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Hi,
Can somebody help me determine how "period after opening test" being done? Does the product undergoes the same process as with stability testing?
It will be great if you can provide protocol for my reference. or at least a site or link.
thank you. :)
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Basically for a lot of people its an educated assessment
If its in an open tub that people can get mucky fingers in, or its something like a mascara, you'll want to be on the safe side of around 3-6M for a high risk product, medium risk products probably around 12-18M, low risk products such as foam baths, aftershaves etc 24-30M
Basically if you've done standard stability testing and are confident that the product will last a minimum of 30 months in good condition when sealed. The microbial challenge testing is AOK for the product intended use it then comes down to the individual characteristics of the product, the packaging, and the intended use
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What Duncan says!Duncan: you say: 'that the product will last a minimum of 30 months in good condition when sealed.'I notices something when shopping in a regular drugstore: most cosmetics nowdays are NOT sold sealed anymore? I even saw some pots with fingerprints in them, probably done by people testing them.Make-up or perfumes seems to be the few exceptions.Any thoughts on that?
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I'm curious, what would happen if the product didn't last as long as claimed? Also, who decides that a product didn't last?For things like sunscreens there is an obvious performance test. But for most other cosmetics there doesn't seem to be any single test that could say, "this passed stability" or "this didn't pass stability"
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@ Eliza, If stock is being opened on shelf and you find evidence of other peoples body parts being dipped in there, I'd change drugstores. Pots of skincare are more commonly foil sealed these days, but bottles to the majority aren't. There is, however, in my opinion a hell of a difference between uncapping a foambath and having a sniff, and what you're seeing. Prehaps the store ought to offer testers.
@ Perry, probably a reasonable person type test. A little bit of colour shift or the fragrance flattening slightly may well be considered reasonable and the average consumer wouldn't notice it. If it's split, curdled and is in need of a shave to remove the fur, I'd say its failed. Same with viscosity shifts that sometimes occur. If its still suitable for use with the pack, I'd say not a problem. If you have to dispense with a hammer, or it covers your boots when opened- its failed.
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Duncan, that's pretty much every drugstore around here, seems to just be common practice. The high end boutiques do seal off and offer testers (like the Aveda and L'Occitane we have here).So you say sniffing a bottle of shampoo should be okay?There is a store here in town called Lush that has got to be one of the dirtiest shops I have ever seen. I saw fur growing on their stuff and they store many of their products naked and everyone touches the stuff. Gross!I would say they fail!Perry, I'd like to know that too and just like Duncan says: it's mostly up to the consumer.
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I can't stand to even walk by a Lush store. The fragrance is just overpowering!
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Some of the Lush products are designed to be kept in the fridge, and have a use by date on them. If they have been left out too long in a hot, sticky shop, they may not fare too well.
They are the exact polar opposite in the market to what I do, so they aren't a competitor to me, and the only time our paths cross is if I walk by their store
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Actually the fragrances from Lush are one of the few things I enjoy, they are very different. But the shop is just tooo much and yucky looking...
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Hi Duncan/Eliza/Perry,
so you are saying that if and when stability testing of product is AOk, then i can safely used standard PAO you mentioned above?
How about the printing of PAO on actual packaging. say for instance, shelf life of mascara is 1 year and PAO is 3M - 6M only, do we need to put in PAO since it is less than 30 months as mentioned on the link provided.
kindly give us your thoughts here.
thanks.
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Shalini, you're welcome.Here is a very helpful link:You need to figure the following things out:-is the shelf life longer than 30 months directly after production if product is kept sealed? (stability testing and a micro lab can tell you more details) Then you can use the PAO symbol-if your shelf life is less than 30 months than you need to use the PAO symbol and the expiration date. The expiration date says how long the product would stay fresh after production if kept sealed.-the type of packaging and application will also influence your PAO, anything that needs to be applied with either fingers or even a spatula/brush/applicator has a much shorter shelf life than cosmetics that are being sprayed or dispensed (airless dispensers are very popular because of that).I hope this helps, it is a pain to figure out!
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What Eliza Said!
Also just as a note I've set typical ranges on the PAO's because all products are different, and I wanted to give an indication of the typical values. If you do put a PAO on a product, it has a single value, such as 3M, 6M etc etc
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