B eautycounter is a clean beauty brand that positioned itself as cleaner than the competition, claiming to restrict thousands of ingredients in its formulations. After a 2024 bankruptcy, the brand was bought back by its founder and relaunched as Counter in 2025 with a streamlined product line.
But are the new Counter formulations actually cleaner than the original Beautycounter products? What happened to the brand's MLM business model? Does the relaunched line still use synthetic preservatives we consider unhealthy? And is Beautycounter better or worse than other "clean beauty" brands like Prime Prometics?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in two of the brand's flagship products under the Counter relaunch (sunscreen and foundation) to give our take on whether or not they're likely to be effective and healthy.
We'll also explain changes to the brand's MLM status, share our concerns about some questionable clinical claims on the new Counter site, and compare Beautycounter to other popular clean beauty brands to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- Foundation has cleaner formulation than before
- Sunscreen still contains synthetic preservatives we consider unhealthy
- We currently recommend Counter Skin Twin Featherweight Foundation
Counter Sunscreen Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in Counter Daily Sheer Defense SPF 25 are shown below:
image source: https://www.counter.com/
Zinc oxide at 14.96% is the sole active ingredient, and was shown in a meta-study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Science to be an effective and safe physical sunscreen ingredient that blocks UV rays without absorption into the bloodstream.
We consider zinc oxide to be the safest and healthiest "physical" sunscreen ingredient available.
Tocopherol (vitamin E) is another effective ingredient in this sunscreen, as it has been shown in a medical review published in the Journal of Molecular Medicine to provide photoprotective effects, which means it can protect skin from UV damage.
There are two inactive ingredients in this formulation that we recommend avoiding, when included in combination in a cosmetic formulation.
Phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative shown to be toxic to human cells, as we documented in our Luminesce Cellular Rejuvenation Serum review article.
Ethylhexylglycerin is a synthetic preservative shown to potentiate the toxic effects of phenoxyethanol in a 2016 medical review.
Overall, we consider Counter Daily Sheer Defense likely to protect the skin from UV damage given its effective active ingredient, but we don't currently recommend it due to the inactive ingredients highlighted above.
Beautycounter Controversy
At the time of our previous update, there had been much controversy surrounding Beautycounter’s MLM status and the relatively low earnings of the company's Brand Advocates.
Beautycounter published data on the income of their Brand Advocates (we respect the transparency here), and their report from fiscal year 2022 documented how the median total income in the first six months of joining was only $42, before expenses.
52% of New Brand Advocates earned zero income in six months, and only 1% of New Brand Advocates earned over $3,700. This is significantly less earnings than working a minimum wage job, and these figures are before expenses.
We called out these figures as a potential red flag for consumers considering becoming a Beautycounter Brand Advocate.
After the re-launch, Counter no longer operates a multi-level-marketing or Brand Advocate model, which we consider to be a green flag about the new company's ethics.
Counter Foundation Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in Counter Skin Twin Featherweight Foundation, the brand's most popular makeup product under the relaunch, are shown below:
image source: https://www.counter.com/
Iron oxides are used as natural pigmentation ingredients, which is a safer choice in our opinion than artificial dyes.
Titanium dioxide is an effective UV blocker, according to the same Journal of Cosmetic Science meta-study referenced in the previous Ingredient Analysis section, which makes it a great choice for a foundation because it sits atop the skin and prevents UV damage.
Sodium hyaluronate is one of the most research-backed anti-wrinkle ingredients available, as we referenced in our Dermalogica reviews article.
Tocopherol is an effective antioxidant that may support overall skin quality.
The reformulated Skin Twin Featherweight Foundation does not appear to contain phenoxyethanol, parabens, or added fragrance ingredients, which is a meaningful improvement on typical foundation formulations.
Overall, we consider Counter Skin Twin Featherweight Foundation to be one of the cleanest foundations we've reviewed to date, and we currently recommend it from a formulation perspective.
Not only may this product have aesthetic effects, but it also may have anti-aging effects due to the ingredients highlighted above.
Questionable Clinical Claims
The Skin Twin Featherweight Foundation product page features several clinical claims:
image source: https://www.counter.com/
The page attributes these figures to a 32-subject consumer perception study and an 8-hour 32-subject clinical study, but does not link to a full study published in a peer-reviewed journal.
We recommend that consumers entirely disregard claims of clinical efficacy unless the underlying data comes from a trial published in a peer-reviewed journal, which is the gold standard of product research.
We take no issue with brands highlighting results of clinical studies in their marketing materials, but using small consumer-perception data to suggest a product is "clinically demonstrated" to work, without providing a link to the full study for consumers to review, is ethically questionable in our opinion.
We cannot identify any peer-reviewed clinical trial published on Counter's relaunched product line at the time of updating this article.
Beautycounter vs. Clean Beauty Brands
Here's how Beautycounter compares to other popular clean beauty brands in terms of formulation quality, in our opinion:
Prime Prometics
Prime Prometics is a "Pro-Age Beauty" makeup brand whose flagship mascara contains methylparaben, propylparaben, and added parfum.
Parabens have been clinically shown to have pro-cancer effects in cell-based research, and fragrance is a documented contact allergen.
The relaunched Counter line does not contain parabens or added fragrance, which makes Beautycounter the cleaner option here.
Beautycounter is the winner from a health perspective.
Winner: Beautycounter
Oliveda Skincare
Oliveda is a luxury olive-tree-derived skincare brand whose F82 Green Retinol Face Elixir contains research-backed actives but also added fragrance, as we documented in our Oliveda Skincare review article.
Beautycounter's relaunched foundation is free of added fragrance, while Beautycounter's sunscreen contains the phenoxyethanol and ethylhexylglycerin combination flagged above. Oliveda's fragrance use is a more clear-cut health concern across its catalog than Beautycounter's narrower preservative concern.
Beautycounter is the winner from a health perspective.
Winner: Beautycounter
Incellderm
Incellderm is a Korean luxury skincare brand whose Active Cream Ex and Collagen 100 Melting Sheet formulations contain extensive research-backed actives and no ingredients we consider unhealthy.
Counter's sunscreen still contains phenoxyethanol and ethylhexylglycerin, while Incellderm's catalog is fully free of preservatives we recommend avoiding.
Incellderm is the winner from a health perspective.
Winner: Incellderm
Our Clean Skincare Pick
MindBodyGreen Best Skin+ is our top anti-aging skin supplement.
It contains orange extract which is clinically shown to increase skin moisturization, skin elasticity and skin radiance.
This supplement also contains astaxanthin which is clinically shown to cause "wrinkle formation reduction."
This supplement is free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Beautycounter Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Reformulated foundation has no ingredients we consider unhealthy
- Sunscreen uses a research-backed mineral active
- Discontinued the citrus peel oils and added fragrance from the previous sunscreen
- Brand no longer operates as an MLM
- Restricts a long list of cosmetic ingredients
Cons:
- Sunscreen contains phenoxyethanol and ethylhexylglycerin
- Brand website has questionable clinical claims
- We cannot identify peer-reviewed clinical trials on the relaunched product line
- Recent bankruptcy raises questions about long-term product availability
- Less healthy than some competitors
