Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Moore.
Hi Holly, so before we get into more questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your career story and how you got to where you are today?
It began with a late night at the Boston University Law Library while studying for my Master in Public Health. It was a “Harry Potter in the restricted section” moment nestled amongst the dust-covered archives with just a desk lamp for light. I was pouring over the leather-bound federal statutes searching for a thesis topic for my health law class and came across the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938. Having read “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair – the book that sparked food regulation in America – I was curious about what kind of regulation had also been implemented for the cosmetics industry. The answer…very few. To shamelessly stretch my Harry Potter reference – as I read the Act, it was like a lightning bolt that went through me. I couldn’t believe it was perfectly legal for a multi-billion dollar industry to have no required pre-market safety approval, amongst other things. From an environmental health standpoint, I became obsessed with analyzing health risks that could come from exposure to cosmetics, products we apply daily to almost every inch of our bodies.
My late night in the library was over 12 years ago, but it still confirms every career decision I’ve made since then. Instead of trying to approach cosmetics from the regulatory side, I decided to go into the beauty industry and advocate for more informed beauty. I started as a founding member and Director of Health and Safety at Follain in Boston (recently acquired by Credo Beauty) before moving to Los Angeles to join May Lindstrom Skin as Director of Global Partnerships and Education. I founded The Ingredientist in 2018 to consult with beauty brands and retailers who inspire me and share a mutual commitment to quality, transparency, and progressive sustainability.
On a regulatory note, I’m thrilled that in December 2022, Congress passed MoCRA (Modernization of Cosmetics Regulations Act), the first major federal cosmetics policy change since 1938 (or 84 years). It’s a significant step in the right direction, but we still have a fair way to go.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
If you are an independent consultant in the cosmetics industry, it sometimes feels like navigating the wild wild west. Survival skills are crucial, along with strong wits and hard boundaries – all these gained by exercising my generalist muscles, starting out in the entrepreneurial side of beauty. Looking back, I call these my “Jane-of-All-Trades” years. Anyone who’s worked in a start-up environment knows that you need to roll up your sleeves and do the work (regardless of the title) because there is no one behind you to pick up the slack. It’s a fighter-fueled, mission-driven mentality that’s allowed me to empathize with all the founders I’m privileged to work with. At times, it can be tempting to get involved in numerous aspects of the business – I’m fast to tap into the brand’s ethos/vision and can consult across multiple areas. It’s especially challenging when I see a team that truly needs help or an extra hand, and this reigned especially true in 2020. Over the years, there have been various struggles in shifting gears from my generalist “Jane” mentality to a specialist mentality, focusing on my passion for ingredients within the scope of product development and brand positioning.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Ingredientist. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Ingredientist is a science-driven branding and product development consultancy. Both behind the scenes and in public-facing collaborations, I proudly work with a diversity of beauty companies (primarily in skincare) through brand strategy, positioning, and product development. My clients are principle-led industry leaders dedicated to high-quality ingredient sourcing, sustainability, research-based efficacy claims, traceable supply chains, and innovation. I’m proud to have worked with renowned multinational, c-suite executives, award-winning scientists, to visionary small-business entrepreneurs.
My consulting approach is thorough and holistic, first looking at what I like to call the “business ingredients” of the brand to ensure that the company mission is aligned with the product development pipeline. Once the strategy phase is complete and everything is positioned foundationally, product development begins, and I get to play with my passion: raw material ingredients.
While I prefer to be involved from formulation to launch, I’m also flexible to dive in at various stages of development. I extract the product value and translate the science within each formula to sculpt the product identity and dispense that knowledge across materials positioned for marketing and education. I’m also skilled at ghostwriting for founders or executives.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I remember sitting in my epidemiology class and listening to my professor say that statistically, during our lifetime, there was going to be a pandemic and we were poorly prepared for it. Sadly, 2020 was like watching scenarios from my textbooks come to life, and my heart broke for all the people lost, families impacted, and systems that failed.
Overall, two points of observation come to mind, both personally and professionally:
Within product development, the pandemic put a tight squeeze on raw material supply chains, but this has since driven much-needed industry discussion around sourcing and production. There are serious concerns around the sustainability of both plant-based materials and petrochemical byproducts, but it’s equally pushing innovation in biotechnology to develop solutions.
The pandemic forced the concept of health under the spotlight, and for me, this was compounded by working in a niche focused on beauty as an expression of well-being. Terms like “self-care” and “wellness” are thrown around a lot, and it became important to define what these terms mean to me. This continues to be a work in progress, but it’s a silver lining catalyzed because the world has entered a new chapter in public health.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theingredientist.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_ingredientist
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/theingredientist/
Image Credits
Headshot by One Eleven Photography Branding by Jessica Maniatis
