Skin Tone Chart - Bảng Sắc Màu Da

The skin is the largest organ in the human body. It helps maintain our body temperature, protects us from the infinite infections, and makes us all look like humans and not science freaks. The human skin color has many different color tones. Skin color is totally genetic and similar in those sharing a common race. It is seen that people who belong to tropical regions have darker skin tones than those who live in middle latitudes. This is due to the exposure of the ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Darker the skin tone, more the melanin present in the skin to protect it from skin cancer.

The difference in skin color is not only genetic, but also cultural. The human skin tone color can vary from a nearly colorless pigmentation to a very dark brown color. It is seen that Europeans have a lighter skin, hair and eyes. Those of African origin have darker skin, hair and eyes. Environment factors also play a huge role in determining skin tone color. Fitzpatrick (1975) proposed 6 skin types that were listed according to the decrease in lightness. The following skin tone chart will help you find your skin color tone belongs to which standard Fitzpatrick skin types.

Skin Color Terminology

Skin tone chart has been used to identify races since a long, long time. According to Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752 - 1840), one of the founders of scientific racism theories, there are five color typology for the human race. He divided the human race according to the following skin tone terminology:

• White People: These belonged to the Caucasian or white race
• Black People: These belonged to the Ethiopian or black race
• Yellow People: These people belonged to the Mongolian or yellow race
• Cinnamon Brown or Flame Colored People: They belonged to the Malay or brown race

These people were placed according to the physical similarities by Blumenbach like: Caucasian who were followed by the Americans, followed by Mongolian who were followed by Malayan and they were followed by the Ethiopians.

The metaphor 'black' was first used by the end of 17th century after Francois Bernier (1625 - 1688), a French doctor divided the human race according to facial appearance and body type. Bernier proposed 4 categories called the Europeans, Far Easterners, Lapps and Blacks. The scientific model was developed in 18th century by Carolus Linnaeus who gave four main races. He proposed the Europeans as the white race, the Asiatic as the yellow race, The Americanus as the red race and the Africanus as the black race. Blumenbach, the founder of anthropology and a protege of Linnaeus came up with the Malay as the brown race for the Polynesians and Melanesians of Pacific Islands and aborigines of Australia.

There are many beauty products available today, that help one change their skin tone according to choice. These skin creams include whitening cream for body and face creams like face whitening creams. If you too are trying to ligten skin tone, then the lighten skin tone naturally will prove to be a useful read.

Skin Tone Color Chart

Skin Tone	Type	Color	Pigment	Sunburn	von Luschan Scale
	I	Light	Pale white skin, may have freckles with red, brown or blond hair. The eye color may be blue, brown, green or gray. For example: Very pale Caucasian, freckles, or Albino	The skin often suffers from sunburns and tanning is rare.	1-5
	II	Fair or light skinned European	White skin with light or dark hair color. The eye colors are usually seen are blue, green, hazel, brown or gray eyes. For example: Fair-skinned Caucasian	Usually burns and tanning is seen sometimes	6-10
	III	Medium, dark skinned European	White to light brown kin color with brown hair color. The eyes are green, hazel, brown and dark brown eyes are rare. For example: Darker Caucasian, European mix	Sometimes may suffer from sunburn and tans often.	11-15
	IV	Dark intermediate, Mediterranean or Olive	Moderate brown skin color with black to dark brown hair. The eye color is blue, green, hazel, brown or dark brown. For example: Mediterranean, European, Asian, Hispanic, Native American	Rarely burns and tans very often.	16-21
	V	Brown	Naturally dark brown skin color with black hair. The eyes are usually brown or hazel in color. For example: Hispanic, Afro-American, Middle Eastern	Very Rarely suffers burns and tanning.	22-28
	VI	Black	Very dark brown to black skin tone with black hair and dark brown eyes with minute variations in color. For example: Afro-American, African, Middle Eastern	Never suffers burns or tanning	29-36

It is found that the Type 6 skin tone has roughly twice the melanin of Type 1. This makes the Type 6 less prone to skin cancers than the Type 1. These skin tones will help you find some makeup ideas and makeup techniques that help you apply natural looking makeup according to your skin color. You can even read more on uneven skin tone and hair colors for your skin tone for some beauty tips. I hope this article on skin tone chart has helped you determine your skin color according to standard Fitzpatrick skin types.

By Batul Nafisa Baxamusa