Product safety is Mary Kay Inc.'s highest priority. In a typical year, Mary Kay Inc. spends millions of dollars and conducts more than 300,000 tests to ensure that every Mary Kay^® product meets the highest standards of safety, quality and performance.

By combining a scientific perspective with an understanding of consumer needs and desires, the Mary Kay Research and Development team continually delivers innovative, high-performing products in more than 35 markets worldwide.

Because Mary Kay Inc. performs or supervises every step of the product cycle from inspiration to formulation to distribution, each new product must pass through a series of stringent research and consumer testing procedures. Mary Kay scientists bring their innovative insight to study new ingredients and formulas, and to test them for safety, quality, stability, purity, skin efficacy, product usage, performance and, of course, consumer acceptance.

Scientific experts assess every individual ingredient and every finished product.

This rigorous testing, and retesting, is performed or supervised by members of the Mary Kay Research and Development laboratories, including Ph.D.s and other advanced-degreed scientists in such areas as toxicology, pharmacology, microbiology, chemistry and biochemistry.

Every product decision is based on scientific fact, not opinion.

Mary Kay Inc. relies on proven scientific research utilizing the most advanced technologies available, and the Company will not use any ingredient until our testing has proven it safe and effective for use.

All skin care and cosmetic products are regulated by governmental health and safety authorities.

Before any product is allowed on the market, it must pass stringent government safety requirements. As a matter of principle, Mary Kay Inc. regularly goes beyond what is required by law when it comes to product safety. Mary Kay® is committed to the elimination of animal testing and is a strong advocate of utilizing alternative methods to substantiate the safety of ingredients and products. We do not conduct animal testing on our products or ingredients, nor ask others to do so on our behalf, except when absolutely required by law. For more than two decades, we have been a global leader in helping to develop alternative testing methods for product safety. Read more.

Independent board-certified dermatologists and other medical experts play a vital role in product testing.

Clinical testing is conducted in independent laboratories where volunteers use Mary Kay® products under strict supervision and evaluation by board-certified dermatologists and ophthalmologists. Mary Kay Inc. also conducts extensive laboratory testing to ensure against skin irritancy and allergy and uses state-of-the-art methods to evaluate all products to be used in the eye area.

Clinical and Consumer Evaluation

As part of the Mary Kay Research and Development team, the Clinical
and Consumer Evaluation Department is dedicated to determining the
needs of consumers of Mary Kay® products. They test and measure
the safety, efficiency and overall performance of Mary Kay® products
with consumers and help the Company establish product claims
and benefits.

Clinical Efficacy Testing

Clinical efficacy testing helps support and create product claims used in advertising that help consumers determine and compare the effectiveness
of a product, such as "85 percent saw improvement in skin texture" and "73 percent saw a reduction in fine lines." Tests are conducted by board-certified dermatologists for expert grading of clinical participants.

Clinical Safety Testing

Clinical safety testing evaluates Mary Kay® products with consumers to determine their irritation and allergy potential. These studies are conducted to ensure product safety and to provide consumers with relevant product information, such as whether a product is "suitable for sensitive skin and sensitive eyes," "safe for contact lens wearers" and "non-comedogenic."

Consumer Testing

Mary Kay Inc. listens to what women want. As part of the Company's ongoing commitment to ensure that Mary Kay® products consistently meet or exceed consumer expectations, every year thousands of women use and evaluate Mary Kay® products worldwide, under the direction of consumer science experts, to help the Company better understand the benefits women want from the products they use. Consumer testing also helps determine how Mary Kay® products are viewed by consumers through home-use studies, central-location tests and qualitative focus groups and interviews. These studies help determine how new products work with current products and provide useful insight into how people use a product, how often they use it and what results or improvements they'd like to see.