The trade organization got its start in 2017 and is led by a full board of accomplished clean and green beauty insiders, including Executive Director Curt Valva, Founder and General Manager of Sunstate Natural Products Consults; and President Gary Timmons, owner of the ingredient distribution business Oh, Oh, Organics.
NOHBA is not a certifying body but is, rather, focused on establishing best practices for industry when it comes to clean and green beauty as well as on having a voice in Washington DC and an accessible consumer-facing platform.
“NOHBA is an alliance that includes but is not limited to manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and consumer advocates of Natural and/or Organic cosmetics, personal care, home care, and home use products,” explains the organization’s site. “Our alliance believes there is a strong and immediate need for a collective voice and improved resource-sharing in the natural and organic personal & home care products industry.”
What Does It Mean To Be Clean + Green?
That’s the name of next month’s NOHBA Summit, taking place March 3 – 4 in Los Angeles, California, just ahead of the popular Natural Products Expo West event (March 3 – 7 in Anaheim, California).
But what, in fact, it does mean to be clean and green is up for debate. “It is not right for a random Congressman, namely Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, to define the meaning of the word ‘natural’ for the industry,” says Timmons in an event preview item on the NOHBA site. She’s referring to a bill Maloney introduced last November that would define and legislate the definition of terms like ‘natural’ and ‘naturally-derived’ as they pertain to cosmetics and personal care labeling and marketing.
The Natural Cosmetics Act “bill requires suppliers to conduct Carbon-14 testing which they must submit to manufacturers…[and] would also give the FDA authority to issue a cease distribution order, public notice on the FDA website, and voluntary recall authority of any product deemed misbranded under this act,” as Cosmetics Design reported at the time. And several industry stakeholders came out in support of the legislation, including ingredient maker Aprinova; retailers such as Credo, Follain, and Take Care; as well as brands, including RMS, BaboBotanicals, EO Products, May Lindstrom Skin, Ivy Wild, NakedPoppy, OSEA and Beautycounter. (Notably, leaders from EO Products, Credo, and Follain are on the NOHBA board.)
Timmons believes that “the stakeholders in ‘clean beauty’ need to determine their own future” and the meaning of these terms. “We all need to get in a room together and share information and agree on some basic rules,” she says.
NOHBA Summit details
The upcoming NOHBA Summit will feature presentations from Croda, Terracycle, and Au Naturale Cosmetics (as well as several others). “Hopefully,” says Timmons, “[event speakers and attendees can explore and explain the reasons for clean and green beauty with clearer data behind us.”
“There are a lot of naysayers attacking clean beauty,” she says, “because - let’s face it, it is harder to formulate with new and less well understood ingredients.” Both members and non-members are welcome to attend the NOHBA Summit this March. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.
---
Deanna Utroske is a leading voice in the cosmetics and personal care industry as well as in the indie beauty movement. As Editor of CosmeticsDesign.com, she writes daily news about the business of beauty in the Americas region and regularly produces video interviews with cosmetics, fragrance, personal care, and packaging experts as well as with indie brand founders.
Deanna will be traveling next to the Personal Care Product Council’s annual meeting; if you’ll be there too and have beauty business news to share, feel free to contact her at deanna.utroske@wrbm.com
