Prime Highlights
- ELC and Leeds will study visual perception science to identify when subtle skin tone differences are noticeable to consumers.
- The research aims to reduce shade mismatches and support more natural-looking, inclusive complexion products.
Key Facts
- ELC is a global beauty company; the study reflects the emerging field of neurocosmetics applied to product design.
- The project is led by Dr. Kaida Xiao, professor of Color and Imaging Science at the University of Leeds.
Background
The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has collaborated with the University of Leeds in England in investigating the human perception of one’s own skin color to achieve better matches in the tones of skin products. The collaboration seeks to address a long-standing consumer frustration with finding the right makeup shade.
While several beauty companies have turned to artificial intelligence to solve shade-matching issues, ELC is taking a different route. The partnership will use psychophysical methods and visual perception science to study how people notice differences in color, helping identify when subtle tone variations are perceptible to consumers and when they are not.
Claude Saliou, Senior Vice President of Advanced Technologies and Global Clinical & Consumer Sciences at ELC, said understanding how consumers perceive their own skin tone remains a complex scientific challenge, even as measurement precision improves. He added that these insights would help the company refine shade accuracy and develop more natural-looking formulas.
The research is being led by Dr. Kaida Xiao, professor of Color and Imaging Science at Leeds’ School of Design, who will examine gaps between instrument-based color measurement and human visual perception. He described skin color perception as highly complex, shaped by subtle interactions across multiple factors.
This project demonstrates the emerging discipline of neurocosmetics, an application of neuroscience to product development. Unlike previous neurocosmetic attempts that have concentrated on consumer emotion after use of the product, ELC has developed a method to concentrate on perception before formulation commences.
