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Personal Care

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Product innovation is the key to success in cosmetic industry. Meanwhile, regulatory authorities and consumers are demanding higher quality, safety and efficacy standards for cosmetic raw materials and final products. Fast and state-of-the-art product development, assuring good stability, compatibility and tolerance while combining appealing and proven claims are key requirements for the success of new active ingredients and cosmetic products.

To help cosmetic industries face this challenge, Luminor Labs presents a broad range of R&D services, including formulation development, stability studies, efficacy, SPF, safety and consumer tests of active ingredients, cosmetic textiles and finished cosmetic products, consulting services and regulatory affairs.

Our strengths

A multidisciplinary team (pharmacists, biochemists, bio-technologists, doctors, engineers, biostatisticians, etc.) with skills and know-how to assure the scientific excellence you need;
An extensive database of Caucasian, Negroid and Asian volunteers, with different skin types, vast age groups, and improved recruiting skills for fast recruitment and enrollment to clinical trials;
Modern facilities, including laboratory and exam rooms fully equipped, controlled and adjustable to each type of study;
State-of-the-art equipment to assess bio-mechanical properties of skin and hair, imaging analysis software and high definition images for marketing;
A strong network of partners, including universities, research institutes, dental clinic and hospitals to offer you a wide-ranging expertise and the latest techniques.

R&D around the clock

Founded by two experienced researchers, R&D plays an important role at Luminor Labs. Our R&D department constantly develops new methods to assess skin and hair properties and thus bringing new ways of supporting your claims and allowing Luminor Labs to provide highly customized and innovative services.

Formulation Development

To help our clients innovate, achieving fully customized, innovative, stable, safe, effective and regulatory compliant products, we provide formulation development services.

Listening to the market and to the consumers’ needs and expectations is the main drive to develop new products, new textures, new “skin feels”. We start by looking for the best active ingredients and excipients to use, designing a theoretical formulation for each product. Then, the experimental procedure takes place and formulations are optimized according to organoleptic and sensorial characteristics, preliminary stability studies and of course, according to the client’s input.

skin care – hair care – toiletries – sun protection – after sun – oral care – make-up

Cosmetic products are all about the appearance, the touch, the comfort, therefore reaching the desired texture is of outermost importance during a formulation development. We are experts in developing different textures and products such as emulsions, very rich or really light, ointments, lotions, oils, gels, gel-creams, bb creams, products for sensitive skin, baby products, among many others.

We can also improve your pre-existing formulas, optimizing stability profile, skin feel, tolerance or even regulatory compliance.

Quality Control & Stability

As cosmetic products need to be stable along storage time and during its use by the final consumer, we provide:

Preliminary stability test
Accelerated stability test (3-months or 6-months)
Stability test in real time conditions
Period After Opening (PAO) theoretical estimation
PAO determination (lab test)
Product/packaging compatibility test;
Stability studies in customized conditions.

Samples are submitted to different conditions of accelerated ageing (thermic and physical stress), and the subsequent alterations are evaluated by microbiological, physical and chemical assays.

The microbiological control of cosmetics is also crucial for most type of products therefore inovapotek also performs:

Microbiological control.
Challenge tests.
Detection of pathogens.

Safety Testing

Cosmetics including toiletries, skin care and sunscreen products can cause adverse skin reactions. Each new raw material, active ingredient and cosmetic product should be submitted to thorough safety assessment. To accomplish this need, inovapotek can perform several safety tests.

In vivo

Acute cutaneous irritation test (patch test)
Confirmation of the skin compatibility and absence of allergenic potential (HRIPT) (hypoallergenicity test)
Compatibility test (open test)
Tolerance test under dermatologic control
Tolerance test under gynecologic control
Periocular tolerance test under ophthalmologic control
Single ocular instillation study with ophthalmologic control (“tear-free” test)
Non-acnegenicity & non-comedogenicity test
Stinging test
Stinging test in damaged skin
Photosensitization test (photopatch test)

Vivo tests may include:

Clinical control (dermatologic, gynaecologic, ophthalmologic and/or dentist control);
Scoring of skin reactions (e.g. ICDRG allergenicity evaluation scale);
Objective biometric measurements, such as TransEpidermal Water Loss, skin colour evaluation, etc.;
Subjective evaluation by the volunteers, through evaluation questionnaires.

Besides our standard tests we can also develop customized protocols to accomplish our clients’ needs.

SPF Testing

The determination of the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) and of the UVA Protection Factor (UVA-PF) of a sun protection product is a crucial step before its placing on the market. inovapotek provides SPF testing according to international standards, such as:

SPF in vivo determination according to ISO 24444
SPF in vivo determination according to FDA method
SPF in vitro estimation – to screen between different formulations during development
UVA in vitro determination according to ISO 24443
UVA in vitro determination according to FDA method
SPF boosting efficacy determination

Consumer Testing

Cosmetic products must not only be stable, safe and efficient but also pleasant for the consumer. The evaluation of cosmetic products’ acceptability by consumers, after its use under pre-defined conditions, is of great value to complement the efficacy and safety evaluations and to predict sales’ success.

Luminor Labs conducts acceptability studies, through questionnaires, including the evaluation of:

Organoleptic characteristics (color, odor, aspect, texture, spreadability, absorption rate, skin feel, etc.);
Efficacy and intensity of perceived effects;
Tolerance;
Future use intentions.

Customized questionnaires are developed to fulfil the expectations of each client.

R&D Projects

Product innovation is the key to success in cosmetic industry. Innovation can arise from new active ingredients, new combination of actives with synergetic effects, formulation technology, product delivery or even new claims. Fast and state-of-the-art product development, assuring good stability, compatibility and tolerance while combining appealing and proven claims are key requirements for the success of new active ingredients and cosmetic products.

inovapotek experts are experienced in management and execution of R&D projects such as:

Development of new active ingredients from natural sources;
Development of new cosmetic products formulations;
Development of new methods to assess skin, hair and nails properties and thus bringing new claims to our client’s products.

Besides providing outsourcing services, inovapotek develops R&D projects in collaboration with worldwide scientific and technological institutions, other R&D companies, cosmetic industries, being the perfect SME partner for consortium R&D projects.

Let us together build a flourishing business

Listening to our clients and understanding their demands is a key point to improve our work and become more innovative and able to meet our clients’ needs. After the completion of each study, we invite our customers to fill-in a study validation questionnaire, where they are welcomed to give their feedback on our studies.