The term Salon Testing is commonly used within the cosmetic industry to describe the testing of hair care products on human panelists by trained evaluators in a salon setting. Intended to provide objective clinical data, Salon Testing is part of the continuum of testing (Ref., FIGURE 1.), which is designed to gradually surrender experimental control in order to more closely approximate actual conditions of product usage.
This continuum of testing begins with the accurate in-vitro evaluation of single performance properties on an isolated basis under well controlled conditions. Such testing provides highly objective, reproducible and important information; however, it fails to assess the impact of real-life conditions. In order to achieve more practical results, test methods must yield some degree of control and objectivity while still maintaining the scientific principles of study design and data analysis. This becomes both increasingly difficult and critical with each successive surrender of objectivity and control.