Sephora announced today that it has established new “CBD Standards” to help provide transparency and assurance to clients as they look to navigate the growing beauty category, which has been dubbed the industry’s Wild Wild West due to a lack of universal regulation. The first national prestige retailer to make this move, Sephora has set baseline parameters around CBD sourcing and testing in hopes of gaining the trust of both clients and shoppers.
You May Also Like: CBD Skin-Care Decoded
To be eligible to be sold at Sephora, CBD products must meet the following guidelines:
- Inclusion of only full- or broad-spectrum CBD from hemp grown in the United States
- CBD must be tested at least three times for quality and purity
- A Certificate of Analysis (COA) that verifies the CBD content matches any label claims must be available upon request
- All products must meet Sephora’s Clean at Sephora standards
For many CBD brands, this is a big win. “When Lord Jones launched at Sephora in October of 2018, we were the first CBD brand in a major beauty retailer,” says Lord Jones CEO and founder Robert Rosenheck. “The passage of the Farm Bill in December 2018 opened a flood gate for countless brands including traditional beauty to enter the space, creating a maze for the consumer to navigate. There are now hundreds of mislabeled products claiming to contain ‘cannabis’ that contain zero CBD or other cannabinoids. This green-washing risks confusing the consumer and marginalizing the category. The Sephora CBD Standards are a major step to help the consumer understand what they are purchasing and what these products deliver. We worked with the Sephora leadership for many months prior to our launch to educate them about CBD, cannabis, the consumer and the legal and regulatory environment. We had one chance to get it right, so we all understood what was at stake.”
You May Also Like: So Many Celebs Swear By This CBD Body Lotion for Reducing Pain
The most important piece of the new Standards, Rosenheck says, is the strict testing. “We wanted to hit precise levels of accuracy when infusing our products, and so we tested, and tested and tested again,” he explains. “Now all CBD products at Sephora will be tested for potency, as well as microbial and chemical contaminants. We also evangelized the importance of whole plant formulas versus using CBD isolate, and are thrilled that Sephora has adopted this in their standards.”
