5 top regulation and safety updates to know about

25-Mar-2019 - Last updated on 25-Mar-2019 at 07:43 GMT

From controversy over skin whitening products to The Body Shop’s recent animal testing alternative appointment, we round up the biggest recent headlines in regulation and safety in this Editor’s Spotlight.

5. Responsible Mica Initiative releases first annual report

Mica is widely used in beauty products, particularly in colour cosmetics. It is a group of mineral that is used in the industry as a pearlescent pigment. It comes under scrutiny because the use of child labour has previously been found in some mines where mica is sourced, and about 25% of the world production of mica comes from illegal collection in North-East India.

The Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI) has released its first annual report into the sustainability and child labour problem in India’s mica sector, and RMI’s efforts to address it. Read our full report here.

4. What current challenges face the fragrance industry? Disruptive innovation and collaboration needed, says expert

Read our exclusive interview with Edison Diaz, who is the current president of the German Society of Perfumers and director of applied research in EAME (Fragrance Division), Symrise, on current state of the fragrance industry, its present major challenges and how the industry can move forward.

“What we need is disruptive, discontinuous innovation. We need the breakthrough technology innovations,” Diaz confirms. Read in full here.

3. Animal testing alternatives: The Body Shop appoints XCellR8

The Body Shop has appointed a UK contract testing organisation, XCellR8, to provide the company with skin and eye irritation tests for cosmetic ingredients and formulations across the Body Shop’s product portfolio.

XCellR8 describes itself as the only lab globally to make its tests entirely animal-product free in a regulatory environment; eliminating all animal components from their tests. Read our full report here.

Want to learn more about animal testing alternatives? Find our in-depth recent report on the current state of animal testing bans around the world for 2019 here.

2. Cosmetics regulation: dive into the latest with COSMED’s next meeting

Cosmed, a professional association for the beauty industry, is hosting its next annual meeting dedicated to regulatory concerns for the industry, today in Paris.

The event is aimed at all professionals in the cosmetics industry who wish to keep abreast of recent changes in the various regulations in order to better control high-potential markets. For this 8th edition, the presentations will focus on the key regulatory events of recent months to which will be added marketing presentations. Find our full report here.

1. Rogues' gallery: The skin whitening products that have caused a storm

A World Health Organisation survey found that nearly 40% of women polled in countries including China, Malaysia, India the Philippines and South Korea said they regularly used whitening products – but brands have sometimes been too eager to please, with some marketing campaigns overstepping the mark.

Explore our gallery to discover some of the biggest offenders here.