The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. today announced a research collaboration with the School of Design, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, and Dr. Kaida Xiao, a world-renowned leader in color science and visual perception. Despite significant advances in beauty innovation, finding the right foundation or concealer shade remains one of the most common consumer frustrations.

By combining advanced color science with research into how consumers perceive their own skin, this partnership aims to strengthen the development of luxury and prestige complexion-enhancing products with more precise shade matching and improved formulas. The findings could help establish new scientific benchmarks for evaluating foundation, concealer and other complexion products to deliver more natural-looking results in everyday life.

The project, led by Dr. Kaida Xiao, Professor of Color and Imaging Science at the Leeds Institute of Textiles and Color (LITAC), School of Design, University of Leeds, uses advanced psychophysical methods – ways of studying how people see and notice differences, rooted in visual perception science – to investigate how individuals perceive color undertones and detect subtle differences in color.

By examining the relationship between how color is measured by scientific instruments and human visual perception of the same colors, particularly in real-world viewing conditions, the research seeks to identify when subtle differences in tone become noticeable to consumers and when they do not. These insights will help improve how complexion products are evaluated and developed, reducing mismatches and enabling more natural-looking results.

“Delivering transformative innovation in complexion and color cosmetics begins with a deeper understanding of how consumers perceive their own skin tone,” said Claude Saliou, Senior Vice President, Advanced Technologies and Global Clinical and Consumer Sciences, The Estée Lauder Companies.

“While skin tone can be measured with increasing precision, understanding how consumers perceive their tone in the real world remains a complex scientific challenge. By partnering with the University of Leeds, a global leader in color science, we have an opportunity to better understand how consumers experience shade matching in the real world. These insights help us improve shade accuracy, develop higher-performing formulas that look more natural and consistent, and support continued innovation across our luxury and prestige portfolio. This partnership helps us prioritize inclusivity at the center of innovation, creating formulas where every consumer can find their exact, natural-looking match.”

“Skin color perception is highly complex, shaped by subtle interactions between multiple factors,” said Dr. Kaida Xiao, Professor of Color and Imaging Science, University of Leeds. “We are thrilled to collaborate with The Estée Lauder Companies, a global leader in prestige beauty recognized for its long-standing dedication to advancing skin science and its commitment to scientific excellence. This partnership brings together academic expertise and industry leadership to advance understanding in this important area of color science.”