Colorlab proudly introduces our recent study on foundation discoloration, published in Scientific Reports. This work examines 32 liquid foundation shades from four global brands, addressing a practical yet underexplored issue in cosmetic science. In collaboration with AMOREPACIFIC (아모레퍼시픽), Colorlab’s long-term industry partner, we confirmed that “darkening” remains a common user concern. While our earlier research focused on brighter shades—reflecting a market bias toward lighter skin tones—this study expands the analysis across the full brightness range.

Using spectrophotometric data in the CIE 1976 LCh* color space, we demonstrate that discoloration varies with lightness, with darker shades showing greater stability. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) further revealed that surface morphology and pigment dispersion are closely related to color retention. Finally, we propose a shade-based communication framework to help users better understand product performance.

Open access to fulltext: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-18770-9