THE PROMISE AND THE PRODUCT 507 To THE FUTURE Total quality assurance For the future we see a new concept of Total Quality Assurance which will be difficult to attain, but which must be our permanent target. We shall fall short from time to time, but--as I said at the I.F.S.C.C. in Londonreit must never be due to lack of effort or forethought (7). On that occasion I defined Quality Assurance as meaning that the promises offered by a pro- duct were valid and would continue to be valid. These promises will include aspects of physical performance--perhaps fundamental like hair colouring, perhaps trivial like the ability to pour out of a bottle from a cold bathroom shelf--these we can, and must, measure and be capable of supporting. There is also an implied promise of emotional satisfaction when the right target group is reached. Such satisfactions are not and should not be universal. And even the same person in different moods seeks different subjective satisfaction. There are some sherry drinkers who only drink Tio Pepe, some who only like Bristol Cream, and some who like one one day and one the other. And some who prefer the middle ground. But given an adequate physical quality in alcohol content, who would say there is a universal best? We carried out an interesting little clinical trial on toothbrush design and the cleaning of teeth. It provided a little information on design, but the main conclusion was that, when unsupervised, people cleaned their teeth best with the brush they themselves liked best. Proof in a scientific sense is lacking that similar considerations apply to toothpaste flavour vis-g-vis gum health or shampoo performance vis-g-vis dandruff, but the converse is well known. A caries-reduction trial carried out with a product that makes the user sick will show a nil result however good the in vitro physical evaluation. Quality Assurance then must include not only objective performance, including of course safety and storage stability, but also maintenance of the subjective qualities which are a part of the promise. The future of Evahtation Science We have already widely accepted, often welcomed, the demands for better substantiation of promises. This not only means assembly of evaluation

508 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS packages, but also publication of test methods and protocols so that they may be judged by the international jury of fellow-scientists. Extending the demand for substantiation to the emotional values and the interaction terms is a challenge not only to us, but also to authorities who seek to reduce a matter of high emotional content to millilitres and picogrammes. Yet are we not concerned in our business of providing 'social anal- gesics' with the very quality of life? (8). And safeguarding this is one of the most important challenges to industry now and in the future. If, as I believe, industry will eventually spend a larger proportion of its resource on research for the good of the quality of life of the community, the evaluation scientist will be leading the way (9). For he, or she, will be trying to measure our success. Success to-day has already been greater than many people appreciate and my final plea is that Evaluation Science be given responsible, forward- looking, support from all concerned. (Received: 6th March 1975) REFERENCES (1) Horowitz, H. S., Baume, L. J., Backer Dirks, O., Davies, G. N. and Slack, G. L. Principal requirements for controlled clinical trials of caries preventive agents and procedures. Intern. Dental J. 23 506 (1973). (2) Wedderburn, D. L. and Prall, J. K. Hair product evaluation: from laboratory bench to consumer and back again. J. $oc. Costnet. Chem. 24 561 (1973). (3) Prall, J. K. Evaluation of the effectiveness of cosmetic shampoos. Preprint of scienti/ic papers, 6th congress of the IFSCC, Barcelona, 2 958 (1970). (4) Bull, W. H., Callender, R. M., Pugh, B. R. and Wood G. D. The abrasion and cleaning properties of dentifrices. Brit. Dental J. 125 331 (1968). (5) Wilkinson, J. B. and Pugh, B. R. Toothpastes--cleaning and abrasion. J. Soc. Cosmet. Chem. 21 595 (1970). (6) IFSCC Constitution: Article I, Section 2, para. (f). J. Soc. Cosmet. Chem. 20 227 (1969). (7) Cosmetics industry faces up to the threat of restrictive legislation. Chem. Drug. 202 296 (31 Augus0 (1974). (8) The Time.t: 30.8.74. (9) Wilkinson, J. B. Industrial R & D--the changing environment. Chem. Br#. 9 264 (June) (1973).