Let’s face it, the world of natural, non-toxic anti-aging skincare still has a ways to go.  In lieu of using the typical plumping, filling, anti-aging chemicals, most green beauty lines opt for the power of oils, essential and otherwise.  Don’t get me wrong, no one loves and believes in the power of oils more than me, but sometimes, a girl needs a bit more.  So you could go ahead and color me excited when a rep from Beautycounter reached out to me.

Beautycounter, based in my own beautiful Santa Monica, is a relatively new beauty company, dedicated to creating luxe and effective skincare that is totally safe.  They have a “Never List” of banned ingredients that go way beyond the parabens, phthalates, and mineral oils that most of us make a point of avoiding.  But the coolest thing is that these safe, luxurious products are jam-packed with super potent and effective ingredients that actually work.

After nearly 6 months of getting less than my much-needed, usual 8-9 hours of beauty rest a night (thank you beautiful, amazing baby that I adore!!), I felt like my face was starting to betray my age, for the first time ever.  Not one to just succumb to again (no way!), I knew I needed to get serious about my anti-aging skincare routine.  And serious anti-aging skincare is what I found in the Beautycounter Countertime Collection.  I used the whole line for about 2 weeks, and definitely started to notice a difference in my eyes and the overall youthful quality of my skin.  From the de-puffing, fine line erasing Vibrant Eye Perfector and the Radiance Firming Complex that truly lives up to it’s name, to the Uplifting Day Cream and Restorative Night Cream that smooth and soften skin, while providing long-term anti-aging benefits — the Countertime collection delivers. In addition to potent flower and seed oils, the collection also features ingredients like algae and marine extracts, antioxidants, fruit acids, and caffeine, all of which have been proven to show serious results in keeping skin young and vibrant.  And I love that all the products score super low on the EWG Skin Deep scale. {Scroll down to enter to win the whole collection!}

Since I’m still dead set on using oils as part of my skincare routine, I also love their Lustro Face Oils, which combine beauty powerhouse ingredients like argan, grapeseed, and marula oils with skin-type specific ingredients like calendula, jasmine, and ylang-ylang to address issues like sensitive, dry/mature, and combination skin, respectively.

And their beautiful lines don’t end with skincare products! You can also trust them to creat high performing, safer makeup like the beautifying Touchup Skin Concealer Pen and the silky-smooth Lip Sheer, both of which have a few potent botanicals alongside minerals and skin-perfecting oils, with none of the synthetic fragrances and carcinogenic toxins found in most other makeup.

So an EWG-approved clean ingredient list + products that actually work?  This organic beauty maven is definitely impressed.

From the company:

Beautycounter is an LA-based company that launched in March of 2013.  Their mission is to get safe products into the hands of everyone. Consider this: The European Union has banned 1,300 chemicals that are used as ingredients in beauty products. The U.S. has only banned 11.  According to Founder & CEO, Gregg Renfrew, “People are so concerned with avoiding pesticides in their food by eating organic, yet they slather chemical-ridden lotions all over their bodies.” Beautycounter’s rigorous Ingredient Selection Process ensures that their products work beautifully without compromising your safety.  This rigorous process handpicks the best ingredients and rejects the bad stuff, including more than 1,500 questionable or harmful ingredients they will never use.  Beautycounter has created a “NEVER” list of ingredients that they avoid at all costs and is committed to total transparency. The products are chic and effective and every ingredient is listed on the label, which is not required by law.  Recently Beautycounter received the impressive certification of being a Founding Member of the EWG Verification Program.  With this certification, you can trust that every single product in the Beautycounter product line has a favorable score with the EWG Skin Deep Rating System.   That’s why Beautycounter was created.  So you can take the guess work out of choosing the safest products for your family, without sacrificing quality.

Enter to win the Beautycounter Countertime Collection ($335 value)