Chart for evaluating skin color and its application to efficacy evaluation of anti-aging and skin lightening products

A stack of charts for evaluating skin color of a mammalian subject comprising:

• (i) at least one chart comprising:
• (a) a substrate;
• and
• (b) an indicia visible from a first side of the substrate and comprising a plurality of adjacent rows, each row comprising a plurality of images of mammalian skin tones having varying degrees of yellowness, wherein each indicia is correlated with an index value, and wherein each of the adjacent rows represents a different facial color shade ranging from light- to dark-complexioned facial color.

A packaged topical cosmetic product comprising:

• (i) a topical cosmetic composition comprising an effective amount of an anti-aging or a skin lightning agent and a carrier;
• (ii) a package for receiving the cosmetic composition;
• and
• (iii) one of:
• (a) a chart for evaluating skin color of a mammalian subject inserted within the package or forming one or more panels of the package, the chart comprising:
• a substrate;
• and the indicia visible from a first side of the substrate and comprising a plurality of images of mammalian skin tones having varying degrees of yellowness, wherein the one or more panels of the package present facial color shades ranging from light- to dark-complexioned facial color;
• or
• (b) a stack of charts for evaluating skin color of a mammalian subject comprising a plurality of charts, wherein each chart represents a different facial color shade ranging from light- to dark-complexioned facial color and comprises:
• (1) a substrate, and
• (2) an indicia visible from a first side of the substrate and comprising a plurality of images of mammalian skin tones having varying degrees of yellowness, wherein each indicia is correlated with an index value;
• or
• (c) a stack of charts for evaluating skin color of a mammalian subject comprising at least one chart comprising:
• (1) a substrate;
• and
• (2) an indicia visible from a first side of the substrate and comprising a plurality of adjacent rows, each row comprising a plurality of images of mammalian skin tones having varying degrees of yellowness, wherein each indicia is correlated with an index value, and
• wherein each of the adjacent rows represents a different facial color shade ranging from light- to dark-complexioned facial color.

A method of creating a chart for evaluating skin color of a mammalian subject comprising:

• (i) analyzing a plurality of facial images for their color properties:
• skin brightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*);
• (ii) measuring the L*, a* and b* values for each analyzed facial image;
• (iii) sorting the measured b* values to show a low-to-high scale;
• (iv) normalizing the measured b* values to the +/−4 sigma range to form a distribution of 1-10 point scale;
• (v) selecting target values for the L* and a* values;
• (vi) selecting facial images that correspond to the distribution of 1-10 point scale, wherein the a* and the L* values are target values for the different b* values at each scale point;
• (vii) printing representative facial images corresponding to the distribution of 1-10 point scale onto a substrate.