PERSONAL CARE PRODUCT

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method for evaluating the harshness and/or mildness of a personal care product, such as hair or skin products.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Consumers understand that many personal care products provide useful benefits, but also contain ingredients that can be harsh to the skin.

There is a need for a simple visual method of evaluating the harshness and/or mildness of personal care products. Summary of the Invention

The invention provides a method for evaluating the harshness and/or mildness of a personal care product, the method comprising :- i) selecting a flower with a stem;

ϋ) treating the flower with a personal care product;

ill) rinsing the flower with water;

iv) placing the stem of the treated flower into water for a period of time; and

evaluating the harshness and/or mildness of the personal care product by visual assessment of the treated flower.

Preferably the treatment step ii) utilises a personal care product that is mixed with water prior to treatment.

Preferably the treatment step ii) utilises a aqueous solution of a personal care product dosed at between 10 and 90 wt.% of the treatment solution. Preferably the treatment step ii) lasts from 1 to 60 minutes, preferably from 5 to 30 minutes.

Preferably the period of time for step iv) is from 1 to 8 days, preferably from 3 to 6 days.

Preferably the personal care product is selected from products intended to application to the hair and /or skin. Preferably after step iv), the evaluation comprises a visual assessment

comparison of the treated flower to a second different flower of the same type that undergoes the identical process save only that the second flower is treated with water instead of the personal care product in step ii). Preferably after step iv), the evaluation comprises a visual assessment

comparison of the treated flower to a second different flower of the same type that undergoes the identical process save only that the second flower is treated with a second different personal care product. Preferably the flower is from the genus Rosa.

Preferably a photograph, video and/or digital media recording is taken of the flower after treatment with the personal care product, and said photograph, video and/or digital media recording is compared to a photograph and/or video from other different flower(s) treated with either other different personal care product(s), or to a water control treatment.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The method of the invention provides a visually compelling evaluation of the harshness and/or mildness of various personal care products. Moreover the method allows easy comparison of different personal care products when done side-by-side, or when the results of the treatment are recorded in photographs or video media.

The method involves first selecting a flower with stem. Usefully, but not necessarily this can be a cut flower. The flower with the stem attached is still alive for a period of time thereafter (generally from a few days up to 2 weeks).

The flower may be any flower type. For best results, a flower that has numerous petals is preferred. Flowers of the genus Rosa are very useful in this method.

The flower when treated is preferably at a stage between flower bud and fully opened flower. More preferably the flower is just beginning to open.

The flower is treated with a personal care product. Preferably the personal care product is selected from products intended to application to the hair and /or skin. These include hair care products, e.g. shampoos and conditioners, body wash products, and deodorant or antiperspirant products.

The treatment step ii) of the method preferably utilises an aqueous mixture of the personal care product, more preferably a aqueous solution whereby the personal care product is dosed at between 10 to 90 wt.% of the aqueous treatment solution.

The treatment step ii) preferably lasts from 1 and 60 minutes, more preferably from 5 to 30 minutes.

After treatment, the flower is rinsed with water, and the stem of the flower is placed into water for a period of time. As the flower is still alive, it will continue to open when the stem is kept in the water (depending on how much damage has been done by the treatment phase), and after a period of time, the flower can be visually assessed to evaluate the harshness of the personal care product. In this fashion, different personal care formulations can be assessed as harsher or milder and compared to each other.

The period of time in which the flower is placed in water after treatment is preferably from 1 to 8 days, more preferably from 3 to 6 days. These time periods reflect the time period in which a flower with a stem will survive after being removed from the main plant. Depending on the ingredients and strength of the product used for treatment, the harshness of the product will show up as damage caused to the flower immediately or sometimes after a short a period time. The preference for leaving the treated flower in water for a longer period of time (i.e. from 1 to 8 days) is so that the visual aspect of the damage caused by the harshness of the personal care product is more pronounced and more easily seen by a consumer, and in the same fashion, the mildness of the personal care product can also be assessed in comparison.

The method requires treatment using a personal care product. Preferably the personal care product is selected from products intended to application to the hair and /or skin. These include hair treatment products, such as shampoos, conditioners, and hair and scalp care treatment products; skin products such as body washes, facial washes and skin creams as well as deodorant and

antiperspirant products intended for application in the underarm and/or feet area.

The method of the invention can be used to assess harshness and/or mildness of a personal care product by using a flower treated with the personal care product. Although the harshness and/or mildness of the product can be seen in this way according to the damage inflicted to the flower, it is preferred if there is a comparison to a control untreated flower. In a preferred method, the flower treated according to the invention is compared to a flower treated according to the same process, but treated with water instead of the personal care product. So preferably after step iv), the evaluation comprises a visual assessment comparison of the treated flower to a second different flower of the same type that undergoes the identical process save only that the second flower is treated with water instead of the personal care product in step ii).

In a similar fashion, multiple comparisons can be carried out using flowers treated with different personal care products under identical conditions.

So preferably after step iv), the evaluation comprises a visual assessment comparison of the treated flower to a second different flower of the same type that undergoes the identical process save only that the second flower is treated with a second different personal care product.

To aid visual comparison, or to enable comparisons between products tested at different times, the results are recorded visually, e.g. by way of a photograph, video or digital media recording.

Thus preferably a photograph, video or digital media recording is taken of the flower after treatment with the personal care product, and said photograph, video and/or digital media recording is compared to a photograph, video and/or digital media recording from other different flower(s) treated with either other different personal care product(s), or to a water control treatment.

The Examples will now be illustrated with reference to the following non-limiting Examples

Examples

The invention will be illustrated by the following examples showing the advantages of the invention. Example 1 - Beauty shampoo

A photograph was taken of a rose flower. The rose flower is fully inserted into 50 wt.% solution of the personal care product (in this example a shampoo for the hair) and soaked for 30 minutes. The flower was then gently rinsed with water and the stem of the flower kept in water for 5 days to fully develop any damage to the flower petals. Photographs were taken after 3 and 5 days to enable assessment of damage, and hence harshness and/or mildness of the personal care product could be assessed. A control (untreated) example was treated in the same way, just with water instead of a solution of shampoo.

The 3 test products used in example 1 were:-

A. Untreated (treated according to the method, using water)

B. Beauty shampoo (14% Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate (SLES); 1 .6%

Cocamidopropyl Betaine (CAP-B))

C. Mild shampoo (8% DEFI - a mix of Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Coconut Fatty Acid and minors; 6% SLES, 3% CAP-B)

The results after 3 and 5 days showed that the milder shampoo caused much less damage to the rose flower than the beauty shampoo. The comparison could be made directly between the 2 rose flowers 'B' and 'C and also by comparing the flower after 3 or 5 days against the same flower before treatment to assess the difference in harshness/mildness of the personal care product.

Example 2 - Anti-dandruff shampoo

The test method was the same as for example 1 .

The 3 test products used in example 2 were:-

D. Untreated (treated according to the method, using water)

E. Anti-dandruff shampoo based on the beauty shampoo (1 % Zinc pyrithione;

0.5% climbazole; 14% SLES; 1 .6% CAP-B) F. Anti-dandruff shampoo based on the mild shampoo (1 % Zinc pyrithione; 0.5% climbazole; 8% DEFI; 6% SLES, 3% CAP-B)

In a similar fashion to example 1 , the results for example 2 after 3 and 5 days showed that the milder shampoo caused much less damage to the rose flower than the beauty shampoo. The comparison could be made directly between the 2 rose flowers Έ' and 'F' and also by comparing the flower after 3 or 5 days against the same flower before treatment to assess the difference in harshness/mildness of the personal care product.

The results of Example 2 could also be compared to the results of example 1 to shown that the addition of anti-dandruff actives to the shampoo do result in a much harsher personal care product, but that the additional harshness of the anti- dandruff shampoo can be mitigated somewhat by use of a milder shampoo base.