Designing a suitable stability protocol in the face of a changing retail landscape

Many recommended stability practices have been unchanged for decades and yet the retail landscape has considerably evolved during that time. First, as a result of the rise of social media and second in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic. This article reviews the published guidelines available to the cosmetic scientist when developing a suitable stability protocol and considers them in the context of a changing retail landscape. It sets the context with a background to stability testing and a summary of the relevant regulations across different territories. It outlines the current recommended guidelines for stability testing as stated in publications, including the International Federation of the Societies of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC) monograph and Cosmetics Europe. Modern advances in stability testing are also considered including early stability prediction techniques. The article concludes that accelerated stability testing is not a precise science, rather a prediction of shelf life. Scientists must consider the various modes of transport, sizes of shipments and regulation in the country of destination as well as the new and emerging ways of consumer production interaction when developing a suitable stability protocol for their formulation.