The implementation of the efficacy studies refers to the regulation in each world zone and sometimes each country. In Europe, the reference is the European regulations for cosmetics (EC.N° 655/2013 Art.20 -Art.22) with principally the common Product Information File (P.I.F).
To substantiate the product claims cosmeticians must respect the 6 common criteria: Compliance with legislation, Truth, Adequate and verifiable evidence , Sincerity, Equity, and Choice with knowledge of causes. There are no specific norms for each test (excepted sensory analysis and sun protection index cf. ISO) and the testing managers can follow guidelines for human testing such as EEMCO, Good Clinical Practices…
These scientific objectivation processes protect the consumer from misleading claims and preserve the credibility of the cosmetic industry. The investigators can choose to validate clinically on human the performance of their active ingredients or finished products among 4 categories:

1. Consumer tests: these studies are performed by a naïve panel under normal conditions of use of the product. The insights of the consumer are collected via an auto-evaluation of the treatment using a questionnaire design case by case.

2. Sensory or emotional analysis: this testing performed by trained experts or naïve panels, in real life conditions or online, to objectivate the product activities perceived by the subjects.

3. Biometrological studies: this objectivation is a direct measurement of the several mechanisms of the skin, the hair or the nails using instrumental devices to visualize or quantify the influence of a treatment.

4. Clinical score tests: This is a scientific approach of the evaluation of a product efficacy by experts using dedicated scales and descriptors.
Cosmeticians can also design the protocol of the studies combining 2 or 3 of type of testing.

Clinical Scores by Skinobs- L’observatoire des cosmétiques EN.0420

Published by Skinobs