Testing Colour Cosmetics
Perform now all the necessary tests to make sure that your Make-up products are safe and effective!
Substantiate the claims that make your Colour Cosmetics more competitive on the market
Long-lasting, no-transfer, anti-pollution, nickel-free: Abich – Lifeanalytics designs testing protocols that allow you to substantiate the most innovative claims in the industry!
Make-up products must give the consumer a high degree of safety and be very competitive on the market. It is therefore important to design testing protocols that allow to meet all the necessary requirements.
- Being safe: the ingredients that characterise the formulation of colour cosmetics are the pigments, which may contain a greater or lower quantity of heavy metals such as nickel, lead, cobalt, and chromium. Safety tests on make-up products are indeed carried out mainly on the presence of heavy metals. Annex II to the European Regulation No. 1223/2009 on cosmetic products only allows the presence of traces such as residues from the manufacturing process or impurities of raw materials, so companies must reduce the levels of allergenic metals as much as technically possible.
When the make-up is intended for sensitive areas such as mucous membranes and eye contour, the product must be further tested with safety clinical tests, under the supervision of specialised personnel. This is necessary to include claims such as ‘ophthalmologically tested’, ‘dermatologically tested’, “tested on sensitive skin”, “hypoallergenic”, “non-comedogenic” and the like on the label. - Being competitive on the market: commercially, though, the real challenge is to substantiate the efficacy claims that make colour cosmetics more competitive on the market. To meet the needs of increasingly informed and knowledgeable customers, it is necessary to include more functions in one single formulation.
A colour cosmetic today must not only be long-lasting and no-transfer but also multipurpose. For example, it must work as a sunscreen against UV rays, it must have an anti-ageing, anti-pollution and moisturising action or be non-comedogenic on acne-prone skin. For this reason, make-up products must be tested with various in-vitro, in-vivo and sensory efficacy tests with high scientific and cosmetological value. - Being inclusive: many brands give special attention to inclusive make-up to create formulations and packaging suitable for people with disabilities, to meet gender-fluid people‘s needs and to substantiate claims such as ‘dark skin approved‘.
Lifeanalytics, your safest choice in Cosmetics
Abich – Lifeanalytics, the Group’s Competence Center for Pharma and Cosmetics industries, offers the full range of tests necessary to ensure the safety and efficacy of your make-up products. Our highly-specialised team will help you develop an accurate and repeatable testing protocol that meets your needs.
Clinical simulation of use and ophthalmological evaluation on 20 healthy volunteers
The clinical test is designed to be applied to eye contour cosmetics or products that require to confirm the compatibility with the periocular mucosa in normal usage conditions with the purpose of substantiating the claim “Ophthalmologically tested” according to Guidelines to Commission Regulation (EU) No 655/2013.
An ophthalmology specialist will inspect the target area, and especially the eyelids, before the application using a fissure lamp, in order to confirm the absence of swelling, hyperemia, dryness or desquamation. The inspection also rules off alterations of the eyelashes.
In the eye itself, the integrity of the cornea and conjunctiva, the absence of hyperemia, and signs of conjunctival or tarsal irritation are verified. Finally, the absence of qualitative and quantitative alterations in the tear film.
The specialist then evaluates and scores erythemal response, tearing, edema and dryness after the product has been used for 30 minutes, 2 days and 30 days to quantify possible alterations induced by the sample.
The volunteers also provide subjective evaluations of itching, burning, stinging or foreign body response feeling, and/or sight clouding, at the same endpoints, using the VAS (Visual Analogical Scale) score system.
Long lasting test
The clinical test is designed to be applied to makeup and lipsticks with the purpose of substantiating the claim “Long lasting” according to Guidelines to Commission Regulation (EU) No 655/2013.
Instrumental colorimetric evaluation: the evaluation can only be performed on pigmented products and is not applicable to transparent cosmetics. Clinical evaluation: digital imaging of the treated area at T=0 and after X hours from the application of the product. The duration of the treatment is agreed upon with the sponsor before the test.
No transfer test
The test is designed to be applied to makeup and lipsticks with the purpose of substantiating the claim “No transfer” according to Guidelines to Commission Regulation (EU) No 655/2013.
Digital images of the treated area are captured immediately after application of the product and after contact with test items. Depending on the type of product testing, contact items include skin, paper cups, glass cups, napkins, white clothes.
Determination of the concentration of allergen metals
The test is designed to be applied to cosmetic products with the purpose of substantiating the claim “Sensitizing metals below risk threshold” according to current regulations.
Mineralization/high pressure microwave dissolution and determination through ICP-OES.
In vitro test for the evaluation of the protective effect against air pollution
The in vitro test is designed to be applied to raw materials and finished products with the purpose of substantiating the claim “Anti-pollution” according to proprietary method.
In vitro test for the evaluation of the protective effect against air pollution. The purpose of this test is to evaluate the efficacy of the sample in reducing ROS release in response to a mix of heavy metals and atmospheric dust particulate in a skin-derived cell model.
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Lifeanalytics S.r.l.
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