The analysis is built on a data set of more than 3 million real facial images, reviewed with dermatologist input, spanning skin tones from very light to deep and skin types from oily to very dry.

That range is what allows the same marker to be read consistently across different faces, rather than being calibrated to one skin type and applied to everyone.

Standardized capture conditions are applied to every image, so differences in lighting and camera are corrected as much as possible before your skin is scored. Scan every 2 to 4 weeks, at the same time of day, in similar lighting and at the same angle. Do that, and a change in your score reflects a change in your skin.

Filters are built to flatter. The Skin Scan is built to do the opposite. A filter adjusts the image you see; the Skin Scan analyzes the image to score what is actually there, including the markers you would rather it did not find. It exists to show you how your skin routine is progressing, and the areas you should focus your time.

Three reasons. The technology was developed with dermatologist input and tested against a data set of more than 3 million real facial images before LYMA adopted it. It reads a wide range of skin tones and types, so a score means the same thing on your face as it does on anyone else's. And capture conditions are standardized, so the same skin scanned twice returns the same result. Accuracy in skin analysis means repeatability, and that is what the scan is engineered for.

No. The Skin Scan measures the appearance of your skin and tracks how it changes. It does not diagnose anything and it is not a substitute for a professional skin exam. It reads the surface of your skin in a photograph; a dermatologist examines your skin, your history and your health.

If you have a specific concern, a mole or mark that is changing, or a condition you want assessed, please consult a dermatologist or healthcare provider.

It cannot diagnose a skin condition, assess anything beneath the surface, or tell you why a marker scores the way it does. It reads what is visible in a photograph at the moment you take it.

Used consistently, that is enough to tell you whether your skin is moving in the direction you want, which is what it is for.

Not on its own. A single scan can move for reasons that have nothing to do with your routine: a late night, hormones, a different room, a different phone. Read the trend across several scans rather than any one result.

If a marker moves in the same direction over three or four scans, that is a signal worth acting on.