For an emerging beauty brand, passing through the pearly gates of Amazon could very well be trickier than passing through the pearly gates of heaven. The e-commerce giant has come down hard on Amazon aspirants with heightened restrictions making listing as a beauty seller extremely challenging if not almost impossible. The consequence is Amazon is becoming a better place for brands that have been offering merchandise on its platform for a while and the democratization of commerce it has driven may be diminishing. Of course, Amazon remains an enormous portal for sales that brands can’t ignore, but they have to be aware that it’s no longer always an eager business partner. “I try not to be a bummer. With all the downsides of Amazon, there still are opportunities for people in all walks of life,” says CJ Rosenbaum, an attorney with Rosenbaum Famularo PC. “Amazon is the most incredible opportunity in perhaps the history of commerce.” Beauty Independent talked with Rosenbaum, beauty entrepreneurs and other experts about wading through the morass that is the Amazon topical products entrance process.