The Effect of Cosmetic Face Care Products on Facial Skin Tone and Spot Brightening

November 14, 2025 updated by: Unilever R&D

A Clinical Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of Prototypes for Improvement in Skin Tone and Spot Brightening in a Full-Face Study Design

This is a single centre, 5-cell, blinded study to evaluate changes in even skin tone, skin glow, facial pigmented spots, and the microbiome of facial skin following the use of cosmetic face care products on the whole face over a 12 week period.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a randomized, blinded, 5 cell, full-face study designed to evaluate changes in even skin tone, skin glow, pigmented spots and the surface microbiome of facial skin following the use of one of five cosmetic face care products. This study will accept up to 50 participants per cell (250 participants overall) who meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria to ensure that at least 40 participants per cell complete the study. Participants will be randomised to receive one of the five cosmetic face care products which will be applied to the whole face using a defined protocol.

If accepted onto the study, all participants will be provided with a marketed face wash to use for one week prior to the baseline visit and throughout the whole study.

Visual and instrumental assessments of skin colour, skin glow and even tone will be conducted throughout the duration of the study (12 weeks product use and 6 weeks regression). Non-invasive skin surface samples will be collected at several timepoints for evaluation of the skin microbiome.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

250

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • India
      • Bangalore, India, 560008
        • MS Clinical Research Pvt Ltd

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Female adult participants in general good health as determined from a recent medical history.
  • Participants in the age group of 20-45 years (both ages inclusive).
  • Participants having Fitzpatrick photo-type III-V.
  • Participants with at least 3 spots on the cheek either of PIH post acne/age related
  • Participants not presenting any skin condition that may interfere with the assessment for the entire study duration.
  • Participants free of excessive hair, acne, cuts, abrasions, fissures, wounds, lacerations, or any other active skin conditions on the face
  • Participant who agrees not to use any other product/treatment/home remedy/serum on their face during the study period other than the study product.
  • Participants who agree to remove all jewellery on/around face (e.g., necklace, earrings, nose ring), during imaging.
  • Participants willing to give a voluntary written informed consent and photography release.
  • Participants willing to abide by and comply with the study protocol.
  • Participants able to read, understand and sign an appropriate informed consent form indicating her willingness to participate.
  • Participants willing and capable to follow the study rules and a fixed schedule.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants who are currently participating in a similar study or have participated in a similar study in the past 6 weeks.
  • Participants with any other signs of significant local irritation, erythema, or skin disease on skin.
  • Participants having chronic illness or who have undergone major surgery in the last year that may be clinically relevant or can impact the results as determined by the dermatologist.
  • Participants undergoing treatment for any skin condition.
  • Participants allergic or sensitive to bar cleansing products, creams/lotions, artificial jewellery or anything else.
  • Participants with self-perceived pimple prone and/or sensitive skin.
  • Participants taking any oral antibiotic medication currently or within the last 8 weeks.
  • Participants taking medication continuously/regularly every day such as corticosteroids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, topically for four weeks or orally for eight weeks prior to the study.
  • Female participant pregnant/breast feeding or planning pregnancy during the study period (self-declared)
  • Participants taking product/treatment for any condition which the Investigator believes may influence the interpretation of the data.
  • Participants currently taking any medication, which the investigator believes may influence the interpretation of the data.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cosmetic product G18
Cosmetic face care product to be used twice daily on the whole face for 12 weeks.
Other: Sunscreen
To be used by all participants throughout the study
Other: Cosmetic product G18
Cosmetic face care product
Experimental: Cosmetic product N70
Cosmetic face care product to be used twice daily on the whole face for 12 weeks.
Other: Sunscreen
To be used by all participants throughout the study
Other: Cosmetic product N70
Cosmetic face care product
Experimental: Cosmetic product D79
Cosmetic face care product to be used twice daily on the whole face for 12 weeks.
Other: Sunscreen
To be used by all participants throughout the study
Other: Cosmetic product D79
Cosmetic face care product
Experimental: Cosmetic product E84
Cosmetic face care product to be used twice daily on the whole face for 12 weeks.
Other: Sunscreen
To be used by all participants throughout the study
Other: Cosmetic product E84
Cosmetic face care product
Experimental: Cosmetic product C68
Cosmetic face care product to be used twice daily on the whole face for 12 weeks.
Other: Sunscreen
To be used by all participants throughout the study
Other: Cosmetic product C68
Cosmetic face care product

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Visual assessment of skin colour
Time Frame: 0-12 weeks + 6 weeks regression
0-12 weeks + 6 weeks regression
Instrumental assessment of skin colour
Time Frame: 0-12 weeks + 6 weeks regression
0-12 weeks + 6 weeks regression

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Changes in skin surface microbiome
Time Frame: 0-12 weeks + 6 weeks regression
0-12 weeks + 6 weeks regression

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Self assessment questionnaires
Time Frame: 0-12 weeks + 6 weeks regression
0-12 weeks + 6 weeks regression
Visual assessment of facial skin glow and radiance.
Time Frame: 0-12 weeks + 6 weeks regression
0-12 weeks + 6 weeks regression

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Unilever R&D

Collaborators

MS Clinical Research Pvt. Ltd

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 22, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 13, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

November 13, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 10, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 11, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

October 15, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 17, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 14, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HMN-SKA-4185

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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