Choosing the Perfect Nontoxic Skincare Regimen

 

CHEAT SHEET: 

• Countertime – best for anti-aging, firming, brightening, tightening, plumping. Reduces fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, red marks, scars.
• Countercontrol – best for oily and/or blemish-prone skin. Clears your skin without dryness and irritation. Mattifies oily skin.
• Countermatch – gives you balanced, hydrated, radiant, youthful-looking skin. Perfect for all skin types, but especially normal – very dry skin, and sensitive skin. Adapts to your skin’s moisture needs – like an adaptogen for your skin.
• Nourishing – our OG line – best for dry-normal, very sensitive skin. Soothing and hydrating.
• Counterman – men’s line designed to address the specific needs of men’s skin and facial hair. Purifies pores, hydrates the skin, and conditions the beard.

FULL ARTICLE:

Most people spend years, or even their whole lifetime, trying to find the perfect skincare routine, putting together the “best” products from different lines. But for some reason, most people don’t get the results they want, or they just don’t get the amount of results that they could with a better regimen. I was one of those people.

I’ve been a skincare junkie my whole life. Then, in college, I got test results back showing that a lot of my hormonal imbalances were from endocrine disruptors in my personal care products, and that a number of my health issues were due to my heavy metals toxicity – heavy metals found in my makeup and skincare.

I started learning more about how it’s just as important to pay attention to what goes on our bodies as it is to pay attention to what goes in our bodies – our skin is our largest organ. My focus shifted to nontoxic personal care products, and I was determined to find safer options for skincare that were also more effective than their toxic counterparts. Becoming involved in the nontoxic beauty space actually allowed me to learn a lot more about skincare product development overall. I learned about the “why” behind ingredients, product formulation, packaging, and even sales. One of the things that I really grew to understand? The power of using a full collection. 

A lot of companies sell their products in collections or lines, and I was always the person that would pick and choose products from different lines to create my own skincare routine. Sometimes it worked fine, but other times not so much. I was convinced that I could create my own individualized skincare routine better than anyone else could. When I started working for Beautycounter, though, I learned a lot more about our product development, and I really grew to understand why it’s so much better for results if you stick to a collection rather than pick and choose all of your products from different lines.

Trust me – it’s not just for marketing. You will actually get MUCH better results when you use all of the products in a collection together, because the products are designed to work together, strengthen each other, and fill in the gaps for each other. It’s like all of the instruments working together in a symphony. The violin might sound good on its own, but it’s a whole different level when you get the rest of the instruments involved!

It was such a DUH moment for me when I realized this, but I doubt I’m the only one who didn’t really realize how big a difference it could make. As a Consultant, I try every product that we release, so I decided to start using the collections as collections during my personal “trials”, and it made the world of a difference. Since the products are formulated to work together as a whole, you’ll really get targeted results when you use them in that way – they build on each other to make each other more effective.

Why You Should Stick with One Collection for the Most Part, If You Want Max Results

With Beautycounter, I always recommend people get a skincare collection if they have specific skin goals, for a few reasons. First of all, these products were designed to work together for maximum results. Who doesn’t want maximum results for their money? That’s why they’re a collection – you have a step by step process to reach those skincare goals.

Second, when you buy the products as a collection, you’re getting a 10-15% discount compared to if you bought all of the products individually. What ends up happening more often than not is this: someone will buy some of the products individually, realize how great they are, and then end up buying the whole collection later on anyways. But it costs more in the end that way, because they bought the products individually instead of all together.

Third, Beautycounter makes the products in our regimens a certain size so that they’ll run out at about the same time. This means it’s much easier for you when replacing your skincare, because you can just buy a collection again all at once and replace everything all at once. That means fewer orders for you overall, which saves you time, money, and hassle.

When it comes to Beautycounter skincare, you can purchase the full collection of products, or a regimen. A collection contains all of the products in the line, while the regimen set contains just the products you need from that line for a four-step skincare process that will get you results. If you want all of the products, check out the collections. If you want just the necessities, go for a regimen. (Regimens are also obviously cheaper, since they contain less products.)

Using a regimen doesn’t mean that you can never add any other products into your routine! I love to add in other products as I see fit, but I really think that everyone should mostly stick with one collection so they have a strong base of products designed to work together for maximum results, and then if there are “extras” you want to add in, you can do so. For example, I personally use the Countertime line, but I “supplement” it with products like the Overnight Resurfacing Peel every other night, the charcoal mask a few times a week, the charcoal bar, and the SOS spot treatment.

When choosing a skincare regimen, I promise it is not as difficult as it seems. All you really need to know is your skin type (oily, dry, normal, combo, sensitive, mature, acne-prone, etc.) and your skin goals / concerns. For an easy way to figure out what collection would be best for you, you can always take our Skincare Quiz online. You can also always shoot me an email – I am happy to help you figure out the best products for your skin type! That being said, I’ll give you a brief overview of our skincare collections and the type of skin I recommend them for.

Countertime:

The Countertime collection is our anti-aging line, designed to firm, brighten, tighten, and plump the skin. This line features our Retinatural complex, a plant-derived, safe alternative to retinol, that features Bakuchiol and Swiss Alpine Rose. Bukuchiol is native to India and has been used in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic skincare routines for centuries. This is what provides the anti-aging results similar to retinol, but without the harmful side effects like skin irritation and increased sun sensitivity. Swiss Alpine Rose is found at the highest altitudes of the Swiss Alps and has the ability to protect itself from dehydration and other environmental stressors. This is what boosts the skin’s antioxidant defense! These two ingredients together create TOTAL magic – I think our Retinatural Complex is one of the most innovative creations in the skincare industry.

After four weeks of use, 97% of people found their skin texture smoother, 88% said their skin looked younger, 91% sad their skin felt renewed, and 88% said that they noticed a reduction in their fine lines and wrinkles. AFTER ONLY 4 WEEKS!

I highly recommend this line to anyone who is looking for anti-aging benefits or who wants to reduce or prevent fine lines, wrinkles, red marks, dark spots, or scarring. I find that this line is great for all skin types.

Even though I’m in my early 20s, I’m a big believer in using anti-aging products as early as possible for prevention! I don’t struggle with active acne anymore, but I do have leftover scarring, red spots, and sun spots. I find that these anti-aging products help a lot with preventing any new acne from coming up, getting rid of the leftover pigmentation on my face, and brightening my skin. Many dermatologists prescribe retinol to people with acne for this same reason – it accelerates skin renewal and boosts collagen production, which means it shows results for those with anti-aging concerns as well as those who have some acne / scarring. Countertime is the safer, nontoxic version. 🙂

This collection features the Countertime Lipid Defense Cleansing Oil (cleanser) , the Mineral Boost Hydrating Essence (prepping the skin), the Tripeptide Radiance Serum (treating the skin), the Antioxidant Soft Cream (daytime protection), the Tripeptide Supreme Cream (nighttime protection), and the Ultra Renewal Eye Cream.

Countercontrol:

The Countercontrol collection is our line for oily and/or blemish-prone skin. This is designed to help clear your skin without dryness and irritation like other anti-acne products, and also to mattify oily skin.

In studies, 95% of users said their skin looked clearer, 100% said skin felt healthier, 100% said skin clarity improved, and 95% said skin looked less red, after 4 weeks!

This line is best for anyone with combo / oily skin and/or acne-prone skin, and I find it’s really popular for teenagers and young adults. I used to use this regimen, and it actually worked so well for me that I no longer have acne-prone skin, and my skin’s oil production has evened out – which is why I moved to Countertime!

Countercontrol features our Clear Pore Cleanser, the Instant Matte Toner, the All Over Acne Treatment, SOS Acne Spot Treatment, and the Matte Effect Gel Cream. These products together are total game changers. I’ve tried so many products for acne-prone skin over the years, and this is the only line I’ve found that truly mattifies the skin, eliminates acne, and prevents more from popping up, without leaving my skin overly dry or irritated. Most anti-acne products are so harsh.

Countermatch:

Countermatch is the go-to collection for anyone who wants balanced, hydrated, radiant, youthful looking skin. This line is perfect for anyone with sensitive skin, because the products are gentle, but what really makes this line special is the Bio-Mimic Technology. This line works for every skin type because the Bio-Mimic Technology allows the products to adapt to what your skin needs. It’s like an adaptogen for your skin.

What’s so amazing about Countermatch is that it works wonders for the dryest of dry skin without being heavy at all, but it also works incredibly well for oily skin, and normal skin. That’s the thing – it adapts to your skin’s moisture needs! I always recommend this to people who have very dry skin, and also anyone with normal or sensitive skin who is looking for an everyday, basic skincare routine.

Before Countercontrol and Countertime released, I used Countermatch for about a year. Even though I have oily skin, it worked incredibly well for me, which I thought was so cool considering my clients with the DRYEST skin also love it. This really helped to even out my oil production, and I love how lightweight the products are. If you have a sensitive skin type, these products are great. This regimen can truly work for anyone.

This line features the Countermatch Pure Calm Cleansing Milk (cleanser), the Intense Moisture Serum (nighttime serum), the Adaptive Moisture Lotion (moisturizer), Eye Rescue Cream, and the Recovery Sleeping Cream (nighttime cream).

Essential Nourishing Collection: 

The Nourishing line is Beautycounter’s OG skincare line. This line is best for people with very sensitive skin, and best for dry-normal skin types. It’s very soothing and hydrating, and really one of those lines that got people hooked on BC back in the day, so they’ve stuck with it ever since.

Since my skin is on the oily, acne-prone side, this has never been my everyday regimen, but I do use these products any time my skin feels inflamed or dry – like after some kind of skin treatment (microneedling, microdermabrasion, chemical peel, etc.) or a sunburn. If my skin needs to CALM DOWN and needs some extra hydration, I’ll use this. Since we’ve come out with new collections, I tend to refer those newer lines to clients more often, but I have many clients who’ve been using Beautycounter for years who love this for their dry, sensitive skin.

The products featured in this collection are the Nourishing Cream Cleanser, Nourishing Cream Exfoliator, Nourishing Rosewater Mist, Nourishing Eye Cream, Nourishing Day Cream, and Nourishing Night Cream.

Counterman Beard Regimen: 

While all of our lines are great for men and women (except Countertime, which is too pink for most men… ha!), Counterman is our men’s line designed to address the specific needs of men’s skin and facial hair. These products feature our Sequoia Stem Cell Complex, which protects the skin from environmental stress. Counterman products will help purify pores, hydrate the skin, and condition the beard.

I’ve given this collection to many men in my life, and they all love the way it feels and smells. And I’m not going to lie – I’ve tried this myself (minus the beard oil). I told you – I try all of our products!! I actually loved the way my skin felt…. shhh…

This regimen features the Counterman Daily Exfoliating Cleanser, the Clarifying Toner Pads, the Oil-Free Face Lotion, and the Conditioning Beard Oil.

There you have it! The guide to skincare regimens – there is something for everyone.

If you do buy a collection or a regimen, and you’re not already a Band of Beauty Member, MAKE SURE YOU PURCHASE THE MEMBERSHIP. Band of Beauty is our year-long membership that only costs $29 for the year and gives you free shipping on orders over $100, 10% product credit back every time you shop, a free gift with purchase (it changes every month, but it’s worth more than the cost of the membership itself!), and exclusive deals throughout the year. There is no auto-ship or requirements – just a one-time purchase for benefits throughout the year. But if you make any purchase over $100 from Beautycounter (which the purchase of a collection or regimen would be), the membership pays for itself because of the free shipping and the free gift with purchase!

***If you purchase a collection by October 6, 2019, you will receive a FREE Overnight Resurfacing Peel (my all-time favorite skincare product!)***