Not only is Sephora expanding its selection of CBD products, but the beauty and personal care retailer is emerging as a leader among national retailers offering products infused with cannabinoids.
Last week, Sephora announced it had created a set of standards that CBD products must meet before being considered for space on store shelves. These self-imposed regulations were drafted to ensure the CBD products offered would adhere to a consistent set of potency, ingredient, and testing standards.
The new standards build upon Sephora’s previous vetting of CBD products. In 2018, the “Clean at Sephora” standard was created by Cindy Deily, vice president of skin-care merchandising. The clean program requires CBD to be grown domestically, triple-tested by independent labs, and contain full-spectrum CBD.
Robert Rosenheck, founder and chief executive officer at Lord Jones—the first CBD brand to be sold at Sephora—is excited about the standards. “There are now hundreds of mislabeled products claiming to contain ‘cannabis’ that contain zero CBD or other cannabinoids,” Rosenheck said. “Now all CBD products at Sephora will be tested for potency as well as microbial and chemical contaminants.”
While some retailers may be tempted to quickly expand their CBD product offerings, Sephora has taken a measured approach.
“We’ve felt the need to be selective because it is quite overwhelming and the legal landscape is very complex,” Deily said.
Sephora will now add another new CBD brand to its store shelves. Prima, a relative newcomer to the CBD scene, will exclusively be available in 170 Sephora locations across the United States for a six month period. Sephora’s new CBD standards are a perfect fit for the brand, which advocates the production of safe and quality products,
“Brands need retailers to hold them accountable for their CBD and testing methods,” Prima Chief Executive Officer Christopher Gavigan said. “There is currently no government regulation to show or prove what are contaminated or efficacious ingredients.”
Sephora seems to be ahead of the curve in forging its own safe path forward for CBD as federal agencies have been slow to finalize regulations. The retailer’s own quality control could be an essential component to maintaining consumer confidence.
“There’s a risk with so many new brands and claims of turning consumers off completely,” said Deily. “There has been a tsunami of new CBD brands launching, and this has been going on for over a year. Brand activity in this space has actually made us more conservative.”