Personalized facial care ≠ personalized facial care

DID YOU KNOW that a skin measurement via app (face scan) is a photo or video of the face - nothing more and nothing less? Pigmentation and pore size can be seen from a photo. Good products can be offered based on this for pigmentation. The size of pores, even if it is often claimed, is genetically determined and cannot be changed in the long term with care products (unless you clog them, which, only visually, works in the short term and is bad for the skin).

Scanning the skin in the ultraviolet range would be an option. This can be used, for example, to measure the porphyrins on the skin. A very interesting reading for anti-acne products. However, we are not aware of any smartphone that covers the ultraviolet range with the necessary resolution of the spectral lines.

We also noticed that it is often claimed that moisture, elasticity, firmness, etc. are measured with a face scan - this is not technically possible. Statements that artificial intelligence (AI) or image processing software calculate the humidity etc. based on the photo are also incorrect. A photo does not provide the database with which an AI could work. There are physical limits to the measurement using photos.

Essentials: Assessing skin condition using a questionnaire also has its limits. Over the last six years of our research at the Fraunhofer Institute and at Dermatest, we have had test subjects assess their skin condition. The result is that 85% of those surveyed completely misjudged their skin condition. Our finding is that people are generally not able to correctly assess the condition of their skin. Regardless of this study, a human assessment of skin condition would be a visual assessment similar to face scans, which has the same physical limitations, e.g. B. deeper layers of skin and cells cannot be detected. Questionnaires are therefore not useful as a means of determining skin.

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WOW, at skinmade we use a hyperspectral measuring device that non-invasively records the depths of the skin using light and measures the biomarkers of moisture and fat content. Especially with the biomarker moisture, it is essential to reach the lower layers of the skin.

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IMPORTANT: when it comes to personalized facial care, the scientific and technical level of skin measurement is crucial!