What Causes Certain Skin Tones to Appear Olive or Light Brown?
Regardless of race or ethnicity, everyone’s got the same number of melanocyte skin cells, and those contain structures called melanosomes. It’s these melanosomes, and the melanin they produce (melanin is the pigment that colors the skin) that determine our skin tone. People with dark skin have melanocytes that contain larger melanosomes — and more of them — than people with olive or light brown skin, so their melanosomes make more melanin. People with fair skin have melanocytes that contain fewer and smaller melanosomes than people with medium skin tones, and their melanosomes produce less melanin. So while lighter-skinned Africans and African Americans, as well as Asians, Latinos, Native Americans, and people from the Middle East, India, and the Mediterranean have the same amount of melanocyte skin cells as both darker and fairer people, the size and number of their melanosomes fall somewhere in the middle, resulting in olive or light brown skin. Potential Skin Problems A common condi
