Beautycounter: A year in review

The brand celebrates a year of major legislative accomplishments and remains dedicated to continuing their mission.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 20 2023 /CNW/ -- Beautycounter, the pioneer of the clean beauty movement, celebrates a year of legislative milestones including the one-year anniversary of the federal Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA) and the successful passage of four state laws that work to put safer beauty products into the hands of consumers. Collectively, the Beautycounter community has sent over 240,000 emails, made over 16,000 calls, and held over 2,500 meetings with lawmakers in support of health protective cosmetics laws. In celebration of Beautycounter's work advocating for the passage MoCRA, the brand produced "We Matter," a video that highlights the history, events and people leading up to the bill's passage.

Founded by Gregg Renfrew, Beautycounter was created with a mission to get safer products into the hands of everyone. Since 2013, Beautycounter has worked with countless lawmakers at the state and federal levels to pass significant pieces of health and environmental-protective cosmetics legislation. In 2019, Renfrew became the first clean beauty CEO to testify before a congressional committee in support of reform of the federal cosmetics regulatory system. The leader in the clean beauty movement, Beautycounter has also brought hundreds of its Independent Brand Advocates to Washington, D.C. to advocate for stronger cosmetics regulation, achieving a major milestone in December 2022 with the passage of MoCRA. To help get MoCRA across the finish line, Beautycounter leadership advocated directly to Members of Congress and mobilized its community of nearly 40,000 Brand Advocates to lobby their elected officials through congressional meetings, phone calls, letters, and text actions. Beautycounter is gearing up for continued advocacy at federal and state levels in 2024.

"My mission has always been to get safer products into the hands of everyone," says Gregg Renfrew, Founder of Beautycounter. She adds, "The ability to put an issue on the map with members of Congress and fight hard for 10 years to come up with the first update in a major way to federal laws since 1938 is meaningful – we want to make sure people are aware of what they're putting on their bodies. And this is a great first step. But it's not the only step that we're going to take. This is just the beginning of the mountain that together with our Brand Advocate Community and our Partners are committed to."

Marking the first significant update to federal cosmetics law since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act into law in 1938, MoCRA strengthens the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) ability to regulate personal care products. Major provisions include:

• Mandatory recall authority for the FDA
• Fragrance allergen disclosure requirements
• Establishment of Good Manufacturing Practices regulation
• Adverse event reporting requirements
• Requirements for brands to substantiate the safety of their ingredients and products

Since the passage of MoCRA, Beautycounter has not slowed down its advocacy work. Beautycounter remains active in the MoCRA rulemaking process and in 2023 alone, influenced the passage of four additional pieces of critically important state legislation:

1. The Washington State Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act
2. The Oregon Toxic Free Cosmetics Act
3. California Assembly Bill 496
4. The Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act (Bill S-5)

While MoCRA was a step in the right direction, Beautycounter calls on Congress to continue to address key gaps that remain in cosmetics regulation including banning of harmful ingredients like formaldehyde and phthalates; creating explicit protections for women of color and salon workers who are disproportionately exposed to harmful cosmetics ingredients; requiring greater disclosure of fragrance ingredients, and greater supply chain transparency to support product safety from manufacture to shelf.

Beautycounter is committed to continuing to make an impact. The Community will head to Washington D.C. in May 2024 to drive support for the Safer Beauty Bill Package and to continue advocating for a safer today, tomorrow and years to come.

About Beautycounter

Founded by Gregg Renfrew in 2011 and launched in 2013, Beautycounter is the leader in cleaner skin care and cosmetics whose mission is to get safer products into the hands of everyone. A certified B corporation, the Santa Monica, CA-based brand leads the way for improved transparency and accountability in the beauty industry, including advocacy efforts to update state and federal cosmetics regulations that have stood largely unchanged since 1938. Beautycounter is an omnichannel brand and is available today through its community of Independent Brand Advocates, ULTA,  e-Commerce and  physical owned retail stores.

Beautycounter offers more than 100 products that have earned numerous awards, including Fast Company's Most Innovative, Allure's Best of Beauty, Glamour's Beauty Awards, Refinery29's Innovators List, WWD's 2019 Best-Performing Beauty Company, and CNBC's Disruptor 50. For more information, visit www.beautycounter.com, follow on Instagram @beautycounter, and Facebook @beautycounterhq.

SOURCE Beautycounter

Megan Wheeler, [email protected]