[Skin and its ethnic shades].

Ethnic (racial) differences exist for a series of physiological skin characteristics. Colour is responsible for typology and resistance to ultraviolet irradiations. Other differences have also been reported for the transepidermal water loss, the size and cohesion of corneocytes, the vascular reactiviy, the biomechanical properties, the pH, the lipidic content, the superficial microflora and the structure of mast cell granules.