Beautycounter Swaps: My Clean Beauty Alternatives
Today’s post is all about clean beauty swaps!
If you have been following me for some time, you know about my passion for safe products and helping others find options they can feel good about wearing. Now, I am not a skin care and makeup guru, I am a regular mom in the Midwest who literally just wants to apply healthy products to my body and my kids body. Is that so much to ask!? Sadly, if you read about the state of the skin care industry in the United States, using safe products is not as easy as it sounds! It’s confusing, there is a lot of greenwashing, and there are also a lot of harmful hormone-disrupting chemicals in so much of what we buy at the store – name brand items - and use every day on our bodies and in our homes without even realizing it. Many unknowingly blindly trust that what is on the store shelf is safe. I share my top 10 ways to reduce toxins in our homes in a blog post here.
On a positive note, clean beauty is spreading a lot, and more and more brands are offering better options. That means safe products are easier to find. Yay! And when we have the tools in place to know where to shop and what to use – it’s empowering!
Today’s post is meant to help find a CLEAN brand to use on your FACE OR body.
Below, I share what I personally use and my own recommendations! Now, there are plenty of other options out there, these are just the ones I personally love and use or would feel comfortable using! Also, these are great swaps for the Beautycounter products that are currently unavailable. As many of you know, for 6 years, I used Beautycounter for most of my skin care, makeup, body, and hair. It was a brand I trusted and advocated for, as it’s helped pass 14 clean beauty laws and has been a major driver in the change we need in the beauty industry. But, sadly Beautycounter closed this past May with plans to relaunch in some form - but it will not be until sometime in 2025 - they don’t know when!! And just a handful of products are still available at Ulta. So, that means I was left to find other options.
Now, on a positive note, needing to find alternatives over the last several months has allowed me to try other clean beauty brands and be able to have a more rounded look at the industry and brands to recommend.
This also led me to Oliveda - the primary skincare brand I am using and really loving. It’s a clean European brand (stricter standards than the USA, bans 4,080 ingredients, and uses 100% essential oil for any fragrance) and performs really well. All of their products use an elixir from the olive tree in place of water, so it’s super high performing. They have a neat quiz you can take to see what product you should get. When I took it, it recommended their famous “botox in a bottle” product for me! (This product has become my favorite! It has paracress which relaxes facial muscles, and you really notice a difference in your skin overall when used consistently). You can read my blog post here to learn more about Oliveda, my routine, and how to get started.
Scroll down to see my swaps and clean beauty alternatives!…
** Many of the links below are affiliate links, where I earn a commission from any orders through the links. Your support means so much if you shop through them. It supports this work I do on my blog and allows me to continue to provide helpful information. Let me know if you order anything, I love to follow up and thank you and check in, etc.!!!**
ANna’s Clean Beauty Recommendations
SKIN CARE:
Cleanser
Oliveda’s Purifying Cleansing Gel (for acne prone and oily/combo skin)
Oliveda’s Correcting Cleansing Gel (for mature or dry/combo skin)
Cleansing Oil
Oliveda’s Cleansing Oil or the one for mature/dry skin, here
Toner
Oliveda’s Activating Facial Toner (for all skin types)
Oliveda's Corrective Facial Tonic (great for dry, mature skin)
Vitamin C Serum
Oliveda’s Vitamin C Serum - I use this daily! You apply right after cleansing and let set up to 60 seconds to absorb before applying the rest of your routine.
DIME’s Vitamin C Serum - This is a bit more liquid, so I recommend adding a few drops to your daily moisturizer.
Hyaluronic Acid Serum
Anti-Aging Favorites
Oliveda’s F59 Corrective Serum that is referred to as “Botox in a Bottle” - This serum is very popular! And it performs even better if you mix it with this or this retinol alternative! Or this one, for nighttime only!
Countertime Radiance Serum Swap: Oliveda F49 Corrective Serum
Day Lotion
Oliveda’s Face Creams
Soft Cream Swap: F42 Corrective Cream or F07 Anti-Aging Cream
Countermatch Lotion Swap: F08 Cell Active Face Cream
Countercontrol and Counterstart Lotion swap: F05 Antioxidant Face Cream
Water Cream Swap: F42 Corrective Cream
Night Cream
Eye Cream
Overnight Exfoliating Serum
Facial Mask
Charcoal Bar
Yellowbird (Code URBANAPRON to save 20%)
Cleansing Balm
Acne Products
MAKEUP:
Tinted Moisturizer
Concealer
Brow Gel
Mascara
Lipstick
Lip Balm
Blush
BODY:
Body Lotion
Deodorant
Yellowbird - This is the brand I am using and code URBANAPRON saves you 20%!
Sugar Scrub
Body Wash
Body Oil
Primally Pure Body Oil (code “urbanapron10” to save)
Shave Cream
Foot Care
HAIR:
Shampoo + Conditioner
Hair Spray
Dry Shampoo
Yellowbird (code URBANAPRON to save 20%)
MISCELLANEOUS:
These are not necessarily Beauytcounter alternatives, but here are some other clean beauty favorites!!
Bug Spray
After Bite Itch-Relief Balm - We use the Badger one, here.
Sunscreen
Babo Botanicals (this is my favorite sunscreen lotion and stick lately - it’s the most sheer!)
Feet
Products for scarring
Primally Pure Everything Balm (This is a great balm for your face or any dry skin!)
Vitamin E Oil (this is also just a great facial oil for all over your face)
Welp, that was a start, right?! If you need an idea for something I didn’t mention, reach out or connect with me over on my Instagram! I love to connect and help others. I feel like we are in this journey together, ya know!?
And don’t sweat it if you don’t have all the clean swaps in your routine. A little bit over time adds up! And something is better than nothing. We do the best we can with what we have at the time.
And if you order through any of my links, you will have to let me know how you enjoy what you get!
xo,
Anna
