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Science

Understanding Your Skin Radiance Score

Liyuan Ji

Lead Formulation Chemist at Revea, Masters in Pharmaceutical Science

October 21, 2022

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radiant: adj.

1a. radiating rays or reflecting beams of light 1b. vividly bright and shining

2. marked by or expressive of love, confidence, or happiness1

There are few words that describe so eloquently that sense of inner beauty expressed outward. It’s hard to describe, butyou know it when you see it. Skin radiance is that lovely glow we instinctively associate with healthy, vibrant skin. Whenyou are truly happy, you are radiant.

As utterly poetic as it may seem, it’s also within reach. In the search for a universal language, we’ve taken an analyticalapproach, applied the best science we could find, and created the Skin Radiance Score.

What is Radiance?

Skin radiance is all about light. More precisely, it’s a measure of how light interacts with your skin.

Radiance is determined by the amount of light reflected at the skin surface, whether dry or shiny; the amount of light absorbed by the pigment in your skin; and the amount of light scattered back to the surface by collagen fibers in the innermost layers, which is what gives the soft, dewy glow.2

How do we measure it?

The radiance we sense at the surface is the result of many biological responses. It’s a reflection of the skin’s health state, with aspects visible to the naked eye—wrinkles, spots, rosy cheeks—and aspects that we don’t easily see—accumulated sun damage over time, the state of your skin barrier holding on to vital moisture, the distribution of certain microorganisms on your face, or the energy supply / oxygen saturation in your skin.

Using patented technology developed by our scientists in Copenhagen and imaging devices used in advanced clinical labs, we look deeper, beyond the surface, to reveal what’s influencing your skin’s health.

To empower every individual with the ability to track these metrics, we created the Skin Radiance Score.

How is the Skin Radiance Score calculated?

In our Precision Skin Analysis, we evaluate 6 key parameters: Hydration, Skin Tone, Skin Texture, Energy Supply, Skin Milieu, and Dermal Fibers. Each of these factors combine for an overall Radiance Score, or the general impression of your skin. We employ a multitude of imaging and measurement modalities to assess these biological parameters as precisely as possible.

We’re not just talking about checking water concentration at the surface, but actually evaluating your skin barrier’s current ability to retain moisture. Texture is assessed using technologies like parallel polarized imaging to zoom into the skin surface and really see how much light is scattered at the skin surface. We approach the skin as the 3-dimensional structure it is and create a hyperspectral fingerprint that shows the light interaction happening in your skin, layer by layer.

It’s only by measuring these underlying biological characteristics of the skin, that we can truly identify root causes and determine the best way to optimize personal radiance.

How can we improve our Score?

At every moment, your skin is living, breathing, producing oil, evaporating moisture, and accompanied by an entire ecosystem of microorganisms. Enhancing your natural radiance is all about optimizing the 6 parameters in a fine-tuned harmony.

Based on the results obtained from the Precision Skin Analysis, a patented AI data pipeline predicts the most efficient ingredient combination for your specific skin profile.

Using state-of-the-art machine learning and statistical approaches to analyze the individual skin measurements, the Revea AI assigns relative weights to the individual skin needs, creates a priority ranking, and determines the ideal combination of active ingredients that will work together and accurately target each concern.

By bringing moisture and oil back in balance and creating a smoother texture, your skin gains a subtle lightness and warm softness.

By evening out skin tone and minimizing local patches of redness from sensitivity or breakouts, your best features assume the spotlight.

By stimulating the formation and structural density of collagen fibers in the deeper layers of the skin, you enhance the effect of an inner radiance, for skin that seems softly lit from within.

Does any of this even matter?

Why do we even care? It’s a good question, and one we can’t really answer for you. That said, we do love a good logical approach, so here is some clinical food for thought:

Psychological studies have shown that people with radiant faces are more likely to be perceived as being healthy and happy, and even more likely to get compliments.3

Scientific studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have shown that our brains are indeed wired to find faces with radiant skin more attractive than those with oily-shiny or matte-dull skin.3

Radiance is a combination of optical features reflected from the face, but it’s also a psychological interpretation of what we associate with health and vibrance. Thus, radiance is considered an important cue for positive social interaction.3

References

[1] Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Radiant. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved June 26, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/radiant

[2] Jeudy A., Ecarnot V., Humbert P. (2017) Measurement of Skin Radiance. In: Humbert P., Fanian F., Maibach H., Agache P. (eds) Agache's Measuring the Skin. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32383-1_17

[3] Sakano Y, Wada A, Ikeda H, Saheki Y, Tagai K, Ando H. Human brain activity reflecting facial attractiveness from skin reflection. Sci Rep. 2021;11(1):3412. Published 2021 Feb 22. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-82601-w