Scanning of skin gloss by a diffractive optical element-based handheld glossmeter

Skin specular gloss (referred to as “gloss’’) determination is important in dermatology and cosmetic industry as it gives an indication of the skin health and beauty. Its accurate determination is, therefore, necessary. Commercially available glossmeters typically employ large incidence angle geometry, large illumination area, and fixed point measurements making them impractical regarding measurement of curved and complex non-planar objects or surfaces as well as low gloss regime such as the skin. In this study, we have demonstrated the novel application of a diffractive optical element-based handheld glossmeter with scanning capability, overcoming the disadvantages of conventional glossmeters, in the accurate determination of skin gloss and gloss profile for different skin types under different measurement conditions. Different parts of the body (back of the hands, the inner part of the arm and the forehead) of four volunteers with light, dark and intermediate skin types were scanned (also in different directions) to obtain the skin gloss profile and the statistical average skin gloss. Additionally, the skin surface was modified by arm extension and scanned as well. Our preliminary results showed that the statistical average skin gloss reading increased with the increasing lightness of skin. Areas with higher sebaceous glands (forehead) showed higher gloss reading than the other body parts (inner arm and back of the hand). However, the roughness of the skin surface decreased the statistical average skin gloss reading. The handheld scanning skin glossmeter allows for the accurate determination of skin gloss with sensitivity to small variation in the skin surface roughness with high repeatability.