Activists Push for Safer Ingredients in Makeup

A compound in cosmetics products has been banned by the European Union for its links to cancer and fetal deformities. U.S. health advocates are pushing for a similar ban here and challenging companies in the $29 billion industry to comply by May 3.

(WOMENSENEWS)--It's the beauty industry's ugly secret.
For decades, cosmetic companies have made products containing chemical compounds that have been linked to reproductive birth defects and cancer. The compounds are phthalates (pronounced THA-laytes) and they help cosmetics adhere without smudging.

The European Union has banned phthalates from all cosmetics and now a coalition of advocacy groups has given U.S. companies a deadline of Monday, May 3 to support a ban. Full Article>>

EX·TRACTS Trade Show- New York, Oct 8-11

OCTOBER 8-11 2004
EX·TRACTS® : A Trade Show for Aromatherapy, Fragrance & Personal Care, presented as part of House to Home™ Market Week, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NY.
For information, contact GLM at (914) 421-3200, or www.extractsny.com.

A Green Machine; the Growing Demand for Natural Products

Natural products are sprouting up in every corner of the personal care category.

In personal care, everything's coming up natural. The green market grows year-on-year, according to data from the Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ), San Diego. According to the publication, U.S. natural personal care sales reached $4.1 billion in 2002, representing 10% growth over 2001.

With natural product sales as a whole garnering $36.4 billion in 2002, personal care represented a significant chunk of the green market, which also includes food, produce and supplements.

"The natural personal care category is enjoying healthy growth, fueled by consumer demand that is attracting attention not only from core natural product manufacturers, but from mainstream cosmetic companies as well," said Patrick Rea, research director, NBJ.

"While the mainstream cosmetic and personal care product market is growing at a sluggish, low single-digit pace, the natural personal care market has become a beacon of light ... Full Article>>

Henson, Melanie. "A Green Machine." Happi 01. 2004: 57-66.

Pretty Smells; History of Perfume and the lavish Vessels Used to Display their Aromatic Creations

[Houston Chronicle]— Travel to Barcelona and get a whiff of part of a collection of 9,000 perfume bottles, mini perfumes, fictitious bottles, advertising pieces and boxes. The Barcelona Perfume Museum at www.museodelperfume.com is a charmingly translated English version of the history of perfume and the vessels that contained it. Scent, of course, goes back to the beginning of time. This site explores the question of when man began to change the scents that nature provided. The old civilizations used perfume from the smoke of incense, myrrh or other resins and woods, many of which are used today. The bottle collection is stunning and presents a visual history of what the fragrance makers thought would be attractive to their markets.

California Cosmetic Bill Defeated––Opponents Vow to Try Again

A big thank you to Carol Ochs of simplysoap.com for bringing this Bill to my attention

Advocates vow they'll try again with a bill to regulate chemicals in personal-care products.

For everyone who takes pride in their grooming, California legislators are wrestling with an essential question: Is beauty bad for your health?

Health and environmental groups are lobbying lawmakers to join Europe in banning certain chemicals from cosmetics and personal-care products.

Their proposal, part of a national strategy, would affect perfumes, lipsticks, skin moisturizers, fingernail polishes, facial makeup, shampoos, hair color, toothpaste, deodorants and various other products.

The California legislation they sponsored, AB 2025, apparently died Tuesday in behind-the-scenes negotiations with the Assembly Health Committee. But supporters vow to regroup and try again - perhaps by amending their chemical crackdown into another bill later this year.

Continue reading article »

Exciting Weather Market Ahead; This Year’s Supply of Vegetable Oils

[dmg world media (uk) Ltd] The weather is going to be key to this year’s supply of vegetable oils as world stocks are low and can be wiped out by a crop failure in any one producing location, the MDEX Annual Palm and Lauric Oils Conference and Exhibition heard in March.

“This year, the safety margin is only one million tonne,” Dorab Mistry of Godrej International told the conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which attracted a record 1,300 visitors from 41 countries.

Oil production was expected to expand by about 5M tonne and world consumption by 4M tonne.

“However, production growth is very much dependant on good to normal weather in every part of the world,” Mistry warned.

He predicted that prices would stay bullish up to April, after which South American soyabean oil would exert its usual seasonal pressure on prices. However, this pressure could be short-lived.

“The period from July to October could be very interesting if the demand engines of China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh begin to crank in unison.”

Strong demand could easily absorb additional production.

However, normal rainfall from November onwards could give big crops and lead to a decline in prices in the last quarter of the year.

Teen Boys' Primping Products Debut

Star Tribune>> The teenage American boy, it seems, is the new darling of the health and beauty industry. Just last month, three former Procter & Gamble employees launched a new line of grooming products aimed at boys ages 9 to 16. Industry experts estimate the grooming market for the nation's 22 million teen and "tween" boys is worth $2.1 billion a year, and growing.

All this goes to show what parents and sisters have long suspected: Boys, despite appearances, care about how they look. In fact, their biggest concern is their appearance, according to Teen Research Unlimited (TRU), an Illinois-based marketing research firm that specializes in teenagers. Men, as a group, are spending more time in front of mirrors than before, too, contributing to a culture in which teenage boys can openly embrace primping.

"Twenty years ago, if you spent a great deal of time or attention as a boy on grooming, you would possibly be opening yourself up to any number of aspersions on your masculinity. That's really not something you see anymore," said Rob Callender, TRU's senior trends manager. Media images of clean-shaven men with smooth skin, groomed eyebrows and highlighted hair also influence appearance-conscious youth.
Full Article>>

Suburban Farm Grows Lush with Lavender

Jody Byrne grows lavender and processes the herb into natural soaps and lotions on her Streetsboro, Ohio, farm.

Jody Byrne grows lavender and processes the herb into natural soaps and lotions on her Streetsboro, Ohio, farm.

STREETSBORO, Ohio --[Farm and Dairy via Zwire]-- Locals may never guess the treasure that Jody Byrne and Michael Slyker transplanted into their community.

The couple's 14-acre Streetsboro plot, part of a former dairy farm, is in a residential area. The only thing farmed nearby are housing developments and road construction. One house, two cars in the driveway, a shed in back, a kennel with two dogs. Nothing looks out of the ordinary.

But peer at rows of herbs on an east-facing hillside or step through the front doors and you'll believe in the extraordinary.

In a growing suburban area, the couple is making a go of alternative farming. And their special crop, lavender, and the products they make from it, is turning heads. Full Article>>

Bitter Blue

Blue cypress oil was hailed a major discovery 10 years ago. Instead of making millions, it has left behind trauma and debt. Martin Daly reports.

The Age Company Ltd.>> Mike Russell is in a laboratory conducting an experiment on a clump of wood and bark chips. He’s been at it for six hours - steamdistilling the wood in boiling water - but he never expects what is about to occur. He pours water into a bowl containing the wood and, when the temperature soars, steam flows into a long, thin tube and then into a converter.

Finally Russell, a technical specialist at a NSW Government laboratory, spots traces of the oil - about 3.5 millilitres of it. Within three minutes, it turns a vibrant blue. It was a eureka moment. "Hello, we've got something," Russell thought. The new oil, with its long-lasting woody fragrance, sends ripples of excitement through the essential oils trade in Europe and the United States. Later, a version of it will be named Blue Cypress Oil and hailed by its commercial developers as potentially lucrative and one of the most glamorous natural oils extracted from wood.

Continue reading article »

Frontier Natural Products Co-Op to Move Aromatherapy Unit to Urbana, Iowa

By Dave DeWitte, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Apr. 16--NORWAY, Iowa - After returning its headquarters to Iowa in 2002, Frontier Natural Products Co-op plans to move its California aromatherapy business to Iowa.

Manufacturing of the Aura Cacia line of natural and organic aromatherapy products will be transferred in May from Weaverville, Calif., to Urbana. The new location is 30 miles from Frontier's Norway headquarters.

Aromatherapy uses essential oils derived from plants to promote mental and physical health and wellness.

Frontier CEO Tony Bedard said the Urbana operation will employ more than 20 people in manufacturing and distribution positions. Full-time employees of the California facility will be offered relocation to Iowa. Those who decline will be offered severance packages, outplacement assistance and job counseling.

The 22,500-square-foot Urbana location was previously Frontier's organic coffee operation. It has been used for storage since the organic coffee business was sold in 2001.

The move to Iowa will allow Frontier to expand its line of Aura Cacia products by using the research and development, production, and quality assurance resources of the Norway headquarters, Bedard said. It will also provide space lacking at Weaverville to expand.

Aura Cacia was founded in Weaverville in 1981. The business was acquired by Frontier in 1993.

Frontier Natural Products is a supplier of natural and organic products including cooking herbs, spice and baking flavors, bulk herbs and spices, and natural and organic aromatherapy products.

The cooperative has refocused its business on core brands after moving its headquarters back to Norway from Boulder, Colo., in 2002.

The Weaverville facility will be offered for sale.