Quantifying Shiny Skin: Image Analysis to Assess Makeup Deterioration

Foundation and other types of base makeup perform an important function by preventing makeup deterioration caused by perspiration and sebum, so as to preserve a beautiful, even makeup finish. Makeup deterioration can lead to a host of unwanted effects, including dulling of color, creasing, and conspicuous pores, but the problem that plagues women most is the shine caused by the accumulation of sebum. We set about developing a technique to accurately measure the area and intensity of the skin shine perceived by the naked eye.

We began by equipping a conventional camera with color filters to develop a multiband camera in order to capture images closely resembling what is perceived by the naked eye. In the regions of shine, we defined the area of shine by focusing on sharp changes in brightness and applying an edge detection method that makes use of Laplacian Gaussian filter. We validated this image processing method by confirming that the area of shine in the processed image largely corresponded to the area identified visually by ordinary women. Through multiple regression using the area ratio of shiny to non-shiny regions and the ratio of their average brightness, we were able to derive a value expressing the intensity of the skin shine visible to the human eye. We will continue exploring assessment methods grounded in the user’s viewpoint to aid in the development of highly effective products. This research won the 2014 Color Science Association of Japan award for outstanding paper.

Validity of shine-area assessment