I rarely get on a soapbox or bully pulpit on this blog.  I try not to because it seems there are just too many mean spirited people and entities out and about who get extremely pissy when they get called on to the carpet for getting caught doing what they shouldn't be doing or sticking their nose where it doesn't belong.  Or interfering with a person's legal endeavors of their Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness. They get mad that you had the nerve to call them out and try to make YOUR life hell because you had the cajones to yank their chain and let the world know about it. So when I do my soapbox bit, I usually do it in a soft or vague context but with enough information so that all a reader just has to is google some key words and then it's off to the races.  They know all the who, what, when, where and maybe even the why.

Why am I in such a bad mood tonight (actually the last 4 days)?  It seems like there is rampant escalation in nannying over the last 10 years. And in the last 7 years there has been a proliferation of NGOs (non governmental organizations) wanting to fix everything, have everything they may think is bad outlawed, stopped being grown, stopped being made. They want to control what you wear, if you should even have pets, what food you can eat, how you grow your food -plant or animal,  where you live, how you live and the way you live.  It's just running amuck. And it's a mis-directed running at that. And they have been yelling at the top of their lungs and sadly lawmakers pay attention to them.  For too long we the people have been lax and have let them get away with this bully pulpit. This precedes the current federal and state administrations in all 50 states in the union.  The buildup actually started back about  the early to -mid 90s.

I'm not letting it slid un-noticed. Not today.  To use the famous quote from SOAP: "Enough is enough! I've had it with these..."   And you know what?  We really do need to open up some windows!

Back story:  In 2009, the Cosmetic Industry had to contend with an over bearing, over reaching  and what could have turned out to be (and still can be) a potentially small business crippling  piece of legislation called the  2009 FDA Globalization Act. The big and medium players were not happy about this semi-undercover and very underhanded way to add needless legislation that would have added no benefit or safety to cosmetic purchasing consumers at all. We of the small and micro business community had a collective stoke. This piece of legislation only guaranteed that it would wring money out of cosmetic manufacturers large, medium, small and micro.  It was a Congressional Oversight Commitee's blanket net dragging scoop up answer to the seemingly never ending rash of contaminated food products and subsequent recalls the US has had to contend with.  However, because the FDA regulates Food, Drug AND Cosmetics, Cosmetics got caught up in the dragging net, so to speak. Because of the advocacy of the Indie Beauty Network, The Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild and several other seriously like minded small and micro business owners, the problems, issues and constraints the 2009 FDA GA would cause us was abated -to some extent. For more back story on this, read here,  here and here.  


Look over to California which already had it's Prop 65,  and in 2005 added  SB 484 (California Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005) on cosmetic ingredients.  It's played holy hell on small business and not just cosmetic manufacturers. Suffice it to say, when I had time back then to look, it's a long list and nothing I've ever seen on the list have I ever seen in cosmetics. Rumor has it in the last 8-10 years there has been a cluster buck of totally frivolous lawsuits filed and it's costing  small wine makers, cheese makers, cosmetic makers, any small maker a shit pot of time, effort and legal fees to defend themselves. I recall at one point being told parts of the law were maybe being  considered to have repealed, but I really don't have time to delve into it. 

Now it seems Colorado wants to get it's mile high whoha into the ring of fire brand stupidity.  It's called The  The Colorado Safe Personal Products Act. Nothing I make nor any of the other micro and small soap and cosmetic manufacturers that I know of make anything with anything that would be considered a "chemical identified as causing cancer or reproductive toxicity."   Actually, I don't see much of any of the weirdness in the Big Players ingredients either. Their products are not what I want to use, but that's my choice.  That's the word of the day people: CHOICE.   One of my very first non-local e-tail sales customers lives in Colorado.  And she buys a lot.  She buys because we make what she needs, how she needs it.  Yet with this blanket sweep of Colorado's net, she and other's may not be able to buy our products. And I guarantee you, this silliness and nannyfication to save you from the evils of olive, palm and rice bran oil  along with mica, titanium dioxide, citric acid and others will be coming soon to another state near you.  I can't say what I think of this ridiculousness.  Not lost for words am I, but I'd be a bit incoherent. And while I don't write this blog for anyone under 16, I know I have followers around age 14-17.  I know because they buy my soap.  So I'll keep my anger and bad thoughts in check and let some extremely eloquent micro and small Cosmetic Business Industry Manufacturers, Suppliers and Advocates say it for me.


Donna Maria Coles Johnson  is the founder and CEO of Indie Beauty Network (part of the Indie Business Network)  She is a tireless advocate not only for the small and micro cosmetic manufacturers but also other industries small business owners  who need direction in sustaining, maintaining and maximizing their potential.

Kayla Fioravanti, from Essential Wholesale is a wonderful cosmetic industry supplier of raw and finished materials and has morphed into an industry advocate. 

Robert Tisserand is one of the most recognized  pioneers, teachers and advocate in Aromatherapy. Stressing the safe utilizations of essential oils, he is an Aromatherapy/Essential Oil Industry leader.

Please, read their articles, blogs and podcast on this. Follow the links to other opinions on this. Many are now a continuation of their first posts on this issue.  Even better, read the comments that come after them. And then get busy.  Even if you don't live in Colorado.  This way you'll recognize the wolves in the nanny uniforms when it comes offering to take care of you.  Mary Poppins they ain't.