How RFK Jr.’s health secretary appointment could impact the beauty and wellness industries

President-elect Donald Trump has spent the past few weeks nominating his cabinet, including the attorney general and the secretary of defense. There was also the announcement that has since been driving conversation among beauty and wellness insiders: the nominee for health czar. 

On Thursday, President Trump announced Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as his nominee for health secretary, a role which oversees the world’s largest public health agency and its $1.7 trillion budget. 

If confirmed by the Senate, Kennedy would oversee several agencies and their combined 80,000 employees, which include doctors, scientists and researchers. They also include officials who power the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Food and Drug Administration, the latter of which regulates the beauty and wellness industries. 

“He’s going to help make America healthy again,” Trump said during his election night speech. “He wants to do some things, and we’re going to let him go do it.” The question is, of course, where RFK Jr.’s priorities will lie. 

RFK Jr. is best known for his controversial opinions about vaccine safety, fluoridated water, nutrition and stem cell science. When it comes to beauty and wellness, his largest impact will be around changes he may implement at the FDA. 

“FDA’s war on public health is about to end. If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.” Kennedy wrote on Twitter/X in October. 

Around 18,000 people work at the FDA today. 

One area of concern among experts Glossy spoke to for this story is the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022, or MoCRA. Rolled out this year, MoCRA is the largest regulatory framework for the cosmetics industry introduced in more than 80 years. 

“There’s an awful lot of clutching of the pearls and wringing of hands, and [thinking that] the world is going to end because RFK Jr. might be health secretary,” said Michael H. Hinckle, esquire, managing partner at K&L Gates law firm where he specializes in FDA regulatory and pharmaceutical compliance.

However, he said, there are two ways to look at it. 

For one: “Having somebody who has a history of being open to conspiracy theories may mean that they’re receptive to new ideas,” Hinckle said. “The positive side is that maybe he’d be more willing to listen to ideas that the more traditional FDA person may not be willing to even entertain.” 

That could include rethinking the type of data necessary to support the safe use of ingredients and cosmetic products, which could help the cosmetic industry with new pathways for safety testing and data collection, an area where the FDA has been notoriously slow. For example, MoCRA’s 2024 rollout has been dotted with delays, including delays in implementing reporting processes and a six-month delay in data collection from beauty manufacturers.

“For companies used to relying on scientific validation, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity,” said Lindsay Cameron, health and wellness analyst at Mintel market research company. “Kennedy’s ‘war on health’ is likely to amplify consumer skepticism, pushing many to scrutinize the ingredients in their medications, beauty products and food more than ever before. … [And] bridging the potential trust gap will require a strategic shift in communication, emphasizing the scientific integrity of products while also having to align with consumer values and concerns.”

On the other hand, it’s also easy to fear changes to the beauty and wellness industries that follow RFK Jr.’s public commentary on nutrition, for which he has said he wants a full overhaul of FDA regulations. “You can point to his refusal to accept FDA approval of certain color additives [as one way he may impact cosmetics],” said Hinckle, esquire. “[It’s easy to assume that] he’ll be that way when it comes to cosmetic ingredients, as well.”

Several experts Glossy spoke with declined the opportunity to speak on the record for fear of legal conflicts. One attorney Glossy spoke to on background noted a growing feeling of confusion across the industry. 

“From what I’m seeing, RFK is creating serious confusion in the dialogue around the future of the health and wellness industry in the United States. On the one hand, he has been advocating for de-regulation of alternative medicines and therapies; on the other hand, it seems like many of his early-stage ideas would require significantly more regulation,” they told Glossy.

Two more areas of possible change include the advancement of stem cell science — which has become a growing category within beauty — and the introduction of regulation for the supplement industry. 

“The governance around FDA regulations, especially around dietary supplements, is likely to become more relaxed, allowing brands more flexibility and vagueness around product and marketing methodologies,” said David Hamlette, health and wellness analyst at Mintel. “This may lead some, particularly those unconcerned about meeting FDA standards, to take shortcuts in product development.”

“We’ve been primed to see regulation expand to areas like nutritional supplements, which still have a real lack of regulatory oversight,” an attorney, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Glossy. “My hope is that he doesn’t swing so far in the de-regulation camp that we underfund critical agencies like the FDA, which could potentially result in devastating health issues like large-scale food and cosmetic contamination events.” 

Earlier this month Tom Myers, president and CEO of the Personal Care Products Council, issued a statement to the new administration.

“Among other things, PCPC will encourage the new administration to prioritize the continued implementation of ‘MoCRA’, the new federal regulatory framework for cosmetics, the movement of international goods, reduction of trade barriers, and the use of responsible and safe business practices,” Myers said in a statement. “PCPC is committed to working with the incoming administration while continuing to advocate for policies that strengthen the economy, enhance product safety and promote sustainability.”

PCPC is a top national trade association that represents 600 cosmetics and personal care companies, including the majority of the top conglomerates, and lobbies for their interest on the Hill. 

MoCRA was a bi-partisan bill with industry and consumer support. To wit: Nearly 4 in 5 (78%) personal care purchasers believe there should be stricter regulations around personal care safety, according to data released last month by Mintel. 

Kennedy, no matter where his focus lands, won’t have the power to change MoCRA, per se, but he will have the power to control its rollout and enforcement. 

“[RFK Jr.’s] commitment to restructuring federal health agencies could significantly alter the pace and manner in which MoCRA is implemented,” said Cameron. “Given his stance on scaling back the FDA’s authorization across various sectors, it is likely that he will not champion increased regulation within the cosmetics industry.”

“There are a lot of decisions that will have to be made about that new [MoCRA] statute and how the agency is going to interpret the language and create policy that could be with us for decades,” Hinckle said. “It’s possible [for change to happen], but how much he really focuses on that? Who knows.” 

The role of health secretary has been held by California attorney and politician Xavier Becerra since 2021. Prior, Becerra served 12 terms in Congress as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. His focus has been on reducing healthcare costs, expanding access to care and tackling health disparities.

Executive moves:

• Nathalie Manivong is the first chief marketing officer of U.K.-based masstige skin-care brand The Inkey List. Manivong’s CV includes Cocon, Gisou, L’Oréal Luxe and Peach & Lily. The affordable skin care range, which is marketed toward price-conscious “skintellectuals,” was launched in 2018 and currently sells at Sephora, on Amazon and DTC. 

News to know:

• On Thursday, Estée Lauder Companies officially announced its partnership with OpenAI, the California-based artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT. It includes AI-powered software that helps ELC develop products, comply with regulations and access its library, among other capabilities. Chloe Green-Vamos, the vp of global innovation strategy at ELC, discussed much of this development, and AI’s use cases within ELC, on the Glossy Beauty Podcast in September.
• Ulta Beauty implemented a stricter return policy effective November 3 that includes a 30-day window for full refunds and a 60-day window for store credit. Previously, shoppers could receive a full refund on returns for up to 60 days.
• Fresh off its acquisition from Farfetch by founder Cassandra Grey and CEO Sherif Guirgis, Violet Grey has expanded its brick-and-mortar presence. The brand opened a shop-in-shop within Hirshleifers luxury department store in Manhasset, N.Y. this weekend. Founded in 1910, Hirshleifers is family-owned and focused on high-end curation. 

• During its earnings call last week, fragrance house Interparfums SA, which owns the licenses for brands including Coach, Jimmy Choo and Van Cleef & Arpels, announced its plans to launch a new fragrance brand called Solférino. The company plans to release 10 fine fragrances under the new brand by the end of 2025.
• One Skin has taken on $7 million in series A funding. The biotech-powered skin-care brand offers skin-care products with a patented ingredient designed to improve skin health by removing senescent cells, or cells that have stopped working. The round includes Selva Ventures, backer of brands like Crown Affair and Perelel, as well as Unilever Ventures and Able Partners.
• Chanel opened its first House of Beauty retail and spa experience. Located in Paris, the three-story, 1,940-square-foot store offers face and body treatments and the full Chanel Beauty range, including all 88 fragrances, makeup and skin-care, and books, among other products.

Stat of the week:

New data from social media analytics company Sprout Social sheds light on social media shopping habits. More than half of consumers surveyed said they plan to shop on social media in 2025 as much as they did in 2024, with 32% of those surveyed planning to increase their purchases on social media next year. Top social shopping destinations include Facebook Shop, TikTok Shop and Instagram Shop, in that order, with TikTok Shop being the most popular spot for Gen Z. The survey also revealed that 34% of social media users surveyed still go to a company’s website to do more research on a product before purchasing, while 30% prefer to go directly to the company’s website to buy a product after discovery on social media.

In the headlines:

L’Oréal and the Louvre tell the history of beauty through art. Will the sizzling fragrance category cool off next year? Ulta Beauty jumps on the K-beauty boom with new mass skin-care lineup. Hanni, the body care brand for busy millennials, expands to all Sephora U.S. doors. How Javon Ford became TikTok’s favorite cosmetic chemist. 57 best gifts for teenage girls. 

Listen in: 

Jill Biren, the co-founder of JB Skrub — a kid-friendly line of body-care products made with co-founder “Modern Family” star Julie Bowen — joins the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss marketing to tween boys.

Need a Glossy recap? 

How Sephora is shaping beauty by creating categories. Claire’s doubles down on fragrance to target ‘Gen Zalpha’ consumers. How Target is expanding its wellness category. Creators on the importance of post-election content. Burberry’s new strategy: Can a return to heritage revive the business? How Sulwhasoo is blending heritage and innovation to reach US consumers. SkinCeuticals launches virtual skin-care consultations with professionals. How NYX Professional Makeup approaches viral digital marketing: ‘When Gen Z feels nothing, they do nothing’. Overheard at the Glossy Beauty Summit: ‘The shrink problem is so severe.’ Beauty brand leaders on the challenges of conquering TikTok Shop.