32 We had entered into 2021 with hopes and expectations that we would begin to reunite in person and get back to normal life. Unfortunately, all our educational events continued online only, and our social events were further delayed. On the bright side, the events were free for members and students. The first evening meeting of the year was in February when Beatriz Blanco and José Melo Barcelos spoke on the topic of “Biodesign Proteins for Personal Care”. They highlighted how advances in medicine and biotechnology are beginning to be consciously applied to cosmetics and personal care products, signaling a coming era of beauty thoughtfully powered by biology. Knowing that our industry continues to support the efforts in keeping people safe during the ongoing pandemic, our Regulatory Update in March focused on several aspects of these activities. The day was divided into 4 sessions: “Hand sanitizers, Hard Surface Sanitizers and related Health Canada regulations”, presented by Shahin Kalantari “US Regulations for COVID -19 products, FIFRA and FDA Regulations”, presented by Sol Bobst PhD “Canadian Federal Regulatory Update – what you need to know beyond COVID-19”, presented by Dave Saucier and a Health Canada Regulatory Update highlighting the key changes in relation to the pandemic, the future of those changes/flexibilities and updates to Health Canada’s regulatory agenda moving forward for natural health products and non-prescription drugs, which will take into account the lessons learned during this challenging period of time. This was presented by Matthew Bown, Associate Director, Bureau of Policy, Risk and Stakeholder Management, NNHPD. We had a fun and inspiring evening meeting in May with the topic of “Expanding the Rainbow’: Colors & Trends – Where they Come From and How they Influence Cosmetics, Fashion, Home & Décor” presented by Alison Griffin. For the first time ever, we offered a bonus evening meeting in July. The topic was “Navigating buzzwords to address demand for naturality” which was presented by Noellie Astruc. The recent surge of consumer interest in natural products has created the emergence of many buzzwords used to describe industry market movements which are being used with various interpretations. A discussion on the need to clarify these terms as they are not covered under any universal standard. Our Education Day was a CEP course on “GMPs For Cosmetics In Canada” taught by Karl Popp. It was specifically designed not only to introduce GMPs to those new to the industry, but also as a review for those experienced in this regulatory area. The last evening meeting of the year, in November, was on “New Perspectives on Aging Skin”, presented by Howard Epstein, Ph.D. The talk reviewed the various causes of skin aging and their effects on different skin types to create more personalized skin and hair treatments.

33 We continued to support the Cosmetic Science Graduate Certificate program at Seneca College in Toronto providing student scholarships as well as hands-on support with course design and instruction. Although we were once again unable to host our annual Holiday Dinner Dance, we organized an effort to give back to the community with an online funds drive for the North York Harvest Food Bank. Hoping for a brighter year in 2022, here are our elected officials: Mary Seifi, Chair Elizabeth Peitsis, Chair-Elect Tanya Baksh, Secretary and Rob Castillo as Treasurer. We wish them all the best and we extend those wishes to our members and all of our industry colleagues. Southeast In spite of the limitations imposed by the pandemic, the Southeast Chapter had a fairly eventful and successful year in 2021. On April 15, we hosted the Area IV Tech Talk Webinar, with speaker Tom Meyer presenting an excellent presentation via a Zoom meeting entitled “Taking Safe Synthetics to the Next Level: What comes after Vitamins C & E?” As one of the first live events in the SCC, our June 17, 2021 Suppliers’ Social Event was held at the Bass Pro Shop in the Memphis Pyramid in the Ducks Unlimited Waterfowl Gallery. Before the event, participants had a chance to tour the swamp, with 100-foot-tall trees, alligators and many varieties of fish on exhibit. In addition, they could take the nation’s tallest free-standing elevator to the top of the Pyramid and enjoy spectacular views of downtown Memphis from the Glass Observation Deck. 65 attendees enjoyed the camaraderie and the chance to finally interact in person with other members of the Society.