Quality Assurance - Good Manufacturing Practice
Delighted to say we have been awarded a Support For Aberdeenshire Businesses (SAB) grant to take forward GMP (ISO 22716: 2007) certification with assessment planned for late April 2021 (Stage 1) and July (Stage 2). We have booked a training session with Lloyd's Register for late November 2019 and a Gap Survey in January 2020 to identify areas for improvement needed to meet certification standards. We already operate to GMP standards so fingers crossed!
Latest News from Cruelty Free International
Cruelty Free International has been in discussion with the European Commission in response to the actions of some EU member state competent authorities disallowing the use of the Leaping Bunny logo on cosmetic products on sale in their countries. It has been confirmed that in cases where cruelty free criteria goes beyond legal compliance with the EU Animal Testing Ban, then cruelty free claim (words or logos) is permitted and this is the situation with the Leaping Bunny. Cruelty Free has been working on a form of words for website use and how criteria are stricter than EU legislation and this has been adopted by Body & Face.
Sad to say Cruelty Free is also reporting rises in animal experiments in the UK in 2018, with experiments on monkey's up 8%, on rabbits up 8% and on dogs 16%. Noted in the New Scientist that 3.52 million scientific procedures were carried out in the UK on animals in 2018 with 51% being experiments; the remainder involving breeding. Here 1% involved cats, dogs, horses or primates.
Summer Closure?
Never knew that we has such multi-talented staff - while the Workshop was closed for the holiday and maintenance fortnight in August, Rachel and Michelle were busy refreshing the walls of the Workshop, tables and the tea cabin with a coat of paint. Bill was busy cleaning the walls and ceiling with a high reach vacuum! After all that hard work, it seems that everyone has discovered muscles they never knew that had!
PAT testing of our electrical equipment was also undertaken and our balance check weights have been tested for accuracy by Weights and Measures.
A quiet time?
Rachel and Michelle - paintbrush in hand!
New Logo/New Website
We have started to redesign our company logos - available in a range of colour combinations. Many of our leaflets and labels have also been redesigned to incorporate new logos and updated text. A refreshing new look - although we were quote attached to the old roundel!
Thanks to Megan. Any comments to Angela please at angela@bodyandface.co.uk
We will be going live with our new website in January 2020!
pH in Skin Care Formulations
From Happi of September 2019, recent skincare results seem to indicate that an 'acidic' skin, pH below 7, is in better shape than a less acidic one. The pH of the stratum corneum is generally measured by layering a droplet of distilled water on the surface of the skin, leaving it to rest for a defined period and then measuring the acidity of the droplet with a pH meter. However, during this time, the droplet could solubilise salts and polymers deposited by sweat or from topical treatments. Thus, the pH of the droplet is not that of the skin.
It is known that disturbing the physical barrier leads to an increase in pH and evidence of dermatitis, rosacea and acne can be seen as well as ageing and dry skin. Other tests, such as with the reaction of tanning compounds in the stratum corneum, which only occur in vitro above pH 7, seem to indicate that the pH of the skin is still a matter for debate.
You will have noticed the current pre-occupation with the skin microbiome. There is an association between the microflora on the skin, fundamental to skin physiology and immunity, and a healthy skin where an imbalance may lead to skin problems. Skin microflora flourish in a slightly acidic environment.
Just to add that the pH of our products is between 5 and 5.5 - on the right side!!
Workshop Festival Closure 2019
The Workshop will be closed form lunchtime on Friday 20th December (the annual Christmas lunch) - highlights in the next newsletter! We will re-open on Monday 6th of January. We can still be contacted via email, voicemail and snail mail as there will be checks throughout the closure period.
GOOD WISHES TO ALL OUR CUSTOMERS FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON AND FOR A HAPPY, PROSPEROUS AND SUCCESSFUL 2020!
