Analysis of yellowish skin color from an optical image and the development of 3D Skin Chroma Diagram

Abstract

Background/purposeThis study was conducted to define yellowish skin color, which is a major concern of Asian women, and to develop a 3D skin-pigment color model. MethodsA total of 22 Korean females were enrolled in this study. These women were asked to use a functional cosmetic product with whitening agents for 8weeks. We photographed the subsurface reflection of each subject's face using polarized light. The color of the subsurface reflection is a result of diffusive light transports that are attenuated by various skin pigments such as melanin, hemoglobin, and skin base colors. In this subsurface photo image, we eliminated the color effects of melanin and hemoglobin distribution by skin color analysis resulting in skin base color. Based on a variety of observed skin base colors from which the melanin and hemoglobin pigments have been removed, we defined a standard skin color for the entire subject group, and then, we gained a particular yellowish skin color by excluding the standard skin color from the skin base color again. ResultsAfter applying whitening cosmetic products, the amount of melanin and hemoglobin was reduced by 7.3% and 18.6%, respectively. Also, through using our new analysis method, yellowish skin color has been improved by 2.8%. We showed the improvement on 3D Skin Chroma Diagram three-dimensionally. ConclusionIt became possible to diagnose yellowish color on human skin and to analyze the improvement in skin tone both quantitatively and visually.