From Scalp to Skin: The Possibility of Establishing a New Method for Facial Diagnosis without Removing Makeup

To support the recommendation of appropriate cosmetics, technologies for assessing facial skin conditions have recently been developed. However, because makeup can interfere with accurate evaluations, it is typically necessary to remove it during professional consultations. This process is often inconvenient for customers, requiring significant time and effort. To address this issue, we investigated whether scalp analysis could serve as a proxy for diagnosing facial skin conditions, enabling professionals to assess skin health efficiently and non-invasively without requiring makeup removal. In this study, we examined the relationship between scalp and facial skin characteristics in 249 Japanese women aged 20 to 73 years, using non-invasive imaging and biophysical measurements to assess parameters such as moisture loss, sebum levels and skin color. The results revealed three key correlations: (1) Individuals with high scalp TEWL also typically have high facial skin TEWL; (2) Individuals who have a lot of sebum on their scalps also typically have a lot of sebum and many pores on their faces; and (3) Individuals with high scalp yellowness typically have facial skins with poor texture and high melanin content. These findings suggest that certain facial skin conditions can be inferred from scalp characteristics. This approach offers a promising alternative for non-invasive facial skin diagnosis, potentially enabling accurate assessments without the need for makeup removal.