Lip Care Testing

Color Persistence, Lip Balm Efficacy, Chapped Lips, Transfer Resistant and All-Day Claims

The First Thing Most People Notice About Others is Their Lips

Where do you look first when you meet someone new?  Their eyes, their hands, their hair, their shoes, or their smile?

If you lean towards the smile, your initial glances fall in line with the majority of people around the world.  You’re also said to be empathetic and in tune with how those around you feel and react.

Lip Care Claims and Clinical Substantiation

Because lips are often the first thing that people notice about one another, it only makes sense that they are a particular area of focus for cosmetic and visual enhancement claims. 

There are a wide range of lip care products, techniques, and procedures which are designed to change the appearance of the lips, and they vary in both product delivery and invasiveness.

Lip Enhancement Through the Ages

The first commercial lipstick was invented in 1884 by a group of French perfumers who had a very good understanding of sensuality.  The concept, however, can be traced back much further to ancient Mesopotamia, where women ground precious gems and used their dust to decorate their lips.

By making the lips an even more dramatic focal point of the face, a very powerful and direct communication technique was emphasized, and it still holds great emphasis today.

Read My Lips

While lipstick has gone through hundreds of iterations over its lifespan, and has been used for good, for evil, and everything in between, there is no doubt that it has helped shape the face of the multi-billion dollar beauty industry which now more than ever, is driven by women.

Lip Enhancement is a very competitive market, and there are numerous product types and categories which all aim to focus on some type of visual or tactile improvement or health related benefits:

Lip Care Categories

• Lip Balms and Cold Weather Protection
• Hydration and Moisturization
• Lip Color and Vibrance
• Lip Gloss and Shine
• Cracked Lip and Dry Lip Healing
• Cold Sore and OTC Treatments

Lipstick, Lip Gloss, Color Persistence, and All-Day Wear Claims

Cosmetic lip care products are used around the world and are one of the most common forms of cosmetic enhancement.  Generally these products are designed with beauty in mind as opposed to health and condition improvement.

All Day Claims and Long Wear Claims measure the durability of topical products such as lipsticks and lip glosses, and they involve controlled clinical evaluations conducted by technicians, self assessments, and/or clinical photography.

Color Persistence claims are closely related to All Day Claims, and they take into account how long color enhancement products last before they begin to fade.

Transfer and water resistance are also widely sought after claims for topical lip care products, and VCS can help to develop custom tailored clinical options to substantiate your claims.

Glosses and lipsticks can also be tested for barrier function and protection.

Film Forming and Barrier Forming Support

Any lip care products can be tested to demonstrate their potential for film forming and barrier protection.

Often times these studies are used to support claims such as “helps protect the skin’s natural barrier” and they can also supplement water resistance as well.

With clinical instrumentation, VCS can provide percentage based improvements that support objective label claims and marketing stand points.

Hydration, Cracked, and Chapped Lips

For lip balm and chapstick products, VCS can help document the percentage improvement in conditions such as hydration and moisture content.

VCS can also include one of our Dermatologists to support “Dermatologist Approved” claims.

As an FDA Registered Clinical Laboratory, VCS can test medicated chapped lip products to document healing, flaking, and extremely dry lip conditions.

These types of studies pair particularly well with our Validated Clinical Photography.

General Lip Product Safety

For all types of lip products, Safety In Use testing can provide cost effective consumer sensory feedback combined with a professional assessment of product tolerance.

Basic scoring for irritation, redness, dryness, and inflammation along with a 30 subject consumer panel can provide cost effective marketing and safety data.

OTC and Drug Product Implications

Because Validated Claim Support is FDA Registered, we can run clinical studies on topical products that contain FDA approved active ingredients. VCS can handle medicated lip product claims that range from extremely chapped lips to cold sore outbreak treatments and beyond.

Not all studies are created equal, but generally speaking when drug and OTC actives are included, more robust data is safer for both sponsors and the global consumer.

Lip Care Claim Support Validation Techniques

• Before & After Photography
• Biophysical Instrumentation
• Expert Clinical Grading
• Subjective Questionnaires/User Trials

Lip Care Related Claims

• Cracked lip protection
• Moisturizing Formula
• Fights chapped lips
• All Day Moisture
• Increases Hydration by up to XX%
• Water Resistant
• Transfer Resistant
• Helps fight cold sores faster
• Barrier protection