and center view. Digital photographs taken under cross-polarized
lighting at baseline and week 12 were subjected to image analysis to assess skin tone evenness. The analysis was done using proprietary macros developed by Stephens & Associates
using Image Pro Plus v7 software (Media Cybernetics, Inc., Rockville, Maryland). Skin tone evenness analysis quantifies the variation of color intensity on defined areas of the face and reports skin tone evenness index, which is defined as the average
of (standard deviation)2/(5*average intensity) of each color channel. Lower index value indicates more even skin tone. The cheek area from left view photos were selected for analysis.
RESULTS
A statistically significant improvement was detected by the expert
grader for all clinical grading criteria assessed at weeks 8 and 12 for the multi-ingredient anti-aging moisturizer when compared to baseline scores (Figures 3-6). This criteria includes: fine lines, wrinkles, clarity/brightness, visual roughness, tactile roughness, evenness of skin tone (redness), evenness of skin tone (hyperpigmentation) and overall appearance. After 12 weeks of twice daily use:
These improvements were captured through digital photographs
taken before and after 12 weeks of product usage. As
shown in Figures 7 and 8, features such as reduction in fine lines and wrinkles, improvement in skin tone evenness, improvement in visual smoothness, improvement in clarity/brightness, and improvement in overall appearance, are visible. In addition, objective
and quantitative assessment of skin tone evenness using image analysis indicated that 78% of subjects showed an improvement
in skin tone evenness with an average improvement of 8.6% after 12 weeks of product use. This change is statistically significant and consistent with clinical grading results (Figure 9).
