Occasional censuring of the cosmetic industry by dermatologists points up the need to explain the background governing the actions of the cosmetic chemist when he develops a product for sale to the mass market. This is a very different milieu from that of the dermatologist who normally deals with, and reports on, a clinical population of limited size. As part of an extensive paper on safety aspects of cosmetics sold to the general population,1 I recently estimated that Americans are currently applying some form of cosmetic or toiletries product (excluding soap and toothpaste) at the rate of at least 160 applications yearly per capita. Surely this is the ultimate of all "repeated insult" tests, and it therefore behooves cosmetic chemists and dermatologists to work together to see that these products are as safe as possible. Although we all agree that cosmetics and toiletries are not necessary to the survival