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Before and after photographs are commonly used in scientific and consumer publications to document the benefit of a cosmeceutical. Photographs are quite effective because the observer can make a personal judgment as to whether the formulation performed well. Photographs can be used for visual evaluation, as demonstrated in Figure 1, showing the before and after images of a cosmeceutical designed for facial redness reduction.

Photographs can also be computer enhanced for more detailed image analysis. Figure 2 shows the use of line enhancement to assess the linear length of fine lines/wrinkles before and after use of a cosmeceutical eye moisturizer. The line enhancement was done manually on this computer image, thus there is an element of human judgment involved. Also note that photography can distort cosmeceutical benefits. In Figure 2a before treatment, more fine lines/wrinkles have been highlighted than after treatment in Figure 2b; however, the eye appears to be more relaxed in Figure 2b, perhaps contributing to the improvement. Eye positioning is very important when assessing before and after images documenting the benefit of an eye cosmeceutical.

Figure 3 presents before and after images of a product designed to minimize the appearance of pores. The pores have been highlighted using a computer algorithm for pattern recognition. More pores have been highlighted in the before (Fig. 3a) than the after (Fig. 3b) image. Will the consumer be able to perceive the pore reduction? This is the challenge when using computer assessment to evaluate cosmeceutical efficacy.

Fig. 1. Before (a) and after (b) images post-application of a cosmeceutical designed to minimize facial redness.

Fig. 2. Before (a) and after (b) facial images to assess the efficacy of a cosmeceutical designed to minimize fine lines/wrinkles utilizing digital image analysis.