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Courage + Khazaka electronic GmbH

Cosmetic consulting devices FAQ

General questions on skin measurements at the point of sale

The customers normally have already care products or even make-up or powder applied when they enter a shop. On make-up and powder, it is very difficult to take measurements or camera images. If you cleanse the skin, however, it may take up to a couple of hours for the skin to regenerate the normal conditions (especially of sebum) completely. Therefore, ideally perform the measurement on skin cleansed approx. two hours prior to the measurement. In practice, unfortunately, this is impossible. We recommend therefore, dabbing the skin with a dry cosmetic tissue at parts where you would like to measure or take images. Remove make-up from the skin gently without rubbing. Rubbing takes away the sebum and enhances the micro circulation. Should this not be possible, switch to untreated skin areas, e.g. close to the hair or the ears, under the chin or for melanin measurements to hands and arms. Relativize, as sebum level after dabbing away the make-up is still lower than it would be without a product applied. Also relativize when performing measurements under high temperature and high air humidity (sweating). In any case, the measurement reflects the current state and needs of the skin which may be different at another time (e.g. seasonal changes).

The sebum measurement with the cartridge (Sebumeter®-principle - photometrical) measures the sebum content quantitatively (from 0-99). The approach of the Sebufix® and Sebu Pad where the oil on the skin leaves spots on the tape, is a rather qualitative measurement (optical evaluation how much sebum is produced by the different sebum glands). All measurements are quickly performed within 10-15 seconds.

Skin shows large pores and seems oily. The measurement results are rather moderate. What can be the reason? The methods to measure the skin oil, measure on the surface not the oil in the skin. If skin has been cleansed or dabbed before the measurement, existing oil on the surface is removed and the results are respectively lower. The time of the day also plays a role. If you want to perform real comparison measurements, it is recommended to do that at the same time of the day.

Die Geräte zur The devices for the skin type analysis derive from the scientific measurement methods known for many years and used all over the world for clinical studies and efficacy testing. However, the skin type analysis devices have a less accurate resolution. Example: they express the sebum content e.g. in "dry", "normal", "oily", whereas the scientific Sebumeter® shows the sebum content in a high precision figure to monitor even smallest changes in the sebum level. Some systems for skin type analysis are available with an attractive, cosmetic software to recommend products and thus differ from the scientific measurement programmes. The cosmetic consulting devices are not used for clinical studies but for promotional use. The software for the scientific laboratory devices possesses check calibration facilities and supports the statistical gathering of data for the evaluation of a study.

Cutometer® FAQ (E)

FAQ about the Cutometer®

This depends strongly on the skin site to be measured. For "normal" skin (e.g. on the forearm), the Cutometer® probe with 2 mm diameter opening should be used. The thicker the skin, the larger the opening we recommend, e.g. for the thighs we recommend 4-6 mm diameter and for measurements on the palms or under the feet rather 8 mm.

Mexameter®/Skin-Colorimeter FAQ (E)

FAQ about the Mexameter®/Skin-Colorimeter

When to use which probe?

The Mexameter® determines an index for melanin- and erythema values, the main colour giving parameters of the skin very accurately. The Skin-Colorimeter however expresses the skin color as a coordinate in the colour space (e.g. L*a*b). Therefore it can measure colour changes resulting from e.g. carotenoids (self-tanning products) or make-up and decorative cosmetic products.

  • Mexameter

    Colour measurement of the skin

  • Melanin measurements

  • indispensable for sun screen developemnt

Tewameter® FAQ (E)

FAQ about the Tewameter®

Since the end of the 1990s, the Tewameter® has been the worldwide most used measurement principle to assess TEWL. Its “open chamber” method a number of advantages against closed chamber systems. The experts of the EEMCO group (European group on efficacy measurement and evaluation of cosmetics and other products) confirmed this in guidelines about the important skin water measurements. The 2018 published paper (Skin Research & Technology, 2018, 24, p. 351-358) examined all established and new methods to assess skin water content and states: .... "From skin barrier damage experiments, it became clear that the Tewameter with an open-chamber is more sensitive or disiminative and able to detect significantly smaller differences than the VapoMeter. In addition, the closed chamber device is currently not sensitive enough to measure diurnal rhythm and fluctuations of skin as a function of time. ... Thus, the closed chamber instrument is inferior to the open-chamber measurement of TEWL ...".

Not so much. It is important that the short end of the probe head sits on the skin tightly. The Tewameter® TM 300 had even successfully been used under the special condition of the ISS Space Station!

Sebumeter®/Sebufix® FAQ (E)

FAQ abot the Sebumeter®/Sebufix®

The sebum measurement of the Sebumeter® is photometrical, i.e. it measures the sebum content quantitatively. The approach of the Sebufix®, where the oil on the skin leaves spots on the tape, is a rather qualitative measurement (optical evaluation how much sebum is produced by the different sebum glands).

Skin consists of large pores and seems oily. The measurement results are rather moderate. What can be the reason? The methods to measure skin oil, measure on the surface not the oil in the skin. If skin has been cleansed or dabbed before the measurement, existing oil on the surface is removed and the results are respectively lower. The time of the day also plays a role. If you want to perform real comparison measurements, it is recommended to do that at the same time of the day.

Corneometer® FAQ (E)

FAQ about the Corneometer®

The Corneometer® measures in arbitrary units from 0 (no water at all) - 120 (on water). The units have been very well establishes as so called "Corneometer units".

The penetration depth of the electric scatter field is demonstrably very small, so that only the moisture on the skin surface is measured. Measurements before and after covering a measuring area with a special foil (15 µm thickness) show that on the foil only 20 % of the original value are measured, the total measurement depth is approx. 40µm. The superficial measurement is important because especially the moisture content in the Stratum corneum is interesting for cosmetic applications.

FAQ (E)

FAQ

If any of your questions is not listed in the FAQs, please read the corresponding instruction manual thoroughly or contact us. Also please look in the instruction manual for more detailed explanations about cleaning of devices and probes, error messages and description of the measurements. In case your equipment needs to be send in to the service, please get in contact with the service before you send anything in. You will get detailed instruction on what to send in and how to send it.

Courage+Khazaka electronic GmbH
Mathias-Brüggen-Str. 91
50829 Köln, Germany
Phone: +49-221-9564990
Fax: +49-221-9564991
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