The BBB National Programs' Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council has referred Salt Lake City, Utah-based beauty direct seller Perfect Posh, LLC to the FTC and Utah attorney general after it failed to respond to multiple inquiries over "aggressive" earnings claims.

In this "Over the Counter" episode, HBW Insight chats with Annie Tsong, chief strategy and product officer at Amyris, Inc., an Emeryville, Calif.-based company that uses synthetic biotechnology to produce clean beauty, personal care, wellness and food ingredients for thousands of brands across the globe, including its own. Leading the firm’s ingredient development pipeline, Tsong discusses the science as well as the benefits of biotech alternatives to traditional beauty ingredients – including sustainability and better performance – and reflects on how the science is already transforming the beauty landscape.

Firmenich and International Flavors & Fragrances’ LRM Naturals announce developments to better support customers’ sustainable product development and transparency needs. Givaudan, Symrise and Inter Parfums report strong results in fiscal 2022, fueled by unleashed fragrance demand around the globe.

Washington State’s Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act would ban use of any and all PFAS, matching work California started in 2020 and finished with legislation enacted last year. It also would blacklist ortho-phthalates, formaldehyde, methylene glycol and any other chemical determined by the department to release formaldehyde, among other deemed hazardous substances.

Breast Cancer Prevention Partners and its Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, along with the Environmental Working Group and Women’s Voices for the Earth, see the US Modernization of Cosmetics Regulations Act of 2022 as a significant jump forward. But its “sweeping” preemption provisions could put consumers at risk, and its cosmetics safety substantiation standard is a step back from preexisting FDA regulations, the groups say.

“A world in which all of the market growth is driven by pricing is obviously not sustainable,” CFO Andre Schulten acknowledged in P&G’s fiscal 2023 second-quarter earnings presentation. The firm remains focused on investing in its brands and driving household penetration while weathering economic headwinds and taking additional pricing in February.