More on the FDA globalization act and "Safe Cosmetics"

Many of our clients and friends are members of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. After all, who doesn't want the products we sell to be safe, and to be publicly allied with an organization dedicated to removing toxic substances from products we use daily?

This week the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics not only drafted a petition to Congress endorsing the FDA Globalization Act, but asking that its provisions be strengthened.

Their Petition asks Congress to change the law so that any manufacturer must obtain pre-market approval of every single cosmetic product. That's tantamount to regulating cosmetics like drugs are currently regulated. The link to the House Committee considering this draft law is here: http://energycommerce.house.gov/FDAGlobalAct-08/index.shtml

The draft law is burdensome and discriminatory to small and woman-owned businesses. You can see the Campaign's Petition here: http://action.safecosmetics.org/petition/Index.asp?id=35. This Petition was announced without consulting with any of the signers to the Compact. Any signer of the Compact, by implication, is assumed to support the Campaign's position to drastically change the law as outlined above. Do not sign the Campaign's Petition if you support small businesses!

While we all support educating consumers and protecting them from unsafe products, this law will not serve that purpose. Instead, it will stamp out competition and return our customers to the days when all they could choose from are Dial Soap and Oil of Olay. It will also more than likely make it impossible for Nature's Gift to make available our range of products, since we can not possibly to the "pre release safety testing" that would be required. We believe that the petition on the Compact for Safe Cosmetics site is counterproductive to the goal of increasing the use of safe cosmetics and skincare products and will do more harm than good to small natural product businesses. If the industry is regulated to the degree they are calling for, small businesses would exit the marketplace in droves because they can't pay excessive fees and comply with burdensom, unfair and unnecessary paperwork.

If you are one of the several hundred signees of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics compact you can contact them, stating your opposition to their petition, and asking that your name (or your company's name) be removed from their list.

Oppose This Law!! Sign The Petition Against This Law The Indie Beauty Network, a trade orgranization representing 700+ small cosmetics manufacturers is leading the charge against this law. So far, over 1,500 cosmetics companies, their customers and concerned citizens have signed a Petition released by IBN. You can watch the video, read the Petition and sign it here (Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to see the comment section, and be sure to leave you name, city, state and zip.)IBN's July 24, 2008, letter to the Congress persons on the House Energy & Commerce Committee can be viewed here:

Political Post - Free Tibet

Years ago a group of Tibetan Monks came through Nashville, on a mission dedicated to cleansing the world. They spent a week creating a stunning mandala on a table top, created by sifting colored sands in a pattern I couldn't recognize. Several of us visited them daily, watching the growth of the Mandala. On the last day, when the work of art was finished, they prayed over it, then took brushes and carefully brushed away the beauty they had created. Each of us there was given a tiny bag of the multicolored sand, blessed with their prayers. (I wear mine in an Essendulum) We formed a procession walking to the nearest point of the Cumberland River, where the sand, dedicated to the cleansing of the natural world, was poured into the water, to be carried to the oceans. It was a deeply moving ceremony, even though I understood little about their faith.

Since then, I've been moved to study the life and writings of the Dalai Lama, and have come to believe that he is one of the greatest spiritual leaders and wisest humans of our generation.

His country, Tibet, is under the rule of China. The people of Tibet are forbidden to practice their faith, and their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is forced to lead from exile.

At the beginning of the Beijing Olympics an international light protest is being held to symbolize the desire that Tibet be freed. Those who support this cause are asked to do one simple thing...to light a candle at 9:00 PM on the night of August

From the Candle for Tibet website:

August 7th 2008 is the day before the opening ceremony of The Olympic Games in Beijing. On this day we aim to create the world's greatest LIGHT PROTEST, when at least 100 million people from all over the world will light a candle and say YES to freedom in Tibet!


All you are asked to do is to light a simple candle on August 7th at 9 pm in your own time zone.

Light the Candle at your home, workplace or in a public place. Put the candle in your Window, or on your desk, or anywhere else where other people will see it and hopefully do the same.