Skin colour, skin redness and melanin biometric measurements: comparison study between Antera â 3D, Mexameter â and Colorimeter â Ana Rita Matias 1 , Marta Ferreira 1 , Paulo Costa 2 and Patr  ıcia Neto 1 1 Inovapotek, Pharmaceutical Research & Development, Porto, Portugal and 2 Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Background: The actual skin colorimeters analyse reflect val- ues from a limited number of broad spectral bands and conse- quently present limited reproducibility and specificity when measuring skin colour. Here, Antera 3D â , a new device which uses reflectance mapping of seven different light wavelengths spanning the entire visible spectrum, has been compared with Mexameter â MX-18, an established narrow-band reflectance spectrophotometer and with Colorimeter â CL-400, an estab- lished tristimulus colorimetric instrument. Methods: Thirty volunteers were exposed to a controlled ultra- violet B light. Measurements with Antera 3D â , Mexameter â MX-18 and Colorimeter â CL-400 were done before treatment and after 2, 7 and 14 days. Results: Antera 3D â showed to have a better sensitivity and specificity than Mexameter â MX-18 regarding the melanin parameter. A similar sensitivity between Antera 3D â and Mex- ameter â MX-18 was found for erythema determination and also for the Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage L*, a* and b* parameters between Antera 3D â and Colorimeter â CL- 400. Good correlations were observed for all the parameters analysed. Repeatability of Mexameter â MX-18 and Colorime- ter â CL-400 values were lower than that of Antera 3D â for all the parameters analysed. Conclusion: Antera 3D â , such as Mexameter â MX-18 and Colorimeter â CL-400, are robust, sensitive and precise equip- ment for the skin colour analysis. Key words: Antera – Mexameter – Colorimeter – melanin – skin colour – skin redness Ó 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Accepted for publication 22 November 2014 E RYTHEMA AND pigmentation are the two most important responses to Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Because of its good reproduc- ibility and simplicity, the use of UV-induced erythema and pigmentation is an excellent model of inflammation to characterize the skin pathophysiology and to assess the efficacy of various agents (1). The initial inflammatory (erythematous) response in the skin peaks within 2 days and the following increased for- mation of melanin pigment (melanogenesis) peaks at about 4–7 days and are both readily accessible for assessment by the naked eye or by bioengineering methods (2, 3). The quantification of experimentally induced colour changes of the skin is a widely used method in dermato-cosmetic research since the colour response can be used as an indicator of skin properties (integrity of the skin barrier and sensitivity), drug properties (concentration, bio- availability), vehicle properties (formulations, enhancers) and skin protection properties (sun screens) (4). The devices which measure skin colour can be based on scanning reflectance spectropho- tometry, others rely on tristimulus colorimetry (such as Colorimeter â CL 400, Courage-Kha- zaka) and others rely on narrow-band simple reflectance meters based on the difference in absorption between melanin and haemoglobin at well-chosen wavelengths (such as Mexame- ter â MX 18, Courage-Khazaka) (4–6). The scan- ning reflectance spectrophotometers are very expensive, cumbersome and not portable enough for routine clinical work. These spectro- photometers are mainly used for fundamental laboratory research. The narrowband reflectance spectrophotometers compute only erythema and melanin indices and are mainly used in dermatological research. The colorimeters repre- sents the colour of materials using the Commis- sion Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) L*a*b* 1 Skin Research and Technology 2015; 0:1–17 Printed in Singapore  All rights reserved doi: 10.1111/srt.12199 © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Skin Research and Technology