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One melanocyte supplies melanin to thirty-six keratinocytes according to signals from the keratinocytes. They also regulate melanin production and replication of melanocytes. People have different skin colors mainly because their melanocytes produce different amount and kinds of melanin.
The amount of melanin in the skin, the amount of UV exposure, genetics, the quality of melanosomes, and pigments present in the skin all play a role in racial variation. The different colors present in human skin are caused by 4 chromophores: carotenoids, hemoglobin, melanin, and oxyhemoglobin.
Melanin is produced by cells called melanocytes in the skin and is the primary determinant of skin color in people with darker skin.
Unfortunately, human skin simply doesn't work like that of a chameleon. The skin color we're born with is what we're stuck with…for the most part. If you have fair skin, a significant amount of time in the Sun can turn it golden brown or beet red. Sunburns and suntans don't last long, though.
olayforyou.com defines these skin tones
alt text http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/151ab0ddd7.jpg
Any person using cosmetics regularly would understand these terms. These rest of us are just guessing :-)
I'd do something like the Nintendo Wii's Mii Editor and just show several swatches of colors. Even if the monitor isn't calibrated, if someone sees them all on the screen at once they should be able to make the correct choice.
You can then give the color an internal name and do your data mining on that.
You may wish to consider skin tones defined by cosmetic companies as these can be quite exact and even refer to tanning effects.
I personally wouldn't define a domain; let that be a textbox and everybody fills anything he/she wants. I prefer this way just because can be a polemic and potentially offensive subject, like this.
EDIT: Or, what about doesn't display any names, but colors instead? Use that Von Luschan's scale and use a "Select your color: " label. You don't need to name it and can to define a domain into your database.
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