After much thought and internal debate, I have decided to close down ForSoapmakers.com as of December 31, 2011. It was a hard decision, but having made it, I must admit somewhat of a sense of relief. ForSoapmakers had gotten to the point that it had to grow to the next level (or not) … and I chose the “or not”.
I recently received a newsletter from Dennis Richardson, Oregon State Representative Fourth District. He’s not the Representative from my district, but his point are so applicable to our area, I wanted to pass this along.
For some background, the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan was set up to provide income to rural Oregon counties from logging done on federal land within the county (which, of course, doesn’t pay any property taxes). The revenue was KEY to the survival of the counties. Due to environmental pressures, logging plummeted; very little federal land is being logged (at least in our county). Congress was supplementing with payments to help cover costs. The original supplementation ran out a few years ago and we were looking at – well, basically shutting down most services in our county. The sheriff was quoted in the paper as saying that they won’t have funding and will have to cut services – unless it’s a matter of life and death, they won’t respond; get a big dog.
However, the reduction of logging under Northwest Forest Plan ALSO affects all of the small private landowners. Because the logging on state and federal land has decreased markedly, logging companies have gone out of business and mills have closed, reducing the log buying market and lowering prices for logs. As an example, the price for logs is about 1/3 of what it was 4 years ago, and it costs MORE to log the same amount of timber (primarily due to fuel prices). This year we JUST barely got a contract in time to get logging done this year before the rain. Without it, things would have been VERY, VERY tight over the next 12 months. Continue reading
On June 28th our internet service provider shut down. Since that time we’ve been essentially unconnected and offline (dial-up only). It’s made life, well, “interesting”. As I write this I am in my car, parked on the landing above my house, laptop plugged into a car-lighter converter, connected to the internet using my Xoom tablet as a wi-fi hotspot. The view is great, the connection passable (3G) but it’s not very good for actually working.
The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 was introduced June 24th. I’ve reviewed the bill and have been following all the discussions. Unfortunately, it seems to have somewhat polarized the handcrafted soap community – surprising since we all want essentially the same things … to be able to run our businesses, make safe soaps and cosmetics and not be overly regulated out of business.
In this 3rd installment, we’ll take a look at the records required to meet the standards required in the Good Manufacturing Practices Guidelines/Inspection Checklist.
Like I say about labeling, “It isn’t COMPLICATED, but it is DETAILED.” If you have your raw materials correctly logged and labeled, and your recipe/formulation with the procedures written out (see Part 2), then you already have most of the information needed for your recordkeeping. As an added bonus, if you have been calculating the cost of each ingredient when it comes in, you’ll also be able to track your exact cost for each batch and individual product.
In this continuation of my series on Good Manufacturing Practices for small cosmetics manufacturers, we’ll look at the recommended practices for handling raw materials, production and laboratory controls. (See Good Manufacturing Practices – Part 1 for the first of the series.)
Continue reading
This is the first of a series of posts on the subject of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for cosmetics, especially as applicable to making handcrafted cosmetics in small batches.
Cosmetics are sort of the bastard-child when it comes to GMP regulations. Both drugs and food have GMP standards set out in the regulations, but cosmetics do not. However, the FDA has published GMP Guidelines/Inspections Checklist for cosmetics. Originally it was an obscure document for inspectors, it is now easily accessible on the FDA website.
At the 2011 HSMG Conference in Miami there was discussion amongst the many soapmakers from Florida who had concerns about a “new bill” that passed in the Florida 2010 Legislative Session. It piqued my interest and, knowing that Florida already had extensive regulations covering cosmetic manufacturers, I did a little research. Here’s what I found out …
I just returned from the 2011 Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild Annual Conference in Miami. It was terrific! This year I went as a speaker and a vendor, and had time to enjoy some of the other speakers and presenters. I loved seeing Barbara Corcoran and had the privilege of having breakfast with her and several of the HSMG directors. Barbara is a fascinating woman, very well-spoken and quite kind.
My Half-Day seminar on Labeling was attended by about 20 people and I believe they all got a good overview and some hands-on experience reviewing and creating labels. All the information covered included in my book Soap and Cosmetic Labeling (except the many anecdotes I have collected over the years about labeling).
Which brings me to the point of this post — drug claims. Many people asked me about what constitutes a “drug claim” and asked me to look at the claims on their labels. Since I’ve come home, I’ve had a few more questions … so here is more information on how a cosmetic can become a drug.
I am very excited to announce that I have written a new book! It’s just in the final stages and will be released at the HSMG 2001 Annual Conference in Miami in May.
It’s over 300 pages, and contains over 500 recipes for cold process soap, different types of cosmetics and scent blends. The recipes come from my extensive collection of antique and vintage soap and cosmetic books, dating back to the early 1700′s as well as research on more recent recipes.
I’ve always loved the historical approach to soap and cosmetics. After all, back in “olden times” all they had to work with were natural ingredients and essential oils. In act, many of these recipes served as the foundation for the products I make and sell through Chandler’s Soaps.
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