've gotten better since.) Anyways- where facial acne is something I've been dealing with lately, I was excited to start using them, and it's definitely been helping. It retails for $26 but will last you a long time!




      More skincare products that I'm excited to share with you! The Charcoal Facial Mask is probably one of my favorite face masks that I've ever tried. And FYI- I've tried a lot of masks! It's on the items that I get sent the most frequently in PR packages for the blog, so a mask has to be really exceptional for me to say it's one of my favorites. This one definitely is! It retails for $49, but a little bit goes a long way, so this would last you months and months. This mask is specially designed to remove any excess oils and impurities, and helps a lot with breakouts. As I shared above, my skin hasn't been so great over the past couple months, and I think using this mask regularly has been helping get everything back on track.
     The Countercontrol SOS Acne Spot Treatment was possibly my absolute favorite product Susan sent me... if it's not my number one then it's definitely in my top three picks! This retails for $22 so it's one of the most affordable items Beautycounter has. It won an award from Teen Vogue this past year for being a standout acne treatment- and I think it's well deserved! 
     I have used this on new pimples this month (like applying it within a few hours of noticing one coming out), and it's helped so much in reducing them!! One of them even went away entirely after only a few uses of this- amazing! In full honesty, this product doesn't do as much for pimples that have already gotten really big or have been popped. The bad breakouts on my chin that I had before starting to use Beautycounter products I had unfortunately already popped and picked, so I don't think using this product (or any product) on them made much difference sadly. But I can say 100% that if you use this on a pimple that's brand new, it will work wonders! I plan to repurchase this!
      The final skincare product I'm reviewing is the Sugar Body Scrub in Lemongrass. It retails for $40. I've been using it in the shower- especially so on days that I shave my legs. It has a lovely scent and definitely helps in making my body's skin feel more moisturized and exfoliated! 




     Now let's chat about one of my favorite things: makeup!! Let's start with the Velvet Eyeshadow Palette in Romantic. This completely blew away my expectations, and it's right up there with the Acne Spot Treatment for being one of my favorite products. The quality and pigmentation on these shadows is amazing! Finding a high quality eyeshadow can be very hit or miss I feel like, and I didn't know what to expect from ones from a clean beauty company like Beautycounter. These apply easily, are rich in color, and last all day! Granted- I do use an eyeshadow primer before wearing any eyeshadow to help it last! My primer isn't from Beautycounter but it seems to work very well with these shadows, and they last from 4am when I do my weekday morning makeup until 7pm when I get ready for bed. The colors in the Romantic palette are stunning, but they make a few other palettes as well with different colors if you'd prefer something else. The palette is also super compact in size and would be great for travel. It retails for $50 which I think is on par with a lot of other eyeshadow palettes!
     I also got to try the Satin Powder Blush in Nectar . I have received numerous compliments on my blush since I began wearing this- and I don't think I've ever gotten complimented on my blush before to be honest! Like the eyeshadows, it applies easily, and lasts well. It's also easily buildable depending how light or heavy you want it. It retails for $30.
     And finally, Susan also sent me the Sheer Lipstick in Petal. Beautycounter has two different lipstick lines- the Sheer and the Color Intense. The Sheer lipsticks are as the name sounds- a little more muted in color and not as bold! These would be perfect for work or church- somewhere that you don't want to make a huge statement with your lips but still have a little color. I typically tend to go heavier on my eye makeup and lighter on my lips- so this lovely light pink lipstick works great for a lot of my weekday makeup routines. The one con I've noticed about it is that it isn't super long lasting, but it is very moisturizing and doesn't dry out your lips at all as it fades. I would love to try one of the Color Intense lipsticks to compare the difference! The Sheer Lipsticks retail for $32- definitely more than I usually spend on lip products, but probably comparable with other prestige brand prices.


    Whew- this turned out to be longer than I thought, but I hope it was helpful! If I had to pick 3 top products that I think you should try... definitely the Acne Spot Treatment if you suffer from breakouts, a Beautycounter eyeshadow palette, and then my third pick is probably a tie between a lipstick or the Charcoal Mask!
   
    Here are a couple other pieces of Beautycounter info that Susan wanted me to share with you:

  • Did you know that Beautycounter also has physical store locations? They currently have locations in NYC, Boston, Denver and Nantucket! (You can also shop via your favorite consultant in-store!) I'm definitely going to have to check this out if I'm in any of these places soon.
  • Beauycounter has a 60 day money-back guarantee on all products, so if you test something and don't love it you can return it!
  • Holiday gift sets were just launched! They feature a variety of Beautycounter favorites, and also a few new products too. (I have my eye on one or two of these!)

    If you would like to shop with Susan or learn more about it from her, she can be reached at wallacesusan@me.com, or DM her on Instagram @wallacesusan. If you're based in or near Charlotte, NC- you can also talk to Susan about hosting a pop-up sale with her!


   So what are my final thoughts on Beautycounter? I'm impressed- a lot more than I thought I would be! I can definitely see myself making more purchases sooner rather than later, I already know I want to re-purchase the Acne Spot Treatment. There are a lot of holy grail makeup products that I still love from other brands- so I don't see myself ever switching to one makeup brand entirely, whether that is Beautycounter or something else! But I sure am glad I got to try this line, and look forward to continuing to use these new favorites. 😊




     God Bless,


     xoxo Annaliese
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5 comments

  1. These sound like such great products! Haven't tried any of them yet. Thanks for posting, will have to check them out!
    Ellibelle's Corner

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've been curious too, so I'm so glad you shared! Clean beauty is very important. The price points seem on the higher side, but still reasonable.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've been wondering about these products! Thank you for your honest opinion. It sounds like most of them are good. I am typically really against MLM's, but the Beauty Counter consultants I know are not aggressive at all. I am also starting to think about clean products.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I loved reading through your review! I just tried Beauty Counter for the first time this summer and am in love. I love so many of their products and it's been so cool to have a store in Denver!
    Caitlin
    http://lemonadepressblog.com/

    ReplyDelete
  5. I haven't tried Beauty Counter yet - I had no idea they were clean so now I'm totally tempted! Love the eyeshadow palette, those colors are totally my colors! I'll have to pop into the store next time I'm downtown!

    ReplyDelete

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