What is the Monk Skin Tone Scale? 

The Monk Skin Tone Scale is a 10-shade scale system designed to better represent the diversity of human skin tones, especially for people with darker skin, compared to older scales used in tech.  

Developed by Ellis Monk and partnered with Google, it aims to be more inclusive for computer vision research and applications by capturing a wider range of colors and addressing biases in earlier methods. The goal is to combat color bias and race bias for a clearer picture of skin tones. Ellis Monk wanted everyone to feel represented in their appearance and existence.  

“In the past with shade finder quizzes in the beauty industry, it relied on us to choose who we look like – usually images of models to determine our shade family and undertones. But we have an unconscious bias, and often choose who we think we look like and that’s not always explicitly skin tone,” Estela says. “Using the Monk Skin Tone Scale scans your face and puts you within the spectrum of shades. But within each shade, there is infinite granularity. It removes biases from the equation to give a clearer recommendation.” 

How was shade classified before the Monk Skin Tone Scale? 

In 1975, a dermatologist named Thomas B. Fitzpatrick developed The Fitzpatrick Scale – essentially a six–tone system based on skin pigmentation and response to sun exposure. It wasn’t developed with diversity in mind, and so when it came to beauty brands using it for complexion products, it was flawed. The skin tone detection often gave less than ideal results, so people received shades that were not what they had in mind. 

“People often feel like they’re lumped into categories – and in today’s world where diversity is so important, it’s important to tech artificial intelligence about these biases and not repeat problems we had in the past,” Estela says. “The goal is to move forward and solve the problems consumers have had in the past with finding their perfect foundation match.” 

The Monk Skin Tone Scale then offers something that has been lacking in beauty – skin tone detection that is naturally personalized in an extremely involved way. And the more we team AI about this, the smarter it will become to even better service everyone. It’s simply science. 

What Happens When I Use This AI Shade Finder? 

The Monk Skin Tone Scale is designed for people to use it. By keeping it to 10 core shades, it provides a clear framework for product development (helping Morphe in creating products) while still offering enough granularity to capture significant variations in skin tone. This can streamline the creation of shade ranges and make it easier for you to identify your best match. 

Ready to try it for yourself? Start by visiting our Foundation Shade Finder Quiz on your phone – scan the QR code you’ll see off to the right side. Follow the prompts and the Monk Skin Tone Scale will get to work, placing your skin tone into one of the many pixels inside of those 10 shades. In just a few seconds, you will receive your perfect foundation match for Lightform Extended Hydration Foundation. 

What Are Some Tips to Best Use The Shade Finder? 

As futuristic as this scale is, there are still some key tips you should follow to get the truest results for your shade match suggestion.  

• Make sure to take the Shade Finder Quiz in a place with natural light. There should be no shadows. 

• Don’t use a ring light, camera light, or any lighting that could skew orange or too bright.  

• Your skin should be clean and free from any complexion product – even a light beat could result in skewed results. 

What’s Next With Morphe and Machine Learning? 

Morphe aims to spark joy at every moment of your getting ready process, and a huge part of that is ensuring that the products you buy do nothing but inspire you to create whatever look you want.  

“We are already working on a new launch that will also incorporate the MST scale,” Estela shares. “The goal is to teach it more and more so we can keep delivering exactly what people are looking for.” 

Show us all your Lightform Extended Hydration Foundation looks by tagging us #morphe and #morphebrushes on IG or TikTok.