Clean Beauty: Better Alternatives to Beautycounter

Trying to find clean Beautycounter alternatives since they closed their doors? You’re obviously not alone. When Beautycounter first announced its closure, they planned to relaunch soon after, but it’s now been delayed until the summer of 2025 or beyond.

It’s not easy to switch gears from products you know and love, but thankfully there are more clean beauty companies on the market now, so there are some great options to choose from!

I counted on Beautycounter’s performance, testing for heavy metals, endocrine disruption, and more. Not everything from their brand worked for me (I wouldn’t expect that from any brand), but I worked with Beautycounter for 11 years and was very comfortable having a company that I could trust.

But life and skincare must go on.

My Standards for These Beautycounter Swaps

Beautycounter’s mission was to have products that performed but were also safe, and their standards were high. They banned artificial fragrances, phthalates, parabens, and PEGs, and also tested for heavy metals and endocrine disruptors.

In looking for new products, I wanted them to function well but also have clean ingredients. Some of the Beautycounter swaps promoted by other bloggers are good functional swaps, but they have ingredients that were on Beautycounter’s “Never List.” For me, that’s just not an option.

The whole purpose of Beautycounter was to be a leader in clean, so “unclean” swaps just don’t make sense to me.

Here are some examples of companies I don’t recommend and why I don’t.

• Elemis: Includes PEGs and artificial fragrances.
• 100% Pure: Questionable transparency, particularly regarding fragrances.
• Herbivore: Quite a few of their products include aldehydes, which are artificial fragrances.
• Colleen Rothschild: Includes artificial fragrances and PEGs.
• Oliveda: Lack of transparency about organic status, sourcing of ingredients, and fragrance/parfum on labels.
• REN: Fragrance is listed as “natural” which simply doesn’t say very much.

One of Beautycounter’s mottos was, “You should never have to sacrifice your health and safety in the name of beauty.”

I don’t want to sacrifice my health for the “perfect dupe” and I don’t think you should either.

Crunchi

Crunchi is similar to Beautycounter but with more strict standards and better sustainability. They test for heavy metals like Beautycounter did, but they also don’t use phenoxyethanol or FD&C colors (like Red No. 40). In addition, Crunchi also avoids other ingredients that aren’t as controversial, such as bismuth oxychloride. They also emphasize organic ingredients much more than Beautycounter.

Crunchi’s containers are mostly glass and metal, their shipping materials are noticeably “green”, and they offset all plastic use with their partnership with 4Ocean.

The company is also debt-free which is huge considering that Beautycounter’s debt was a big part of what led to Beautycounter closing. See my complete Crunchi review for more information. Get 10% off your first order at Crunchi with code ADVOCATE10.

Neal’s Yard Remedies

Neal’s Yard Remedies originated in the UK and has a wide assortment of lovely skincare and body products. They have a heavy focus on organic ingredients and sustainability.

Rowe Casa

Rowe Casa has a wide range of skincare, personal care, wellness, and home care products. I love almost everything I’ve tried from this company.

They are cleaner than Beautycounter and also a lot more affordable. They don’t have makeup (their lovely tinted lip balm is the one exception), but their body and skincare offerings are fantastic. Get 20% off your first order with code WNM.

Poofy Organics

Poofy Organics is an all-natural and organic company. While their packaging is nowhere near as nice as Beautycounter’s, some of their products perform even better than Beautycounter’s did for me. I think the trade-off of not having fancy packaging is worth the savings. Get 10% off your first order at Poofy Organics with code WNM.

Beautycounter Alternatives

Following is a list of options to use in place of your Beautycounter favorites.

Skincare

Lotus Cleansing Balm

I didn’t use this balm as a cleanser (I prefer a cleansing oil or liquid face wash), but I loved using it on top of moisturizer day and night as a moisture seal.

Neal’s Yard Wild Rose Cleaning Balm: It just doesn’t get any cleaner than this balm. The “WRBB” has a cult following and for good reason with its incredible scent and pure ingredients. The texture is smoother and easier to use than the Lotus Balm. Since Beautycounter came on the scene, I’d actually forgotten how much I love this product.

Neal’s Yard Cleansing Melt: This is another fantastic option from Neal’s Yard that again has even cleaner ingredients than the Lotus Balm.

Crunchi’s I Am the Balm: This can be used as a cleanser, but not as a moisturizer seal due to turmeric being one of the main ingredients (no thanks to yellow-stained pillowcases). While this product is too stiff for me, many people love it so I’m including it on this list.

All Bright C Serum

With a C serum, note that it’s crucial to have potent ingredients, an opaque bottle, and an air-tight dispenser.

Crunchi’s I Am Bright Vitamin C Facial Serum: I think this product works even better than Beautycounter’s, possibly due to the inclusion of niacinamide and ferulic acid which are both skincare powerhouses.

Neal’s Yard Remedies C Booster: This C serum is another great option that is fairly comparable to the Beautycounter product.

Poofy Organic’s So Brilliant Flawless Face Serum: This serum is a combination of vitamin C, avocado oil, hyaluronic acid, and niacinamide. I don’t think it’s as powerful as the Crunchi product, but it’s nice.

Brightening Face Oil

Neal’s Yard Remedies Rosehip Oil: A simple, yet effective oil with brightening and moisturizing qualities.

Crunchi’s I Am Luminous Oil: This is very moisturizing and paired with their I Am Bright formula it makes a great dupe for BC’s Brightening Face Oil. Just use half the amount of each

Countertime Essence

Crunchi’s Facial Essence: This is hands down a great nourishing toner that I think performs just as well as, if not better than the Countertime Essence.

Rowe Casa Anti-Aging Toner: A fabulous anti-aging toner that gets great results.

Countertime Supreme Cream

Crunchi’s Nightlight Advanced: This cream is a great alternative with azelaic acid, bakuchiol (known as natural retinol), and vitamin C for triple “youth-activating” effects.

Poofy Flawless Face PM: This cream is a lower-cost option that is seriously rich. My face feels very nourished using it. It doesn’t have the “youth-activating” intensity of Crunchi’s Nightlight, but it’s a very nice rich face cream.

Countertime Soft Cream

Crunchi’s Daylight Advanced: This is a great alternative to the Soft Cream with “youth activating” benefits of azelaic acid, bakuchiol, and vitamin C.

Poofy Organic’s Flawless Face Moisturizer: This is more of a regular moisturizer than an “anti-aging” one, but paired with the serum and other actives, it is a pretty good alternative.

Countertime Serum

Crunchi Goldenlight Peptide Serum: This serum is a true powerhouse. I loved Beautycounter’s serum, but it caused some blemishes at first. This peptide serum combines fabulously with their I Am Bright C serum and I’m even seeing scars lighten with this combo.

Poofy Organic’s Flawless Face So Brilliant Serum: A nice product that I’ve paired with their So Brilliant Eye Serum (yes you can use this on your whole face) and my skin seems to like it, but it’s not as powerful as Crunchi’s.

AHA Mask

Crunchi’s I Am Polished Exfoliator: This is the perfect dupe for Beautycounter’s AHA mask with both physical and chemical exfoliators.

Countercontrol Skincare Line

The Countercontrol line was exceedingly drying (I didn’t recommend it for that reason), so I’m glad to have found much better options to address blemishes.

Rowe Casa’s Anti-blemish Bundle: The Anti-blemish Spot Relief works well. Will update this post after we give the whole line a test run.

Poofy Organics’ Complex Skincare Line: Their Complex Cleanser and Complex Toner are part of the category. I’ve tried the toner and like it. My boys say that the Blemish Stick works pretty well.

Charcoal Bar

Crunchi’s Charcoal Bar: Crunchi’s Charcoal Bar is a lovely formulation with added kaolin clay, essential oils, and argan oil.

Poofy Organics’ Charcoal Bar: This bar is a fabulous alternative. It’s reasonably priced simple formula charcoal bar made from sustainably grown charcoal from the United States under the oversight of a reputable, nationwide forest preservation program.

Charcoal Mask

Crunchi’s I Am Renewed Mask: Crunchi’s mask combines the effects of the purest activated charcoal, kaolin clay, willow bark extract, and Moroccan lava clay for fantastic results including detox, soothing, and calming of inflammation.

Makeup

Skin Twin

Crunchi’s Beautifully Flawless Foundation: This foundation can be either light/sheer or a full coverage option (full coverage was a little hard to get with Beautycounter’s foundation). See my Crunchi review for application tips.

Poofy Organics’ Foundation: Poofy’s powder foundation can be used dry or wet. It’s easy to blend two shades if need be. It’s very sheer on dry skin but gets good coverage over moisturizer or BB Cream. Their color options are limited but they have Foundation Samples which are convenient for testing shades.

Dew Skin

Crunchi’s Tinted SPF: This is a fabulous makeup, skincare, and SPF in one. It goes on super smooth and looks great. It is a bit thicker than Beautycounter’s, so you can use a light hand and it will last a long time.

Poofy Organics’ BB Cream: This is a nice, reasonably-priced alternative with SPF 15. They only have 2 shades, but since the coverage is so light, it will work for most people.

Concealer

Crunchi’s My Alibi Concealer: The Crunchi concealer blends well and has great coverage.

Beyond Gloss

Crunchi’s Hydrogloss Lip Oil: This is a great alternative to Beautycounter’s Beyond Gloss with a lot of nice shades.

Poofy Organics Lip Gloss: I like this product quite a bit and it smells lovely. The Rush color is too dark for me, but I’ve never been one for a lot of color on my lips. My makeup artist friend likes it and she likes their lip liner as well.

Think Big Mascara

Beautycounter’s mascara was lovely, but it stung my eyes. Thankfully, I found some much better options.

Poofy Organics HD Mascara: This mascara wears nicely and lengthens lashes beautifully. This is perhaps the best clean mascara I’ve ever used.

Crunchi’s Shattered Mascara: Crunchi’s mascara doesn’t sting either, and it’s a nice option, but it’s not as lengthening as the Poofy mascara and smudges on me more easily. If you use their Translucent Finishing Powder (which I love), and Eyelash Curler and wiggle the mascara gently up your lashes, this might be a good option for you.

Eyeliner

Though Beautycounter stopped making their eye pencils a while ago, they were apparently reformulating them.

Crunchi Highliner Pencil Eyeliner: Crunchi’s Eyeliner goes on well even in cooler weather, has a nice point, and doesn’t sting my eyes like Beautycounter’s often did. Also you had to warm the Beautycounter eyeliner before using it, which was a huge pain. Not needed with the Highliner!

Sheer Genius Lipstick

Crunchi’s Lip Crayons: These are quite pretty, but more matte than traditional lipstick. I prefer glosses, but these are a great option for lipstick-lovers.

Poofy Organics Lipstick: My makeup artist friend tried these out and said they feel good and have pretty good staying powder for how natural they are and that they are pretty.

Blush

Poofy Organics’ Blush: For those who miss Beautycounter’s powdered blush, here is your answer. I don’t wear blush but this gets seriously rave reviews from everyone I know who’s tried it. Blush lovers should definitely buy this blush.

Crunchi’s Liquid Blush: This product gets good reviews if you liked Beautycounter’s Cheeky Cream blush or prefer a liquid blush.

Mattifying Powder

Crunchi’s Translucent Finishing Powder: This silica powder is super fine, works great, and lasts a very long time. I prefer it to Beautycounter’s powder.

Glow First Priming Serum

Crunchi’s Smart Primer: This is in my opinion, much better than Beautycounter’s primer. BC’s primer irritated my skin, but this one doesn’t. It also smooths and conditions, so you might not even need makeup when using this.

Body and Hair Care

Clean Deo

Rowe Casa Deodorant: I LOVE this product. The Vanilla Mint is dreamy. Note that some people have a “stinky” period of a day (my experience) or two to a month when they first try this but it goes away later. They also have a Cream Deodorant and their Lymphatic Cream works well as a deodorant too! This deodorant and the Lymphatic Cream work better for me than the Clean Deo did.

Poofy Organics Deodorants: Poofy has an alcohol-based spray version, a baking soda-free deodorant, and a regular baking soda option. All work well, but the solid deodorants get soft and tough to apply, especially in warm weather.

Sunscreen

Crunchi: Crunchi has a lovely facial moisturizer with SPF and a body sunscreen, neither of which leave a white cast.

Poofy Organics: Poofy has a sunscreen lotion, a sunscreen stick, and also an SPF lip balm. Their sunscreen works well but the lotion is pretty thick. You can warm it in warm water or on your hands before applying, it or in your car on the way to the beach.

Whatever sunscreen you choose, learning about Spray Sunscreen Dangers and Sunscreen Safety Tips can help you make safer choices.

Shampoo and Conditioner

Poofy Organic’s Mighty Mane Shampoo: This shampoo is great and so is their Leave-in Conditioner. They work much better for me than Beautycounter’s hair products (I didn’t care for them) and everyone I know who’s tried the Mighty Mane Shampoo loves it.

Rowe Casa: Rowe Casa’s Shampoo bar is a great sustainable option for shampoo in a plastic bottle. It didn’t work for me, but there are loads of good reviews of both this and their Conditioner Bar.

How to Save at Crunchi

There are a few great ways to save with Crunchi.

• New customers get 10% off any order over $50 with code ADVOCATE10
• Get Free Shipping at $175
• Join the Insider program for $29 annually. Get a Free Welcome Gift, 10% CrunchiCash on all purchases, and Free Shipping at $125.

How to Save at Rowe Casa

Here are a few great ways to save at Rowe Casa.

• Code WNM saves 20% off your first order at Rowe Casa.
• Free Shipping at $150
• They have auto-ship as well as bundle options, plus fairly regular sales.

How to Save at Poofy Organics

Here are a few great ways to save at Poofy Organics.

• Code WNM saves 10% off your first order at Poofy Organics.
• Free Shipping at $70

I plan to add more to this list later, but I hope this gives you some solid options for your clean beauty routine. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

What other companies do you think are worth considering?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!