All Blog Posts

  • What are INCIDENTAL INGREDIENTS?

    What are INCIDENTAL INGREDIENTS?

    We all expect the ingredient declaration in cosmetics to be accurate and include all the ingredients in the product. However, in certain circumstances, “incidental ingredients” may be left off the list. It’s a loophole that can sometimes be abused.

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  • Essential Oil Companies Rated

    Essential Oil Companies Rated

    A recent irticle by ConsumerAdvodate.org found 30% of the EO samples they testet were adulterated.

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  • What is a COSMETIC?

    What is a COSMETIC?

    Cosmetics have been around since, well, forever. People have probably always tried to apply stuff to their face and body to look better; Cleopatra is probably the earliest and best known woman to take the the application of cosmetics to a true art form. The words cosmetic and cosmetics trace their history to the Greek language.  […]

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  • FDA Warning Letters: Products Containing CBD

    FDA Warning Letters: Products Containing CBD

    The FDA sent out 15 warning letters last week (Nov. 2019) to companies that are illegally marketing products containing CBD. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at what the FDA is going after and why. The FDA’s Position First, let’s review the FDA’s position on the marketing of products containing CBD. […]

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  • What is LABELING?

    What is LABELING?

    When you start to learn about what it takes to legally label your soap and cosmetic products, you may not realize that within the laws and regulations there is a very specific definition of labeling. It’s not what you would expect it to be, and it’s not a definition you can get by looking in […]

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  • What is a LABEL?

    What is a LABEL?

    One frequent point of confusion when it comes to understanding the labeling laws and regulations is exactly what is meant by the word label. The problem is that there are several regular English definitions for label, each one meaning a slightly different thing AND there is a definition of label that is used in the […]

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  • What is a CONSUMER COMMODITY?

    What is a CONSUMER COMMODITY?

    The labeling laws for items that ARE consumer commodities are different than items that ARE NOT consumer commodities. Knowing if a product is classed as a consumer commodity will help you determine whether certain laws or regulations apply. Key Words to Know Consumer A person who purchases goods or services. Commodity Something that is bought […]

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  • Frankincense: Not So Sustainable

    Frankincense: Not So Sustainable

    Frankincense has been used for thousands of years as a medicine, as a perfume or incense, and in religious practices. It is harvested from various species of Boswellia trees, which are native to the Arabian Peninsula (Oman, Yemen) and northeastern Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia). The frankincense industry provides income to millions of people. The problem is […]

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  • FDA & Social Media

    FDA & Social Media

    NOTE: This post is not specifically about handcrafted soap and cosmetics, but more about FDA enforcement generally. The Food Drug and Cosmetic Act defines the “label” as the written printed or graphic matter on the immediate container of a product and, and defines “labeling” as all written, printed, or graphic matter accompanying an article at […]

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  • FDA Site Update

    FDA Site Update

    If you’ve gone to the FDA website in the past week or so, you probably noticed that their website has been updated and now looks completely different. According to their website, they are changing over to a new “more modern” WCMS (Website Content Management System), the biggest benefit of which is that it will be […]

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  • Are You Helping Hackers?

    Are You Helping Hackers?

    Are you putting your personal accounts at risk? Lately I’ve seen a lot of quizzes and surveys in my Facebook feed. It scares me to see the amount of personal information that is being shared without thinking it through. You know those shared posts that have lists of questions so your friends can get to […]

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  • FDA Warning Letters Over CBD

    FDA Warning Letters Over CBD

    Three FDA warning letters issued in the past week have been concerning products containing CBD. Looks like they are starting enforcement activities in this area. All three of the warning letters (to PotNetwork Holdings, Advanced Spine and Pain, and Nutra Pure) cited similar violations. Drug Claims Claims that the product would treat or mitigate various […]

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