Artist uses Pantone colours to try and document every type of skin tone

You know when you're shopping for makeup and two shades that seem virtually identical are called two completely different things by different brands? And, of course, we’ve all had those moments when a shade looks just right in the store, but the minute you step into the sun it's horribly, horribly wrong. But what if someone could specify a universal shade that exactly matches your skin tone?

The Humanae project is trying to do just that. The brainchild of Brazilian artist and photographer Angelica Dass, 33, who studied fashion design in Rio de Janeiro, the aim of the project “is to record and catalog all possible human skin tones,” according to the project website.

Dass takes portraits of people of different genders, races, and ages, then takes 11×11 pixel samples of their faces. From there, she is able to translate that sample into a Pantone color. She then floods the back of the portrait with the subject’s shade, and arranges the images like a paint sample with color codes on the bottom. According to her website, Dass uses Pantone colors because their alphanumeric codes allow them to be accurately represented across different types of media. So far, Dass has only photographed in Spain, but she has her sights set on expanding her subject area. "What I really wish is to photograph all over the world," the artist told TODAY.com.

We're somewhat skeptical that it's possible to document every human skin tone, but even so, what a cool idea! Maybe Pantone shades could become the new standard for makeup. We’d sure love to be done messing with all the vanillas, bisques, almonds, and toffees at the cosmetics counter.

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