Optical tools to assess naturalness of cosmetic films

Developing technologies and cosmetic formulations that mimic the optical properties of healthy, youthful skin is a significant challenge and has been one of the recent key areas of focus in the cosmetic industry. A common tool to assess optical properties of cosmetic formulations involves use of spectrophotometer with an integrating sphere to measure transmittance and opacity. Given that the human face is three‐dimensional and contoured, and that the human eye processes information gathered at many angles, adding a measure that capture the angular behavior of light provides cosmetic scientists with an additional valuable tool. Here we describe addition of wide angle transmittance measurement via goniospectrophotometer to the optical tool kit. Results with soft focus materials and commercially available cosmetic products are reported. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 34, 170–172, 2009