[Avick]

Hi there,
I am so excited to become a part of this forum!

I am a new formulator based in the beautiful Southern Appalachian Mountains in Western North Carolina!

My undergraduate degree is in Biology and began studying medicinal plants as a self-guided amateur and then as a chemical ecologist for my Master’s degree. I draw on a long love of biochemistry, phytochemistry and aesthetics to propel me in formulating natural products that showcase botanicals and functional herbal medicines. I take botanical functionals very seriously and put the voodoo in the goo.

I am the research and laboratory manager for Bent Creek Institute’s US Botanical Safety Laboratory in Asheville, NC. We are a nonprofit economic accelerator in a very unique area with abundant intellectual capital in botanical medicine and agrotechnologies. As USBSL, we do contract and routine QC work for private companies, develop new products, and assist with strategic advisory and regulatory navigation.

I’m very thankful for the creators of this forum! I have frustrated myself to tears with my first foray into formulating with Whole-Foods-Acceptable surfactants this past year and sure wish I had had this resource then!

I look forward to learning, sharing, discussing with you all!

Amanda

[Avick]

Micro, for OTCs, yep, I agree with you. Dietary supplements can make a lot of limited claims, though, as long as they’re not claiming to do anything structure/function-related to the human body. It would require finesse, but I think there is (maybe?) enough gray area that an argument could be made for making functional claims for single herbs used in topical application as long as the claims don’t try to alter the body itself. How about referring to tea tree oil as “antiseptic” as Dessert Essence does?

I’m really asking here-anyone else with experience in the neutraceutical/cosmetic drug area, please chime in, maybe start a new thread!

[Avick]

Right, I wasn’t reading that he necessarily wanted to make any disease claims.

Tea tree oil is most definitely effective as killing Trichophyton rubrum, one of the fungi that is responsible for athlete’s foot, which maybe could be put on the label? I’m not sure. There’s plenty of research to support it.

[Avick]

A super simple and effective treatment is tea tree essential oil in a carrier oil or alcohol (or emulsion).

Try a high-alcohol carbomer gel carrying tea tree oil!