Seasonal skin darkening in Chinese women: the Shanghaiese experience of daily sun protection

Abstract

The facial skin tone of two groups of Chinese women from Shanghai was compared using standard colorimetric space techniques during a 6-month interval between January and July 2011. During the study period, one group of women (n = 40) applied a potent sun-protective cosmetic product daily, while the other group (n = 40) did not use any sun protection. The results, based on images taken using a standardized digital camera coupled to a spectroradiometer, showed that sun protection largely mitigated changes in the components of skin tone, ie, lightness, melanization, and individual typology angle parameters. The skin darkening process appeared to be reduced or prevented in the sun-protected group when compared with the control group. The sun-protected women had participated in an earlier study in 2008, which confirmed that seasonal skin darkening occurs from winter through summer in Shanghaiese women. Comparing the data obtained in the winters of 2008 and 2011, we were able to identify better the impact of 3 years of aging on the components of skin tone. Comparing data between seasons on the same women with (2011 study) and without (2008 study) sun protection highlights the role of the test product in preventing skin darkening.

Characterization of facial skin of various Asian populations through visual and non‐invasive instrumental evaluations: influence of seasons

“…Others have demonstrated that the use of particular cosmetic products or moisturizers during the winter season was able to ameliorate the loss of surface moisture during the cold, dry season . In addition, the use of sun protection products has also been shown to protect against the seasonal darkening observed during summer . It would be worth investigating if the same benefits could also be achieved in the different ethnicities included in this study.…”

“…Asian, Caucasian, etc.) (2,7,19), reflecting a common response to changes in UV exposure regardless of ethnicity.…”

Seasonally‐induced alterations of some facial signs in Caucasian women and their changes induced by a daily application of a photo‐protective product

“…In addition, sun exposures are governed by necessities (residential, occupational factors) and geographical or weather conditions such as latitude, altitude, season, working conditions (indoor vs. outdoor), fluctuations in the weather annual sunshine… Combined, these strongly modulate the flux of ultraviolet (UV) rays and largely extend the palette of individual cases and their consequent variable impact upon skin structure, functions and perceived age (i.e. older or younger than real/chronological age..) . Another work compared the facial signs of French ‘sun‐seekers’ to ‘sun‐phobic’ women living in a very sunny region of France, illustrating how these slight changes (pigmented spots or global skin darkening, wrinkles..) are additional to and how they likely speed up the skin changes that progressively appear along the natural, chronological ageing .…”

“…Combined, these strongly modulate the flux of ultraviolet (UV) rays and largely extend the palette of individual cases and their consequent variable impact upon skin structure, functions and perceived age (i.e. older or younger than real/chronological age..) [12][13][14][15]. Another work [14] compared the facial signs of French 'sun-seekers' to 'sun-phobic' women living in a very sunny region of France, illustrating how these slight changes (pigmented spots or global skin darkening, wrinkles..) are additional to and how they likely speed up the skin changes that progressively appear along the natural, chronological ageing [1][2][3][4][5].…”

Comparison of skin color between two Asian populations: according to latitude and UV exposure

“…These two populations show very similar skin color characteristics, but differ in their living environment. Many reports on the skin color of these two Asian populations exist . However, direct data are difficult to compare by differences in study protocols and conditions.…”