Q+A with Beauty Heroes Founder Jeannie Jarnot

Jeannie Jarnot is a longtime spa director and healthy beauty expert who founded Beauty Heroes in 2014. Inspired to revolutionize the clean beauty space after discovering how common toxic ingredients were in the spa industry, Jeannie made it her mission to "make healthy beauty the rule rather than the exception" — for the good of her own health, the health of her clients, and the health of beauty lovers at large. In this Q+A, we chat with Jeannie about her journey in beauty, finding products that are a "win-win-win", how Beauty Heroes vets brands, and so much more.

Q: You founded Beauty Heroes so you can deliver trustworthy beauty to all your shoppers and make healthy beauty the rule, not the exception. Can you tell us a bit about your own journey in the beauty and skin industry and what about your career inspired you to start Beauty Heroes?

I spent my career working in luxury spas, welcoming guests into an environment where we were completely focused on their wellbeing. When I discovered that ingredients in products may not be totally healthy for them, I felt a natural obligation to learn more about ingredients, and make sure that what we were using on clients (and therapists) day in and day out was truly good for them. This started me on my path, which ultimately led me to discover healthy beauty from indie brands. Discovering my first indie brand changed the trajectory of my life. Hearing a founder talk about sourcing ingredients ethically, and creating a product around a specific ingredient or life purpose, made me and my spa staff feel more connected to what we were using on our clients.

That deeper connection inspired me to create a service that would help people just like me discover products in this same way: through smart content, immersive and intentional experience, and full-size products in our Beauty Heroes Monthly Discovery Subscription. We call this the "heartbeat" of our company, and each month we introduce a new brand and their Hero product in our monthly beauty discovery. It’s the best way I know how to serve people like me, conscious consumers who want to use truly healthy products on themselves and their families.

Q: What do you love the most about what you do?

I love finding products I call the win-win-win, kind of like a triple threat. A product that works as well or better than say a conventional product, is free of potentially harmful ingredients AND helps us live a little lighter on the planet. I get excited about those types of innovations in beauty, lifestyle, and wellness. I also love working directly with inspiring brand founders. There are a lot of cool people in this space.

Q: You work directly with brand founders to vet each product featured by Beauty Heroes. Can you tell us a bit about what goes into this approval process and what criteria these brands must meet?

First, it must meet our ingredient standard, and that’s not easy to do. Beyond the normal ingredients you don't want in your beauty products, we look to make sure that each ingredient is readily and fully biodegradable. We don’t allow any petroleum-based or silicone ingredients, which can still pop up in a lot of "clean beauty" to this day. Once that’s been established, we ask a lot of questions. We want to know if a brand is sourcing ingredients organically where possible, and that they are being sourced ethically. We also study their commitment to the environment, as we believe that caring for the environment should be a part of every business plan and model. Then, of course, we test the product thoroughly. I test everything at Beauty Heroes, but I also have two team members who test products alongside me. We all bring different backgrounds and needs to our experience with a product, and it makes for a good panel to help curate our collection. We only bring on products and brands we genuinely love. Beauty Heroes is highly curated, and it's what sets us apart. We won’t just launch a new brand because it is trending. We want to launch brands that our community will fall in love with as we have. You can see by our curation, that we champion brands we really believe deliver value to our lives.

Q: We’d love to hear about some of the ways that Beauty Heroes has made an impact in the industry.

Well, I think that is for someone else to decide, but I am proud to say that the Blue Beauty movement has become a global conversation, and I am very proud of that. I think it’s amazing what deeper conversations about the potential companies have to create better industry can lead to. Blue Beauty is a little over 3 years old, and I think we are just getting started. I also hope that we’ve helped brands understand the importance of eliminating petroleum-based and silicone ingredients from their ingredients lists. They aren’t necessary and they bioaccumulate. Brands are genuinely surprised when we push back on this, and I think that’s made them think about it. We’ve had quite a few brands reformulate after a conversation with us and come back with new ingredients lists. That is so, so exciting.

Last, while I think "clean beauty" has become the accepted term, we’ve always referred to it as healthy beauty. That stems from my background as a Spa Director and my original motivation for being interested in ingredients. I wanted people to have a healthful experience in my spas. And now I want them to find products that enhance and promote their health at Beauty Heroes. And I think that’s just something everyone can be on board with.

Q: As we know, clean beauty goes beyond ingredients — it’s about packaging, product development, the brand’s ethics, and even the own responsible use of the products by consumers. What are some brands that have impressed you as this sustainability movement has amplified these past several years?

Standout brands for me are Honua Skincare for her work at regenerating agriculture in Hawaii through her business practices. Also, AYUNA for their commitment to creating luxury beauty while pushing the envelope in sustainable ingredients sourcing and packaging. Laurel Skin for her slow beauty approach to crafting products. ATHR Beauty for founder Tiila Abbit's commitment to innovating in sustainable packaging. And Y et Beauté’ for her incredible feat of creating the most luxurious lipstick collection that’s completely free of any harmful ingredients, petroleum-based ingredients, or silicones.

Q: What are some of your favorite clean beauty brands right now?

I’m excited about Nature of Things, a luxurious brand that has surprised me. Their formulas are special and very luxurious. I love luxury beauty done right. Beyond that, they're kind of a brand that crosses over. You will fall in love with it, and not even know that it’s technically what one might consider "clean". You just love it for what it is.

I’m also a big fan of Ingredients, a disruptive brand that took the approach of listing all their ingredients and their percentages on the front of the box and bottle. Brands are so protective about their formulas. But Ingredients is not — they are completely transparent. They can be because the formulas are something to be proud of; they are smart, full of organic ingredients, and something the brand has good reason to be proud of.

And I’ve fallen deeply in love with Joaquina Botánica, a brand inspired by Colombian ingredients and beauty. We recently launched them at Beauty Heroes, and I can’t wait for people to fall in love with this brand.

Q: What are some misconceptions about clean beauty you want to debunk?

The main misconception is that healthier beauty is lacking in performance. I could not disagree with this misconception more. Healthy beauty performs better than conventional beauty that uses a lot of inexpensive shortcuts to achieve a result that is marginally as good as what good, healthy ingredients can deliver.

Another misconception is that clean beauty enthusiasts are judging anyone who doesn’t ascribe to clean beauty. I personally don’t feel that way. I just want people to fall in love with products that bring value to my life and are better for our health and the planet. There’s no judgment there, just a desire to share.

Q: With clean products at the forefront of so many conversations in beauty, it could be easy for some to be overwhelmed by the thought of doing an overhaul of their entire makeup bag. What are some easy ways that we can be more sustainable when it comes to our beauty routines, especially those who may not know where to start?

Well, I’ve heard a lot of people say that after a year of not wearing makeup during the pandemic, they are ready to refresh their whole makeup routine and wanted to take the opportunity to do so with healthier beauty products. Makeup doesn’t last forever, so if you have some expired products, it’s a good opportunity to replenish with healthier options.

Beauty should be fun, not stressful. I always say that if you are wanting to care more about what you are putting in and on your body, and you are stressing out about it, you’re doing it wrong. Get curious. Find someone you enjoy following, an influencer or curator who is having fun with healthy beauty, and just enjoy the content, sit back, and find things that resonate with you. View transitioning over to healthy beauty as a fun, enjoyable act of self-care. Take your time and enjoy the process.

Also, subscribing to Beauty Heroes is an incredible way to discover one new brand every month. We slow down healthy beauty discovery by delivering full-size products in our monthly subscription, paired with educational content. It’s an amazing value as each box is valued at well over $100, and subscriptions start at $58.95 per month, and go down based on the length of the term you subscribe. I like to think of it as a no-brainer for someone who wants to discover new, healthy beauty brands and find what works for them. Plus, Beauty Heroes subscribers enjoy 15% off in our Beauty Store every day, so there’s great savings just by being a member of Beauty Heroes.

Q: You launched the Blue Beauty Movement in 2018 to celebrate the brands and consumers paving the way for progress in the clean beauty space. Can you tell us a bit more about this movement and what it means to be a part of it?

Back in 2018, I was noticing how many of the brands we were working with were caring for the environment, either through a give-back component to their company, an initiative to support small farmers or other environmental-oriented initiatives. This was exciting, and it deeply aligned with my personal values. At the time, I learned that there was an industry-agnostic trend for companies to "go blue" – which was going beyond being green. Being green and embracing sustainability should have, at that point, been a foregone conclusion. Going blue meant finding ways to go further, and make a positive impact on the environment.

I coined the term Blue Beauty to highlight brands that were already embracing this. It was a very natural progression for the green beauty brands I already loved to be going blue. At Beauty Heroes, we are working to further define what it means to be a blue beauty brand in an effort to help brands who want to go blue understand the benchmarks and qualities of a blue beauty brand as well as help to deter and identify blue-washing. I like to point out that while ocean health and preservation/repair is critical, blue beauty is not a specific movement to protect our oceans, it more encompassing than that.

Q: What are some goals you have for Beauty Heroes (and for yourself!) you're excited to work toward?

I touched on it above, as we are working on further defining Blue Beauty. This takes a lot of thinking and collaborating, and it’s very exciting work. Through that process, Beauty Heroes is working on new initiatives to go blue ourselves, and we all find that really rewarding. One of our biggest goals is to become the first multi-brand beauty retailer B Corp. Personally, I want to get back into some strength training. I’ve not been doing it on my own and I miss it. I have a lot of personal goals for the future, like re-learning French and to play piano, one day when I have more time.

Rapid Fire Round

Q: Worth the splurge:

Biophile’s Bio Shroom Rejuvenating Serum and NINI Organics Siempre Viva Body Elixir.

Q: Favorite drugstore or budget find:

Nopalera Flor de Mayo Cactus Soap.

Q: Latest beauty empty:

LILFOX Marshmallow Poof, I could drink it.

Q: Recent discovery:

Foria Awaken Arousal Oil.

Q: Product you can't leave home without:

Ingredients Plant Water Mist.

Q: Brand you wish more people knew about:

Blüh Alchemy, everything she makes is amazing.

For more of Jeannie's favorite products, check out her shop below!