The procedures recommended in this guide can be used to assess the sensory characteristics before, during, and after usage of skin care products.

This guide is applicable to product categories that include skin lotions and creams, facial moisturizers, hand lotions and creams, anti-aging lotions and creams, suntan lotions, personal repellents, and other skin care products.

Procedures of the type described herein may be used to communicate perceived sensory properties within and between manufacturers and to the consumer through the media. These guidelines are suggested to meet the need for ascertaining the performance of experimental and commercial products.

These procedures are to be used by assessors who are screened for sensory acuity, trained to use their senses to evaluate products, and in the procedures outlined by the panel method of choice, either technical expert or consumer behavioral approach.

This guide provides suggested procedures and is not meant to exclude alternate procedures that may be effective in training skinfeel panels and providing sensory evaluation descriptions.

1.1 The objective of this guide is to provide procedures for two different descriptive analysis approaches that may be used to qualitatively describe the sensory attributes of skin creams and lotions and quantitatively measure their intensity, similarities, and differences over time. Descriptive analysis can be used to define the sensory experience of skin care products that can then be used to provide direction in product formulation, competitive assessment, ingredient substitutions, research guidance, and advertising claim substantiation.

1.2 Guidelines are provided to assist the reader in determining which approach best meets their research objectives, either the (1) technical expert or (2) consumer behavior approach to language development and evaluation.

1.3 Guidelines are provided for the selection and training of assessors, defining sensory attributes, measuring intensities on rating scales, developing procedures for the manipulation of the product alone and the product on the skin, product handling, and evaluation of skin condition before testing.

1.4 Units—The values stated in inch-pound units are to be regarded as the standard. The values given in parentheses are mathematical conversions to SI units that are provided for information only and are not considered standard.

1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.