Both beauty counter and Mary kay are skincare brands with unique business models selling direct to consumers. Instead of getting products onto shelves, Beauty Counter built up communities of passionate users through it’s founders tireless work bringing awareness to the number of ‘bad for us’ ingredients allowed in US skincare products compared with European regulations which are much stricter. While Beauty Counters passion was on clean ingredients, Mary Kay was founded over 50 years ago with the vision to try and empower women to control their own future.
You might be tempted to question the trustworthiness of these brands, perhaps even suspecting their business models resemble pyramid schemes. However, both brands appear to have established themselves by creating skincare, beauty, and healthcare products that resonate with many customers. This is largely due to their emphasis on sustainability, safety, and the use of high-quality ingredients, coupled with adherence to stricter safety regulations.
Let’s take a closer look at these two brands and examine whether their bestselling products deliver the ingredients and effects we expect when investing in serums, face masks, and other skincare essentials.
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Best selling face masks from each brand
When I choose a face mask, it’s usually because my skin is feeling oily, I’ve been busy, and I need to give my pores a deep clean. That clogged, greasy sensation is something none of us enjoy.
While exfoliating and unblocking pores is a common reason to reach for a face mask, they can also hydrate your skin or work to penetrate the skin’s natural barrier, allowing beneficial ingredients like vitamin C to soak in and do their magic.
However, getting those vitamins, natural oils, and other nutrients into your skin isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Our skin naturally acts as a protective barrier, making it difficult for products to penetrate deeply. That’s why having the right ingredients and maintaining the proper pH levels in a mask is so important for getting the best results.
Beautycounter Reflect Effect AHA Facial Mask comes with a dual-purpose tool that functions as a mask applicator, remover, and skin massager. This was unexpected for me since I’d never used a tool like this before, but it works surprisingly well and enhances the overall experience. The formula includes two standout ingredients: phytic acid and glycerin.
• Phytic acid is often used for its acne-fighting properties, helping to clear and tighten pores while brightening the skin. While it can occasionally cause irritation for those with very sensitive skin, the chances of this are quite low, and some redness is to be expected with exfoliating ingredients.
• Glycerin, a widely loved humectant, draws moisture into the outer layers of the skin where it’s needed most.
As expected from Beautycounter, this mask is vegan and cruelty-free, which is always a bonus.
On the other hand, my favorite Mary Kay mask, the Clear Proof Deep Cleansing Charcoal Mask, offers a different experience. This exfoliating mask visibly removes dirt and impurities from your pores as it dries, which is so satisfying to see. Like the Beautycounter mask, it also includes glycerin for hydration, but another ingredient I love in this formula is kaolin.
• Kaolin is a fantastic ingredient for oily skin. It helps absorb excess oil, dry out blackheads, and draw out impurities from deep within the pores, making it ideal for an exfoliating mask.
The scent of this mask is subtle and a bit hard to describe, but I find it pleasant and not overpowering.
Both masks offer unique benefits, whether you’re looking for a more luxurious application experience with Beautycounter or a deep pore-cleansing powerhouse with Mary Kay. It really depends on what your skin needs at the moment!
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Bestselling Serum comparison
A serum can nourish, hydrate and protect our skin from the elements. A lot of anti-ageing serums have come onto the market recently too and most serums offer a more intensive skincare experience than a cream or moisturiser. We all love to read about all the wonderful natural and active ingredients in our newest skincare products but all those luscious names aren’t any use if they can’t penetrate your skin. Both Mary Kay and Beauty counter sell a range of serums for different skincare needs but today I want to take a look at two of my favourites.
Beauty counter All bright C serum
The Beautycounter All Bright C Serum is designed to brighten your skin with its high concentration of vitamin C. However, it’s worth noting that the formula uses tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, a stable derivative of vitamin C that needs to be converted by your skin into pure vitamin C to be effective. While this form is gentler and more stable, we always prefer to see ascorbic acid, the purest and most effective form of vitamin C, in skincare products whenever possible.
To maximize the benefits of this serum, it’s recommended to use a salicylic acid cleanser beforehand. This helps to lower the pH level of your skin, creating the ideal conditions for the vitamin C serum to penetrate deeply and work effectively. When using a salicylic acid cleanser, be mindful to rinse it off quickly with cool water, avoid the delicate skin around your eyes, and resist the urge to scrub. The goal is to prepare your skin, not to exfoliate harshly.
The All Bright C Serum stands out for being vegan, cruelty-free, and EWG Verified, which reflects Beautycounter’s commitment to safety and transparency. They are very clear about the ingredients used in their products, a level of honesty we always appreciate in skincare. Understanding what you’re putting on your skin can be a challenge, so detailed ingredient lists and a focus on research-backed components provide reassurance that the products are both safe and effective. When shopping for skincare, it’s always a good idea to look for ingredients supported by scientific studies to ensure you’re getting real benefits.
Mary Kay Timewise Replenishing Serum
Mary Kay market this serum as a replenishing serum that can moisturise and brighten your skin tone. The product comes in a container that is simple and has a bold black lid. The bottle design makes me feel like it should contain foundation and not serum. Some users claim that this serum does feel moisturising and It does contain many of the important ingredients your skin needs to stay hydrated.
Mary Kay don’t stray far from the most recognisable key ingredients used in the facial skin care market and this cream contain dimethicone, glycerin and betaine, all three of which you have probably seen on many ingredients list.
Betaine is used less than the other 2 ingredients but is a humectant that has a few other interesting qualities too. Betaine can control the balance of water in you cells and also help to reduce the severity of ingredients, giving a formula a milder touch.
The Mary Kay time wise replenishing serum has a light consistency and barely any scent. It’s nice to experience a scented face serum but adding those fragrant ingredients leaves more chance of skin irritation. This formula will definitely moisture your skin well which is great for this price point but will the vitamin C penetrate your skin cells deep enough to activate and allow your skin to benefit from the vitamins.
Well, the vitamin C in this formula comes from fruit extracts rather than the pure form of vitamin C. It is also way down on the ingredients list so we think the antioxidant qualities are likely to be low. This is a nice formula, but if vitamin C is most important for you I’d suggest you try out DRMTLGY or Skinceuticals as they use more pure forms of Vitamin C in their formulas.
Final comparison
Mary Kay and Beauty Counter both sell their skincare products directly to customers, although they do now sell through some retailers too. The main difference between the two brands is the brands vision. Beauty Counter was founded by a lady who wanted to improve the standards of beauty products by using ingredients that are good for you and trying to reduce the use of bad ingredients in the beauty industry. Whereas Mary Kay was a strong advocate for women rights and empowering women to succeed in life.
Beauty Counter is completely transparent about the ingredients used in its products and believe strongly in using sustainable packaging and being as transparent as possible. Mary Kay focus hard on making sure they use safe ingredients too and they have an extended banned ingredients list they use that goes beyond health and safety regulations.
If you are looking for a face mask then beauty Counter reflect effect AHA facial mask is my favourite, especially as it comes with a useful applicator tool. Both brands sell a range of face serums, but their vitamin C serum doesn’t contain the purest form of Vitamin C. For the price range, these brands offer a good experience lots of proven ingredients and the chance to belong to a group of ladies with a similar vision for skincare and beauty.