Quantifying dyspigmentation in facial skin ageing: an explorative study.

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Cosmetic Science
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Aging significantly impacts skin melanin, causing dyspigmentation with clinical and psychosocial effects.
• While studied in darker skin, age-related pigmentary changes in fair-skinned Caucasians are less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate age-related facial pigmentation and dyspigmentation in fair-skinned Caucasians (skin phototypes II-III).
• Develop and validate new image-processing parameters for quantifying skin dyspigmentation.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 24 healthy females across three age groups (30-40, 50-60, 70-80 years).
• Measured skin color using Mexameter and Chromameter.
• Assessed skin dyspigmentation via clinical evaluation and novel image analysis parameters on cheeks and forehead.

Main Results:

• Skin lightness decreased with age.
• Clinical dyspigmentation scores positively correlated with chronological age.
• RBX®-Brown transformation-based hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation indices increased with age, while overall pigmentation intensity decreased.

Conclusions:

• Demonstrated age-related facial color and dyspigmentation changes in fair-skinned Caucasian females.
• Confirmed increased dyspigmentation through clinical scoring and RBX® indices.
• Validated the utility of hyper/hypopigmentation indices and overall pigmentation intensity, suggesting RBX® parameters for future studies.