The Science of Color Matching In Beauty: Deep Dive Into Melanin & Melanocyte Facts⁣ Everyone Should Know

3 min readNov 24, 2022

Melanoblasts that develop into melanocytes are predominantly found in the basal layer of skin epidermis and hair follicles (Cichorek M., et.al. 2013) and can be identified by the expression of melanocyte-specific markers.⁣

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𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣 (𝙨𝙮𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙙𝙤𝙥𝙖𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙨) 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙨: 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙚𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙮𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙡-𝙙𝙤𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙮𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣.⁣

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higher overall melanin density results in darker skin ( Haider S., et.al. 2014) but the eumelanin to pheomelanin ratio also contributes to the differences seen in human skin pigmentation.⁣

https://images.app.goo.gl/qjpy8Js1xcZKWdX96

Individuals with melanocytes that make more pheomelanin than eumelanin tend to have lighter skin that is more prone to blistering and burning. Skin that has pheomelanin also produces more reactive oxygen species. (Okazaki S., et.al. 2015)⁣

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Pigmentation is known to be regulated by more than 125 (Lin J.Y., et.al. 2007).⁣

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𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:⁣

I wonder if this explains our “undertone” because of the ratio of the two melanin molecules discussed above. I think one of the important area of investment for all skincare and makeup companies focusing on color matching or tackling hyperpigmentation is to realize the importance of at least mimicking the human body’s engineering. We will never reach a level of inclusivity in what we sell to the masses because we don’t want to evolve our technologies to mimic cellular phenomena which are basically “blending” our skin shade for us (I.e.if you want your shade range to expand then you need to get the technology of creating a variation of undertones.)⁣

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There can’t be ONE NEUTRAL undertone because neutral does not mean the same for each person.⁣

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there cannot be ONE sunscreen because some people are more predisposed to sun damage and would need adequate dosing and perhaps specific defense additions to the formulation. ⁣

And here is my shameless plug for you to go check out our latest episode with 4.5.6 Skin Founder- A line SPECIFICALLY designed for skin types 4,5,6 (deeper and melanin rich).