“The sensory qualities of a cosmetic product are essential nowadays and consequently sensory analysis methods are being used more to support projects more efficiently, according to a new paper.

For over 30 year cosmetic companies have implemented the sensory assessment to validate the formulation of cosmetic products, and now Dr Anne-Marie Pensé-Lhéritier has reviewed some of the latest alternative methods available, publishing her paper in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science .

Sensory assessment is important in a product’s development as it allows marketing, R&D, and quality control teams to adopt a common method dedicated to creativity, development and production of cosmetic products.
In the past, this meant descriptive sensory profiling allowing an experienced panel to assess the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of a product in order to get a more accurate image of the product.

However, given the new demands of the industrial world and the new innovation paths – which mean shorter development times, complex products, or willingness to include the consumers in the process – a need to access new methods has arisen.

And so, Dr Pensé-Lhéritier reviewed some of the alternative methods that are being developed to allow faster sensory positioning and earlier screening of the prototype products – namely the flash profile, the pivot profile, and the check all that apply (CATA) methods – all of which are being developed to allow faster sensory positioning and earlier screening of the prototype products.