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Skin Color and Pigmentation

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Agache’s Measuring the Skin

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Abstract

The color of the skin is a commonly used parameter to assess different aspects and conditions of the skin. It depends mainly on its pigment content, on the spectrum of the illuminating light, and on the quality of the cutaneous surface. When light impinges on the skin, a few percents are directly reflected by the surface (specular reflection) whereas entering photons are either absorbed or scattered by different molecules and structures present in the cutaneous layers. The pigments of the skin, also called chromophores, are mainly represented by melanin in the epidermis and by hemoglobin in the dermis. Other molecules such as bilirubin, amino acids, nucleic acids, porphyrins, and carotenoids (endogenously produced) may participate at different levels to the absorbing and reflecting process of the light. The pigmentation of the skin is related to the melanin amount in the keratinocytes. The various contents of melanin in the keratinocytes produce the wide spectrum of human skin color found in the different human races. Two classes of melanins are found in humans: the eumelanins which are brown to black pigments and the phaeomelanins which are yellow to reddish-brown (Fitzpatrick et al. 1979). Melanin absorbs in a decreasing manner from ultraviolet (UV) (highest absorption) to visible light domain. On the other hand, hemoglobin in the dermal microvasculature contributes to the overall skin color with a red dominant for oxygenated hemoglobin and bluish red for reduced hemoglobin. Here again, the hemoglobin contribution to the skin color depends on the melanin amount in the keratinocytes which acts as a neutral filter; it is readily visible in fair-skinned people, and practically not observable in deeply melanized skin (Stamatas et al. 2008; Diffey and Robson 1992).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CPCAD (Centre de Pharmacologie Clinique Appliquée à la Dermatologie), Hôpital L’ARCHET 2, 151, route de Saint Antoine de Ginestière, 06202, Nice Cedex 3, France

    L. Duteil & K. Roussel

  2. Department of Dermatology, Nice CHU Hôpital Pasteur, 06202, Nice Cedex 3, France

    P. Bahadoran

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  1. L. Duteil
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  2. K. Roussel
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  3. P. Bahadoran
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Correspondence to L. Duteil .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medecine Vasculaire Lab. Ingénierie et de Biologie Cutanées, CHU Besancon Service Dermatologie et, Besancon, France

    Philippe Humbert

  2. San Francisco, California, USA

    Howard Maibach

  3. Department of Dermatology, Saint Jacques University Hospital, Besançon, France

    Ferial Fanian

  4. Univ. Besançon Dépt. Dermatologie, Besançon, France

    Pierre Agache

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Duteil, L., Roussel, K., Bahadoran, P. (2015). Skin Color and Pigmentation. In: Humbert, P., Maibach, H., Fanian, F., Agache, P. (eds) Agache’s Measuring the Skin. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26594-0_5-1

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