GLOWING CLEAN
Louise McCown will be the fist first to admit she doesn’t know everything, but her personal brand is “Learning Out Loud,” and she’s eager to share what she has learned (and products she loves) with anyone asking. The recent HBO docuseries Not So Pretty, an eye-opening exposé on the beauty and personal care industry, is the latest in a line of revelations that may leave us feeling overwhelmed by so much bad news. Louise is proof positive that making small changes can (and will) add up to big gains. Her platform—offering clean personal care products and cosmetics, being an active agent for change in the industry, and providing advice to her clients regarding other clean choices—is a big one, but she’s not stopping there. We spoke to Louise about her mission and what we can change to make our lives better.
By Amber Wielkens Photos Stevye Photography, StevyePhotography.com Hair Jason Chambers, HeadDress Salon, 251.689.7427 Makeup Courtney Matthews Makeup Artistry, CocoKat1978@gmail.com
Shot on location at Knucklebones Elixir Co. and Beard & Blade at The Social Experiment Collective, 202 Government Street, Mobile, TheSocialExp.com.
It feels like we’ve known Louise forever (she’s graced our pages several times), but this interview felt different. She is different. Always gracious and singularly elegant, what’s changed is that we’re talking about her life’s passion—changing the conversation around clean products—and it’s clear she’s speaking from the heart. Which is not to say her family doesn’t come first. Married to Robert McCown of McCown Design (his stunning architectural and interior design work is on display at our shoot location), they have five children ranging in age from 12 down to an almost 3-year-old. In fact, their welfare plays a big part in her pursuit of change.
In her job as Marketing Director for Beautycounter, Louise’s phone notifications are almost a soundtrack to her days. And many of the calls and texts she receives have nothing to do with her selling cosmetics and personal care items. “Our mission is to get safer products into the hands of everyone. Note the omission of the company’s name. Not just our products, but all products,” she shares. “Lots of what I do isn’t monetized, but I’m thrilled to be a resource for my clients, whether it’s personal products or which water filter or detergent to buy.”
And that’s where she takes her relationship-based business. For Louise, It's not job in sales, it’s a service industry, and Louise considers customer service paramount, even if the customer isn’t buying her product. Check out her Instagram feed, where she recently highlighted the safest sunscreens at CVS. “I understand that people aren’t able to devote their already busy lives to research, so when I find an effective clean alternative to something, I love to spread the word.“
She wasn’t always this focused on clean ingredients. “When I started as a consultant eight years ago, I was working full-time as the director of a real estate trust. Before I started at Beautycounter I’d never been in sales, much less in beauty products and personal care. I stumbled upon it when I had my own health crisis when I was pregnant with my third child,” she claims. “It was my pulmonologist who gave me my lightbulb moment regarding products I was using on myself, my children, and to clean our house. I feel like that’s the way it is for most people. Until you have a direct connection between something you use and how it might hurt you, you don’t think about it.”
Joining on a whim because she was trying to find safer products for herself, a college friend she trusts for their thoughts on health told her about seeing founder Gregg Renfrew speak about the lack of regulation in the cosmetics industry. She adds, “I also knew it could be an extra source of income and offered more flexible work hours. I started learning about the subject and the people I talked to were so responsive that I just ran with it. Within three months, I was able to quit my job. I do work full-time, but I’m able to structure my work so that I’m still present for my family.”
Working for a clean company poses unique challenges, and gently disabusing people of misconceptions seems near the top of her job description. “Many people think clean and natural means granola crunchy-type products that won’t offer powerful results—that these products don’t work. But you can make cleaner, non-toxic choices in your beauty products and in your life while also being fun, fashionable, creative, and chic. You don’t have to compromise performance and results.” We cite Louise herself as Exhibit A. She adds, “Beatycounter’s products address both the need for effectiveness and the desire to use clean ingredients—and they’ve done all the homework so you don’t have to worry if it’s safe.”
But don’t other companies tout their products as non-toxic and made with no harmful ingredients? Of course they do. The difference is Beautycounter can prove it with their too-many-to-list accreditations from international organizations like The Environmental Working Group (EWG), which “certifies personal care products as free from chemicals of concern,” according The Guardian and B Lab (the B stands for Benefit), which requires rigorous annual certification ensuring companies use fair labor practices and environmentally sustainable materials.
What many of us don’t know can hurt us. In 2019, Claire’s was discovered to be selling makeup that the FDA said contained asbestos (after private citizens sounded the alarm). While the company disputed the findings, they voluntarily recalled the products. The key word here is voluntarily, since the FDA (or any regulatory agency) can’t legally force the issue. Many Americans were shocked to learn that the cosmetics and personal care industry is essentially self-regulated. For context, we’ve all seen lettuce recalls on the news. Stores will remove it from the shelves within minutes of receiving notice. Agriculture is so well-regulated we can learn not only the farm that grew it, but the harvest date of the lettuce in question.
Asked for an example of the change she wants to see in the industry, Louise says, ““Take Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Wash. The formula sold here is completely different than the one sold in Europe. The United States hasn’t passed a major federal law governing the cosmetics industry since 1938—that’s over 84 years.” She adds that the European Union (EU) has outlawed the use of over 1,400 ingredients and US is holding steady at—wait for it—30. We’re obviously behind, but Beautycounter actually goes beyond what’s required in the EU with their “Never List” of over 1,800 ingredients known to be or with high probability to be harmful to human health.
In April, Louise went to Washington DC with other consultants to lobby congress for more health protective laws in the beauty industry. “I never in a million years would have thought that I’d be involved in anything like lobbying because I’ve never been a political person; my role in politics was to vote. On our trip to DC, we emphasized that this is not at all a partisan issue—it’s a human health issue and should be treated as such,” she says, explaining, “We met with our representatives and their staff and it was very refreshing to learn how open they were to our message.”
Louise’s message is clear and also kind to those of us who are trying to make cleaner choices. “We’re not trained chemists, nor are we detectives, and we shouldn’t have to be in order to consume products that are safe,” she declares. While she’s passionate about her work, she’s never preachy. She smiles, telling us, “I’ve been asked if my kids are allowed to eat junk food. Of course they are—they’re kids! I don’t drive a Prius or police birthday parties telling my kids they can’t drink a Capri Sun.”
While she does make changes she believes make a difference, there’s no shaming involved. Many of us have a crammed-full cabinet of cleaning chemicals for every imaginable surface under the sink. Louise in reassuring on that front, saying, “One of the biggest things I try to teach people is that it’s about progress, not perfection. It really is one small change at a time, but they make a difference.” All this to say that little changes matter. “No one is demanding you fill up your trash with every product you own and replace it immediately—you can switch to a cleaner option as you run low on something and eventually those small steps will become permanent,” she adds. “Ultimately, I’m trying to help people understand that they can make cleaner, safer, better choices across their lives. I want to help empower people to more easily make those choices.”
Apart from explaining that clean personal care products can still be highly effective, another challenge is skepticism as the default reaction for many when hearing the words “direct marketing.” Louise shares, “One of the hardest uphill battles I’m still fighting is people sometimes confusing what I do with MLMs (multi-level marketing companies), which require constant recruitment of new consultants and paying upfront for a large inventory of products. Beautycounter is a direct sales company by design. Our founder knew this would be a business that was person-to-person, that to understand the benefits of using her products and supporting the company mission would require conversations, not hard selling to everyone we know.” Louise’s vast circle of friends and family are a testimonial to her not mentioning she has the perfect remedy for our age spots unless she’s asked.
Another part of her platform is her advocacy for women to understand their finances. “It’s unfortunate, but we need to face the eventuality that many women will outlive their husbands, get divorced, or have a life event that profoundly changes their circumstances, and understanding household finances such as their mortgage and taxes will allow them to make smart decisions when the worst happens.” No, she’s not trying to recruit new consultants here, but she is pointing out that her company wants to empower women with financial knowledge and the means to make money—it’s up to the individual to decide how much, be it as a full-time or part-time job or just a side hustle to earn some extra spending money.
Her children are also the recipients of her message, and to her, the most important. “When I arrived home after my trip to DC, they asked me, ‘Did you go change the world?’ I want them to understand that they, too, have the power to effect change. It also models for them that we don’t have all the answers and that’s okay as long as we’re trying.” With her 12-year-old daughter already stating she wants to become a consultant when she turns 18, we think Louise is on the right track.
