Call to action and help please

[www.emsplace.com]

Hi all, checking in and posting this customer service message becasue I know many of you and the companies you purchase from are small vendors who sell naturally based body care and shaving products. I know this is kind of lengthy, but I think it is important and you should at least be made aware if what is going on in Washington that could affect some of the companies you purchase from. This is my blog post on the subject. MODS let me know if this is not the area for this...

ALERT and call to action! Why H.R.5786 - "Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010" may NOT be safe:

If you have sensitive skin and/or use (or interested in using) naturally based niche body care and shaving products please take time to read this post and help....

There is a bill that has been introduced into the House of Representatives called the "Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010" - but it is anything but safe! This legislation is not necessary and we already have the FDA. Do we really need more government bureaucracy and red tape at the expense of consumer choice and small business?

Here is a good article that explains what is going on http://personalcaretruth.com/2010/08/5-ways-the-%e2%80%9csafe-cosmetics-act%e2%80%9d-will-harm-consumers/

Our company has been in business since 1997 and specializing in naturally based body care and wet shaving products. If the law makers get their way and this bill passes our customers my be forced to purchase mass-market heavily synthetic products without natural aroma and loaded with preservatives and synthetic colorants. For people like me and many of our customers who are sensitive to synthetically derived and man-made chemicals that would be devastating and bad for my/our health and skin!

In summary, it will cause many small business and naturally based body care manufactures to shut their doors. In addition, many natural ingredients could be banned. Why, well there are many opinions but mine is A) if a large mega-company can't control the market and the ingredient/s used in products then nobody should be allowed to and B) see "A".

I signed the online petition here http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/oppose-hr-5786-safe-cosmetics-act-of-2010 and included this personal comment

"As a small retail business specializing in naturally based men's care my customers appreciate products that are not mass-produced and provide consumer choice. Driving the small business out of the space will only be a win for the mega producers and make less options available to the consumer and drive many small business "out of business". What happened to the day when small business was the golden child and not the self serving mega-corps who want to dominate everything. PLEASE, Don't squash the many from the rhetoric of the few with hidden agendas by enacting legislation that strangles and prices out the small business and their happy consumers who want alternatives."

Please help me by Opposing HR 5786. You can also write your congress http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/ or your senator http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

But MOST IMPORTANT: Please sign the online petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/oppose-hr-5786-safe-cosmetics-act-of-2010

It only takes a minute. THANKS! Em

 

[Xezmer]

Next they're going to ban the sale of brushes and blades. Shavepocalypse, folks! Sign up!

 

[htownmmm]

And so it begins.......



marty

 

[scottb]

I've read about this in other places--as I understand it, one of the threats is that it would require small vendors to conduct the kind of testing that only a huge corporation could afford to fund, staff and coordinate. I don't mean for some new radical antioxident the seller claims will cure all kinds of things, or for genuinely dangerous materials...anybody who sold a bar of soap or whatnot could get shut out. I could be wrong on that.

Apparently some executives from the big companies have spoken out against it as well.
http://naturalperfumersguild.blogspot.com/

 

[SeanPR]

Signed

 

[damooshki]

Em,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Petition Signed.
Jake

 

[Groat]

I signed the petition, but the whole thing seems a bit odd. Why propose legislation to make cosmetics safe when there isn't substantial evidence to say that they aren't safe to begin with? Did somebody get their face eaten off by some facial cream or something?

 

[jwhite]

done and done.

 

[tomshort]

signed

 

[www.emsplace.com]

Thanks to those who read this and for those that took a minute to sign the petition, and to scottb for the additional info link.

There is a lot going on here but in a nutshell my thinking is this:

Many big companies mostly use isolated compounds derived from something (like palm oil or essential oil, for example) or a synthetic made in the lab, so giving it a name or isolating an element is simple and provides the ability to patent the manufactured outcome. And they have deeper pockets.

Something like lavender essential oil is a complex ingredient and when you dissect each element that makes up that oil you can have a laundry list as long as your arm as most essential oils contain about 100 elements - and then that tested ingredient would need to list each element on the label.

In addition, all the other ingredients need to be tested and broken down to their elements for the label - thereby making the label read like a foreign language book. The testing costs would be astronomical for small business. Other natural ingredient examples - shea butter, olive oil, cucumber distillate, natural vitamin E and so it goes...

Further, since right now a corporation can't patent lavender essential oil, what better way to keep other people from using it than require testing and more red tape that is above and beyond the reasonable realm of small business. This article really does explain it pretty well http://personalcaretruth.com/2010/08/5-ways-the-“safe-cosmetics-act”-will-harm-consumers/ and many natural ingredients could be banned from use and this article goes into why.

Personally, I want to use lavender essential oil for scent and not some man-made synthetic compound that can be patented for their benefit. But if it were to cost thousands of dollars to test every batch of lavender essential oil used in naturally based products by small business that would take away that consumer's choice because it would price many out of the market.

Another example: Big business would rather have a person use their antiseptic ointment that uses their patented chemicals than for anyone to use tea tree oil. And I swear by tea tree oil...

Sometime natural ingredients really are better than synthetic ones. But in the end the consumer should have a choice. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for safe products, but sometimes the old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it" should apply - or at least implement something in a smart productive way - and this bill is not that answer. OK rant over Thanks again, Em

 

[jgkeegan]

signed.

 

[Hex]

Signed and passing it along to friends and family

 

[ambrose]

Shavepocalypse!

I signed

 

[Barber-Eile]

Signed

 

[fifolo]

Signed. Follow the money, betcha there's a big corp sponsor behind this bill.

 

[Not The Original Kermit]

I didn't sign the petition as I'm not a U.S. citizen however I've seen a few examples as to where an online petition is not seen as valid because they can't verify all signatures.

In order for a petition to be considered valid, the signatures have to be hand signed with contact information and everyone has to be contacted by a clerk's office to verify they did indeed sign the petition.

maybe someone can clarify that for me.

 

[ironbrewer]

I signed this a while ago. Its important to me.

 

[DunEdinRanger]

I signed!

 

[inkcoffee]

I signed!

 

[DrumrMan]

I signed.