Consumer Reports Archives Exhibitions

 Summary of Test on Lipstick, 1957

Lipstick Tester

Lipstick Testing:

In the early decades of Consumer Reports, product evaluations were diligently recorded and logged in detailed data journals. Here you can see records detailing the various grading metrics from a series of lipstick tests conducted in the late 1950s. 

Consumer Reports’ engineers frequently designed and built their own equipment, allowing for controlled and consistent testing. One such invention was this lipstick tester from the 1980s. Created in-house, this tester provided researchers the ability to measure qualities such as durability, smudge resistance, and ease of application.   

Engineers continued to design specialized apparatus tailored to new product categories, while meticulous record keeping ensured that results could be compared across decades. This combination of innovation and archival discipline allowed Consumer Reports to refine its methods, expand its scope, and maintain a trusted standard of transparency and rigor.

Set-up for dynamic child seat test diagram, 1970s

Child Restraints:

Over time, Consumer Reports’ practice of developing custom-built testing equipment had expanded across nearly every area of research. When the need arose to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of children’s car seats, engineers constructed their own dashboards, replicating the designs of major automobile manufacturers of the time. By building bespoke testing equipment and environments, Consumer Reports testers were able to ensure greater consistency and reliability across multiple trials, without the need to crash full-sized vehicles for each test.