I want to compare these apparently healthy, clean beauty brands. Tula vs Beauty counter is an unusual comparison because although they both aim for some level of clean beauty, their business models and use of ingredients are very different. Tula is an innovative skincare brand, that have attempted to bring the benefits of probiotics into skincare products. Tula are a beauty brand that believe in a healthy body and think that what makes your body healthy can also improve your skin. They have had some success in using probiotic extracts and superfoods in their skincare range.
On first glance, Beauty counter push their clean beauty ideology by highlighting all the ingredients they avoid using in their products. Beauty counter are one of the leading skincare brands pushing for less chemicals and more regulations on what ingredients can be used by beauty brands. However genuine beauty counter is in their pursuit of clean beauty they still must use some chemicals in their products, even if they choose the safer options, chemicals can’t always be avoided.
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Product comparison
Let’s take a quick look at some of my favourite products from Tula and Beauty Counter.
A closer look at Tula skin care cult classic face cleanser
Click the Tula Face cleanser image above to view on Amazon
I was recommended the cult classic facial cleanser to help fight against blemishes. I’d heard that the formula worked well to balance out any acne or hormonal breakouts on your face. I like the light consistency of this formula that isn’t sticky, oily or greasy.
Applying the cult classic face cleanser didn’t cause me any skin irritation. I felt like my skin was lightly moisturized, not in the way a night cream really soaks into your skin, but more in a sense that my skin didn’t feel dry after my makeup removal and cleaning routine using this product.
I like that there are probiotics and turmeric in the ingredients list, not because I can be sure that they helped my skin but because I personally like what I’ve read about these ingredients. I feel good knowing these ingredients might give me a better chance of healthy skin, whether or not that might be true, I’ll keep applying and trying them out.
Comparing the Tula deep wrinkle serum and beauty counter All bright Vitamin C serum.
Click the product image to view on amazon
Both the Tula deep wrinkle serum and the beauty counter All bright Vitamin C serum make use of vitamin C extract. The All bright vitamin c serum has a blend of 2 extract of vitamin C, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate and bis-glyceryl ascorbate.
The first extract is claimed to reduce dark spots and encourages a brighter skin tone whereas the 2nd is aimed at helping reduce fine lines and wrinkles by evening out skin tone. The formula is very lightweight and has even won an award, the 2021 beauty crush award.
Tulas probiotic and vitamin C serum comes in packaging that is calming and reminds me of a spa day. The formula comes in a glass bottle and there is a very faint, barely noticeable but pleasant scent. Some users claim this formula gave them more radiant skin after a few weeks of use
Click the product image to view on Amazon
Tula’s serum does have some vitamin C in it but it is far down the ingredients list and comes far behind the apple fruit extract, yogurt powder and chicory rot extract. Apple fruit extract is similar to vitamin C because it is also high in antioxidants. If I had to choose between these 2 products I’d choose the Tula serum because it’s cheaper but if you really believe in the benefits of higher doses of vitamin C extract then choose the beauty counter serum.
Comparing the differences between Tula and Beauty counter
Tula was founded by a gastroenterologist who graduated from Harvard university. Her medical studies and research focused on probiotics. Not only does she believe probiotics are good for your body internally but that they can also help our skin. Tula don’t only use probiotics in their skincare formulas, they also make use of superfoods, including the following ingredients:
- Chicory root
- Turmeric root
- Blueberries.
Tula beauty sell using a retail business model so you’ll easily be able to get your hands on their products. On the other hand Beauty counter have a very different business model. Beauty counter make use of what some people would call a pyramid scheme. Agents sell the products through word of mouth and by marketing the products themselves. This gives Beautycounter the appearance of being more exclusive.
Beauty counter differ from Tula in that they are really pushing the beauty industry towards a cleaner future with greater regulations on ingredients. Beauty counter seem to be genuine in their pursuit of clean beauty and have made big strides both in their own products and in their lobbying efforts.
The beauty counter brand is built around the clean beauty image which is different from Tula. Tula beauty focus on promoting the brand through the use of their innovative probiotic formulas and really push the idea that they have found new ways to improve and keep your skin healthy.
Both brands skin care is mid-range to highly priced, but beauty counter is a little more expensive.
Comparing Ingredients – are they non-toxic
This is where this review gets interesting. Advertisements, celebrity endorsements and clever marketing can push the sales of beauty products but their ingredients list is where skin care brands really make big wins and find their way into our daily skincare routine. At least for me, the ingredients list is the first place I look after I’m drawn to a brand through their marketing or a friends recommendation. If the list is full of chemicals and has a lot of ingredients on it, I’ll steer clear.
When we think of Beauty counter, ingredients is the big thing, both in terms of the company vision but also a big selling point. Ingredients are the main reason beautycounter is able to create communities around their products. People love clean beauty, we always want to try to put something more natural and healthy onto our skin.
To consider beauty counters ingredients is the wrong way to look at this brand. We should really look at the big list of toxic and questionable ingredients they avoid using. A few years ago smaller, more innovative sun cream brands really made a big push to make their products ocean-friendly and unlikely to damage coral reefs or sealife.
Beauty counter seem to be taking on the bigger task of trying to re-shape a beauty industry who’s main players rely on chemicals and questionable ingredients. Most of the time we don’t really know what we are applying in our moisturizer and how it might affect our skin. However, if you think of beauty counter as clean beauty, yes, in some ways they are, they use a lot of vegan formulas, environmentally friendly packaging and try to use safer ingredients.
However, don’t expect to be applying some luscious aloe vera juice, glowing and freshly collected off the plant. Instead, you’ll see there are still a lot of ingredients, just less of the bad ones other brands use that are the most risky for your skin.
If we look at the Tula skincare cult classic face cleanser. You’ll see on their ingredients list how, like beauty counter they also try to avoid certain minerals, parabens and potentially harmful ingredients. They also advocate cruelty free ingredients. However, they don’t appear to go as far as beauty counter in their list of ingredients to avoid.
Let’s look at the good stuff Tule use in their formulas. Probiotics and probiotic extracts are the key ingredients. Tula claim probiotics balance, smoothen and hydrate your skin.
I looked more deeply into the use of probiotics in skincare and found that probiotics produce natural antibiotics in our skin, protect our skin from bad microorganisms and help reduce small inflammations which can damage our skin when exposed to sunlight and other free radicals in our daily life.
Tula make use of a lot of other natural ingredients we like to see in our skincare products, including caffeine, peptides, ginger extracts and turmeric.
Tula and Beauty counter – Which brand offers the cleanest beauty experience
Beauty counter have built their whole brand around clean beauty. The founders have pushed for more clean beauty regulations in the industry and take pride in the long list of ingredients they have excluded from their products.
However their formulas do still contain a lot of ingredients so they have to take further steps to be truly clean beauty. Beauty counter skin care products are more difficult to get hold of more expensive and I feel they still have further to go in the quest for clean beauty.
Tula beauty have also jumped on the clean beauty bandwagon and exclude minerals, parabens cruel ingredients. Tula are somewhat transparent about the reasons they use certain ingredients and exclude others.
Tula are attempting innovation with their unique use of probiotics I like what this brand stand for, it’s always exciting to see some new ideas and differing visions entering the beauty industry.
