The Fitzpatrick scale was based not on color alone, but on how skin responds to UV radiation from sunlight. This factor meant that skin type, while linked to skin color, had more elements at play, namely different kinds of melanin cells. Melanin comes in three flavors: eumelanin, pheomelanin, and neuromelanin. Eumelanin and pheomelanin affect skin color and hair color, while neuromelanin affects the color of the brain. Descriptions of skin type in the Fitzpatrick scale include these: “Type I skin—burns easily, light colored eyes, green/blue.” “Type VI, skin never burns.”
