Howard Baker, Managing Member

Cosmetics and personal care technical consulting expert Howard Baker is Managing Member of Product Integrity Laboratory LLC (PIL) which provides Product Development, Quality Control/Quality Assurance and Regulatory Compliance services for companies in the fragrance and cosmetic industry that use contract manufacturers. A cosmetic chemist with more than four decades of experience in the beauty industry, Mr. Baker has overseen product development and has provided technical consulting services in the areas formulation development, product development testing, quality assurance and quality control, and regulatory compliance.

Mr. Baker started his career in product development with Gillette Toiletries Division in 1974. He continued in product development at the R&D facility of Beecham Consumer Products. He then served as technical director at a contract manufacturer in the fragrance, cosmetics, and OTC drug industry, overseeing product development, quality, and regulatory compliance before launching his own consulting business. Since 1984 Mr. Baker has provided technical consulting services to the industry as HBaker Development, serving small and medium sized companies in the US and around the world. In 2006 HBaker Development became Product Integrity Laboratory LLC with facilities in Landing, New Jersey.

As a cosmetic chemist, Mr. Baker understands how the product formula is put together and how it works.  His experience in the contract manufacturing environment enables him to scale up production efficiently and minimize any problems that come up for clients.

He has served on the Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors, (ICMAD) board, and is currently a member of the Technical, Regulatory, and Legislative Committee and chairs the Financial Review Committee. He is also a member of American Chemical Society and Society of Cosmetic Chemists and has been a featured speaker at ICMAD and HBA events and his articles have been published in GCI Magazine and ICMAD Digest.

A graduate of Miami University in chemistry, Mr. Baker also conducted graduate work at M.I.T. in synthetic organic chemistry.

Tracey Ross, Director

Tracey Ross, Lab Director at Product Integrity Lab, is a Cosmetic Chemist specialist with two decades of successful experience in cosmetic formulation, quality assurance and research and development . As a former microbiologist, Tracey has vast knowledge on preservatives for use in personal care. She also specializes in formulation trouble-shooting, with many years of experience working for raw material companies as a technical liaison.   Her application patents and published articles focused mainly in the field of sun care.  Tracey regularly attends national training sessions to keep current on new technical trends and regulatory issues. She has been a member of the NYSCC for 17 years.