Crunchi is a beauty brand that’s recently become more popular in the world of clean beauty. But how do their products measure up against other brands?
I tried almost every product that Crunchi sells and did a ton of research into the brand. Here’s my honest Crunchi review about both the company and the products.
There are so many companies in the natural beauty arena. While it’s great that clean beauty is becoming a bigger category, it’s hard to know what companies to really trust and where to spend your hard-earned money.
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My Crunchi Story
I actually tried Crunchi for the first time years ago, because I thought they seemed like a solid toxin-free beauty line.
I really appreciated their high standards, but their foundation looked a bit heavy, and their lip gloss irritated my lips. They had other products, but having a mainstay like foundation not work for me made it hard to promote their products.
So I let my consultant status expire.
When Beautycounter started showing signs of closing, I decided to take another look at Crunchi, along with checking out some other companies too. I needed a new source of safe, quality skincare and makeup and figured I shouldn’t just pass them by based on my previous experience.
I didn’t know it at the time, but soon found out that thankfully, Crunchi reformulated both their foundation and lip gloss (lip oil) and now I really like them!
In addition, I got to know the company a lot better, and what I found out gave me a lot of confidence in the brand.
Here’s what I’ve learned, plus my thoughts on the products, both good and not so much.
I think you’ll be surprised as I was about this small yet shockingly stellar company and what they are doing to shake up green beauty.
What is Crunchi?
Crunchi is a clean beauty brand that started in 2016. The brand is a direct sales model, utilizing what they refer to as advocates to share their safer products via social media, blog posts, and in person pop ups.
The name, CRUNCHI, is a take off of the term “crunchy” that means someone who’s really into natural living (think crunchy granola, Birkenstocks, and organic food). The founders chose the name to reflect their care for safer products while the “I” at the end instead of “Y” is supposed to give a sophisticated touch to the name.
Who Founded Crunchi?
Kelly Kreusler and Melanie Petschke founded Crunchi. They met at a mom’s night out and they hit it off right away.
Melanie is to this day a board certified nurse practitioner and Kelly was in pharmaceutical sales when they met.
In their words, at the time, they were addressing illness and not wellness.
According to Kelly, Melanie was an ingredient guru at the time. They bonded quickly over many topics and ended up working together with a Direct Sales model that had personal care products, and Melanie was Kelly’s upline.
Unfortunately (or fortunately as you’ll soon see), the company ended up going in a direction that was no longer something that they could support, so they left.
They tried to find a clean beauty brand to get behind, but were quickly found that to get what they wanted, they would have to do it themselves.
They had many “doors slammed in their faces” and people saying they couldn’t do it. Also, some in the industry pressured them to use ingredients they weren’t comfortable with.
According to Kelly, Melanie said…
Absolutely not! We’re going to do it right or we’re not going to do it at all.
So they did. They launched Crunchi out of Kelly’s home.
And as they say, the rest is history.
Crunchi’s Standards
If you’re all about making sure that what you put on your skin has been proven to be safe, then Crunchi is a solid company to lean on. Here’s a thorough list of their quality standards.
Cruelty Free
None of Crunchi’s products are tested on animals in either the formulation or the manufacturing process, and their products are all Leaping Bunny Certified.
Extensive Banished List
The company refuses to use many ingredients. As they like to say, their list is long and you can see it here.
But the things that they avoid using goes way beyond just refusing to use certain ingredients.
In Depth Ingredient and Packaging Interaction Research
Refusing to use a number of ingredients is one thing, but Crunchi goes a step further to check how ingredients interact with each other.
Beyond ingredients, Crunchi even checks to make sure that the packaging isn’t affecting the products in a negative way. Yes, plastic packaging leaches and other types of packaging can be a problem too.
Who wants plastic or other container materials interacting in a bad way with your skincare? Not me!
Gluten-free and Non-GMO Certified
Many of Crunchi’s products are non-GMO certified and all are third-party tested to be safe for celiacs. Melanie has a child who suffers from celiac disease, so this certification is particularly important to them.
Their products are all made with gluten-free ingredients and have been third-party laboratory tested to confirm gluten is non-detectable (less than 20 ppm). The testing performed is the same that’s required by the FDA for food products to make a gluten-free claim.
Organic Ingredients Prioritized
While I loved many of Beautycounter’s products, one thing I wanted was more of a focus on organic ingredients.
Beautycounter was improving in that arena, but Crunchi’s been doing it very well the whole time.
In fact, sometimes when an ingredient isn’t listed as being organic, it still is. The reason is that sometimes there are ingredients that they can’t count on getting organic always, so company doesn’t list it as such.
Since organic ingredients have fewer and safer pesticides on them than conventionally grown ingredients, you can feel confident that these products are better for you and for the planet.
Made In the USA
Almost all of Crunchi’s products are made in the USA. The only products that aren’t are their pencil products, accessories, and some packaging.
The pencils are made in Germany since apparently all or mostly all cosmetic pencils made in the US are made from fake wood. Crazy, huh?
Their accessories and some of their product packaging are made in American-owned factories overseas with very high social/ethical and environmental standards. The factories pass SA 8000 social audits as well as ISO 9000 and ISA 14001 environmental audits.
Better Than EWG Certified
Crunchi is now in the process of getting EWG certified for all of their products which should be a cinch since their standards are higher than EWG certified.
In fact, EWG apparently stated that Crunchi is the most transparent company that they have ever worked with on this program.
Extensive Third-Party Testing
Crunchi actually invests a lot of care in the ingredient selection process so that the stellar results of testing of the finished products is no surprise.
For example, they pay for the highest quality iron oxides for coloring so they know that their testing will come back with results well under safety limits.
To quote Melanie, their third-party finished product testing gets done, but it’s “boring”.
Quality Sourcing of Essential Oils
To ensure purity of the essential oils used in their products, Crunchi sources all of their oils from one source that does third party testing on all of their oils.
To their knowledge, there is no other beauty company with this kind of control on the purity of oils used in their products.
Safer Preservatives
Many people are concerned about the use of phenoxyethanol in skincare, but Crunchi avoids it. They use other effective and safe B-Spectrum preservatives instead.
Even so, their products typically have a 2-year shelf life or longer.
Talc-free
A lot of companies have gone talc free due to concerns about asbestos in talc.
However, Crunchi takes this further in that they avoid even asbestos-free talc due to recent evidence showing that conventional testing methods can fail to detect asbestos accurately, and “asbestos-free” talc may still contain asbestos.
Debt-free
This is a HUGE deal for me. One of the biggest parts of why Beautycounter shut down was its massive debt.
Crunchi has stated that they, of course, have to grow slower (meaning only introducing new products when they have the capital to do so), but I’ll take that over going out of business.
No Ethoxylated Ingredients
Crunchi avoids ethoxylated ingredients due to the toxic byproducts created when they’re made. Crunchi’s products do not contain there ingredients which include PEGs, sulfates, phenoxyethanol, and more.
In their FAQs, you can see that there are newer ethoxylated options that that are cleaner they might consider in the future, but for now, there are none included.
Sustainable and Plastic Neutral
Crunchi really stands above others in the industry in their focus on sustainability, and they are increasing their standards each year.
100 percent of their primary packaging is plastic free, using glass, paperboard, and clean aluminum.
In the few instances where they need to use plastic (like in a wand or cap of a container), that plastic is offset by a partnership with 4 Ocean. Through that partnership, Crunchi is a certified plastic neutral company.
Performance
It goes without saying that skincare and makeup is no good if it’s safe but doesn’t perform. So Crunchi puts a lot of focus on having quality active ingredients in their products.
More Examples of Crunchi’s Ingredient Excellence
- Beeswax – Crunchi’s organic beeswax is collected in a way to ensure the bees are unharmed and their source practices regenerative beekeeping.
- Mica – Crunchi only uses ethically sourced mica that’s free from child labor. They require each manufacturer of their color cosmetics to provide documentation from the mica’s raw material supplier.
- No Nano-particles – Since there are a lot of gaps in the long-term safety data of nanoparticle technology, Crunchi avoids these.
Crunchi Makeup Reviews
Smart Primer
Crunchi’s Smart Primer is truly a great product.
Not only does it smooth out fine lines and other imperfections, but it’s great for your skin with ingredients like mushroom extract, jojoba oil, aloe powder, organic sunflower seed oil, and shea butter.
Yes, it’s another step, and not necessary, but you might want to splurge on this one. Some say that they use this instead of foundation because it works so well.
Foundation
Crunchi’s Foundation is not only the first product that they developed, but it’s one of their most popular products.
This liquid foundation is truly versatile because it can have both a pretty sheer look but can also provide full coverage.
Foundation Light Usage Tips
To get a more natural look, use just a small amount of the foundation on the tip of your finger or on their No. 1 Flat Brush. I like mixing it with some of their Daylight Advanced Moisturizer.
With the primer, it creates a truly flawless look that really lasts all day.
And since you only need a small amount for light coverage, one bottle will last a very very very long time.
As mentioned, I didn’t like the original version, but it’s possible that’s because I didn’t know how to apply it for a sheer coverage.
One negative is their lack of tints. It can be hard to find your color. Some people mix more than one. If you can match your skin, however, it’s a great product.
Crunchi Foundation Skin Benefits
Bonus, this product contains ingredients that actually help hydrate, plump, and protect your skin.
Included are:
- Coconut Alkanes – reduces flakiness of the skin.
- Glycerin – hydrates and refreshes and softens.
- Sunflower Seed Oil – supports skin’s barrier, prevents dehydration, softens, and has antioxidants.
- Aloe Leaf Juice – anti-inflammatory, skin protection, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and antiseptic.
- Shea Butter – nourishing for the skin (see more about this amazing ingredient in this recipe for Homemade Shea Butter Lotion).
- Hydrogenated Castor Oil – protects
- Tocopherol – improves skin’s water-binding capacity and skin barrier.
- Gluconolactone – increases cell turnover, stimulates skin growth and repair, improves appearance of aging skin.
- Jojoba esters – help retain moisture and improves barrier function.
- Mushroom Extract: antioxidant, anti-wrinkle, skin brightening, anti-aging, and moisturizing.
I wear shade 2.0. If you need help choosing a shade, just comment below or reach out.
Lip Oil
Crunchi’s Hydrogloss Lip Oil is really nice with a light flavor. The colors are very flattering and they feel great on my lips. And just like the Crunchi Beautifully Flawless Foundation, their lip oil is full of beneficial ingredients.
- Organic Beeswax – hydrates, conditions, soothes, and calms skin, exfoliates, repairs damage, promotes regeneration, diminishes signs of aging, and creates a protective barrier against pollutants.
- Organic Fruit Blend – hydrates, locks in moisture, and helps protect.
Tinted Moisturizer with SPF
The Tinted Moisturizer is Crunchi’s newest product and it’s getting rave reviews. It’s a great time saver combining moisturizer, a sheer makeup coverage and SPF all in one.
Like their foundation and lip oil, this product is loaded with ingredients to actually nourish your skin.
My Alibi Concealer
The Crunchi Concealer is a nice product as well, though it’s a little thicker than some. The concealer brush is a great tool to use with this, however, if you use just a tiny amount you can use your finger to apply it and it goes a long way.
Highliner Eye Pencil
I really like Crunchi’s eye pencil. Most eye pencils irritate my eyes, but not this one.
I’ve learned how to do tight lining which is a great technique that helps eyeliner not run. I still haven’t figured out what ingredient in most eye pencils irritates my eyes, but I’m so thankful that Crunchi’s doesn’t have it!
Crunchi Shattered Mascara
Crunchi’s mascara is a super clean product in a really nice sustainable glass tube. It doesn’t irritate my eyes, like most clean mascaras do. However, it doesn’t lengthen as much as I would like.
According to the reviews on the site, Crunchi’s mascara works great with their Eyelash Curler , so I’m going to try that out. For now, I like Poofy Organic’s HD Mascara better, but after I get the Crunchi curler I’ll update with my thoughts. I did find that this mascara seems to run a bit more than Poofy’s.
Crunchi Eyeshadow
I’m not a big eye shadow gal, but their colors are very pretty and the texture is great too.
I’ve used a few of the colors in this palette a number of times and truly do love how it looks.
Crunchi Translucent Finishing Powder
Crunchi’s finishing powder. It’s very much like Beautycounter’s Mattifying Powder, but it’s a cleaner product.
It gives a nice polished finish and you only need a little so the container lasts a long time. This Powder Brush is the perfect tool for application.
Crunchi Skincare Reviews
Youth Activating Collection Daylight and Nightlight Advanced
The Daylight Advanced and Nightlight Advanced Skincare has a “Youth Activating Complex” made of
- Azelaic Acid
- Bakuchiol
- Stable Vitamin C
- Non-GMO Propanediol
- Organic Argan & Jojoba Oils, Sea Kelp Extract, and Chondrus Crispus help plump the skin and add hydration
Skincare takes at least 30 days to work but I really like how my skin looks using these products with the Goldenlight and I Am Bright.
Crunchi also has Daylight and Nightlight regular products that are not “youth activating” for those who don’t need the added anti-aging punch.
I Am Luminous
I don’t have this product yet, but I will soon. The ingredients are top notch and the reviews are fantastic with users talking about reduced redness, pore size, moisturized glowing skin, and more.
Many say that using this in combination with the Goldenlight Peptide Serum and I Am Bright C Serum leads to seriously good hydration and beautiful skin texture.
Goldenlight Multi-Peptide Serum
Crunchi’s Goldenlight Peptide Serum is a powerhouse.
It has several types of peptides that make up 15 percent of the serum (a level that’s very high for a peptide serum), together with arnica, sea buckthorn, and hyaluronic acid to make a superb combination that many people swear by, including me.
It’s pricey, but I think this product is worth spending on.
Crunchi Smart Primer
If you like using a primer, Crunchi’s Primer is simply amazing. A lot of people loved Beautycounter’s, but it bothered my skin.
This toner really evens out your skin tone and you might even feel that you don’t need makeup when wearing it. Yes, it’s an extra step, but definitely worth it if you’re looking for perfect coverage that even benefits for your skin and minimizes wrinkle appearance.
I Am Polished Exfoliator
If you loved Beautycounter’s AHA Mask (that was my favorite product), you’ll love Crunchi’s I Am Polished Exfoliator.
It’s a combination of physical and chemical (acid) exfoliators (glycolic, lactic, and fruit acids) that makes your skin glow and feel incredibly soft with just one use.
I Am Renewed Charcoal Mask
Crunchi’s Charcoal Mask is another product that I don’t have yet, but I will soon. The reviews are fantastic and again, the ingredients are super clean.
The reviews talk about benefits like reduced pore size, diminished acne, clean skin, and some say that this is the best mask they’ve ever used.
Accessories
Crunchi Luxury Vegan Brushes
Crunchi’s brushes are super high quality and make applying any makeup products a pleasure. They bristles feel great and the handles are made from recycled aluminum.
Things I Don’t Love
I don’t love everything that they carry, but that’s typical for me and really I think it’s the case for everyone.
I Am the Balm
Crunchi’s Cleansing Balm is a seriously rich way to remove your makeup that many people rave about. But not me.
If you like using a balm to clean your face, you might like it, but I had to tug my face too much, especially around the delicate eye area.
I personally prefer using a cleanser for my face.
My favorite way to use Beautycounter’s Lotus Balm was on top of my skincare to seal in moisture. However, since Crunchi’s balm has turmeric in it, I can’t do that. No thanks to yellow pillowcases!
Facial Bar
This bar is nice but I’m not a fan of facial soap bars because they have a very high pH. Your skin’s pH is about 5.5 and bar soap is about 9, so a bar soap will be pretty aggressive for your skin’s acid mantle.
Your skin is alive so it should recover nicely, but I prefer a regular or oil cleanser for my face.
I’m guessing (and hoping) that Crunchi will have another cleanser soon so stay tuned!
Blush
I don’t like this product, but I don’t wear blush, especially not in liquid form. If I use just the slightest amount for a slight tint, it works for me.
However, a makeup artist friend of mine likes it, and she’s pretty picky!
Lip Crayons
These are pretty but they’re just not completely my favorite. I am a bit older and so I think part of why I don’t love them is because they are a bit dry on me.
I do like the color Love Letter a lot, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to purchase them. But they get great reviews overall, so if you’re interested, try one and if you don’t love it, you can return it.
It is nice that it’s a liner and color in one.
Ways to Save With Crunchi
Aside from sales, you can get 10% off your first order with code ADVOCATE10 and throughout September 2024, you can get 20% off using code ADVOCATE20.
Crunchi also has an Insider program that you can join for only $29 and with your joining order of $50, you get a free gift.
You also get 10% back in CrunchiCash with each order, free shipping at $125, and specials throughout the year.
Also, typically every month Crunchi has a discount on one of their products for current clients.
Overall Thoughts
I personally think that if you’re looking for a trustworthy company to get quality clean skincare and makeup from, Crunchi is a great choice.
Their focus on organic ingredients, intense thoroughness of testing, exceptional transparency, and sustainability makes them a truly stellar choice among so many other fish in the sea of clean skincare and makeup brands.
I’m certain you’ll find some favorites among their products and that your skin will thank you for it!
How to Join Crunchi
If you’re like me and are seriously impressed by this company’s standards and mission, I’d love to have you join me in sharing these products with others.
You can go here to learn more and to sign up.
More Clean / Non-toxic Beauty Articles
Here are some more non-toxic beauty posts you might be interested in as well.
Have you tried Crunchi? I’d love to hear what you think!
