
The Eco Well podcast
In this show, Jen Novakovich, Canadian cosmetic chemist from The Eco Well, interviews international cosmetic scientists and industry leaders to bring you a fresh new conversation a week about all things beauty!
Latest episodes

Oct 17, 2023 • 55min
A Toxicology 101 with Pushpa Rao PhD
This podcast features a 101 episode on toxicology, featuring toxicologist Dr Pushpa Rao. With all the noise and confusion about product safety out in the zeitgeist, I thought this was an important topic to cover. We covered the basics of what toxicology is, how it’s applied to cosmetics, fundamental toxicology themes like hazard and risk, safety substantiation, misconceptions, and more! Interested in supporting the podcast on Patreon? Find us at www.patreon.com/theecowell

Oct 11, 2023 • 56min
The Rise of Class Action Lawsuits in Beauty with Avril Love
There have been so many class action lawsuits in beauty over the last few years. What does it all mean? Are products on the market unsafe? Have these lawsuits become a cost of business in the USA? Are they making products safer? To help me unpack the topic, this weeks episode featured Avril Love, counsel at K&L Gates. Enjoy! Interested in supporting the podcast? Find us at Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell

Oct 4, 2023 • 1h 22min
A Deep Dive into Curly Hair with Dr Crystal Porter
This episode featured hair scientist, Dr Crystal Porter from Mane Insights, in a deep dive into curly hair. We dove into the nitty gritty of the structure of curly hair, and the science behind keeping it in good shape. Hope you enjoy the episode as much as I did! Quick edit - in this episode, Crystal mentioned "consumer scientist." She meant "citizen scientist" :). Interested in supporting the podcast? Find us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell

Jun 6, 2023 • 47min
State Law - The Good, the Bad, the Ugly. With Dr. Simone Swafford
This episode features a deep dive into state law, featuring Dr. Simone Swafford, regulatory consultant at Vogue Regulatory. What’s happening at the state level in terms of cosmetic regulations, and how does that impact both industry as well as consumers? We specifically dive into how misinformation is driving some of the recent legislative developments. Big thanks to Essential Labs for sponsoring this episode. Use the code ELABSPOD for 15% off! Interested in supporting the podcast on Patreon? Find us at www.patreon.com/theecowell

May 30, 2023 • 28min
Diversity & Inclusion through the Lens of Disability with Bart Maxon
This week's episode featured Bart Maxon - cosmetic scientist, creator of 20 patents, and recent recipient of the SCC Merit Award. Important to this conversation, he's achieved all of this as a 4’6” achondroplasia dwarf who's had several spinal surgeries, operating in an industry where accessibility has been an ongoing improvement for those with disabilities. I'm really inspired by Bart's story. From being told that he'd never work in a lab, to becoming a Senior Development Scientist at Dow. In this conversation, we talked about diversity and inclusion, through the lens of individuals with disabilities. What are we doing right as an industry, and where do we need to improve? Interested in supporting the podcast? Find us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell

May 23, 2023 • 1h 2min
Challenges and Opportunities for the Suncare Sector, Panel
This episode featured the closing panel from Michelle @labmuffinbeautyscience and my Sunscreen E-Summit, which happened a few weeks ago. On the topic of Challenges and Opportunities for the Suncare Sector. In conversation with Meredith Petillo, Senior Director of Technical & Regulatory Services at IBA, Stan Krus, Senior Technology Manager Sun Care at BASF, Carl D’Ruiz, Head of Personal Care and Pharma Regulatory and Scientific Affairs at DSM, and Michelle Wong, PhD. Enjoy! Interested in supporting the podcast? Find us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell

May 17, 2023 • 41min
Beauty Sci-Comm with Michelle Wong, Ph.D. of @labmuffinbeautyscience
This episode was about beauty science communication, from the perspectives of Michelle @labmuffinbeautyscience and me. What is sci-comm, why is it important, what are some of the challenges, and importantly, why are there so few sci-commers able to make sci-com a full-time, long-lasting endeavor? In this episode, Michelle and I announce the social enterprise we've been working on together: Beauty Sci-Comm Group. Interested in supporting the podcast? Find us at Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Massive thank you to all of our Patreon supporters for helping make this show possible!

Apr 26, 2023 • 1h 26min
Toxicologist Reacts to Headlines, featuring Tony Simion, Ph.D.
New podcast! This week, we tried something a little different with a Toxicologist Reacts episode, featuring Tony Simion, Ph.D. Industry veteran and adjunct professor. You guys sent in media headlines and posts, and we responded. Disclaimer, before I go on here; all the views expressed in this post and podcast are all in our honestly held opinions. I hope by the end of this episode, it’s clear who that is for when it comes to cosmetic product safety. Interested in supporting the podcast? Find us on Patreon.com/theecowell

Apr 18, 2023 • 39min
MoCRA - What does it all mean? With Kerry Tassopoulos
This week’s episode took a look at MoCRA - What’s happening? What do we know? How is going to impact industry, and also consumers? There has been a lot of noise about MoCRA, what does it all mean? To help me do this topic justice, for this podcast I was joined by Kerry Tassopoulos, Of Counsel and a corporate, regulatory and compliance attorney with Platt Cheema Richmond PLLC. Interested in supporting the podcast? Find us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell

Apr 12, 2023 • 1h 9min
Sustainability Challenges & Opportunities for the Cosmetics Sector, Roundtable.
This episode featured the closing panel for our Sustainable Beauty E-Summit that happened back in January on Sustainability Challenges and Opportunities for the Cosmetics Sector. We came at the topic of sustainability challenges and opportunities from a wide scope of expertise. Featuring Akemi Ooka, Ph.D., Head of Global Supply Chain and Sustainability Resources at the Independent Beauty Association, Mike Fevola, Ph.D., Vice President of R&D at Inolex, and Mark Trexler, Ph.D., director at The Climatographers. Enjoy! Interested in supporting the podcast? Find us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell
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