The shade Luxy’s own stylists chose was on the desk’s shortlist for 13 of 16 real customers
Luxy Hair photographs real customers before they wear its hair, then publishes the shade it put on them. That shade is the answer here. The desk gets only Luxy’s “before” photo, never sees that customer as a reference, and picks from 30 shades.
- Luxy’s shade on the shortlist
- 13 of 16; a random three would hold it about 1.6 times
- The exact shade as the first pick
- 8 of 16; chance is about one in 30
- Shown wearing the desk’s pick
- 16 of 16
For 2 more customers, every trusted photo of the shade was a photo of them, so once those were excluded the desk could not be offered it; those rows are counted on neither side.
Customer by customer
Filled the first pick is the shade Luxy chose Outlined it differs
| Luxy’s before photo | Shade Luxy chose | Desk with YouCam | Same desk, YouCam off |
|---|---|---|---|
 Customer 1 | Jet Black | Jet Blackthen Off Black | Jet Blackthen Jet Black, Off Black |
 Customer 2 | Dark Gray | Light Graythen Dark Gray | Dark Graythen Dark Gray, Dark Gray |
 Customer 3 | Light Gray | Light Graythen Light Gray, Light Gray | Light Graythen Light Gray, Light Gray |
 Customer 4 | Dimensional Beige BlondeNot offerable: Every trusted on-model photo of this shade in Luxy's catalogue is a photo of this customer, so once those are excluded the desk cannot be offered the shade at all. | Beige Blonde Balayagenot countedthen Dimensional Cream Blonde, Blonde Balayage | Dimensional Cream Blondenot countedthen Blonde Balayage, Beige Blonde Balayage |
 Customer 5 | Platinum Blonde | Platinum Blondethen Dimensional Buttery Champagne Blonde Root Melt | Dimensional Buttery Champagne Blonde Root Meltthen Dimensional Rooted Platinum Pearl Blonde |
 Customer 6 | Off Black | Off Blackthen Jet Black, Dark Brown | Off Blackthen Dark Brown, Jet Black |
 Customer 7 | Neutral Brown | Chestnut Brown Balayagethen Chocolate Brown Balayage, Chestnut Brown | Chestnut Brown Balayagethen Chocolate Brown Balayage, Chestnut Brown |
 Customer 8 | Ash Brown Highlights | Ash Brown Balayagethen Ash Brown Highlights | Ash Brown Balayagethen Ash Brown Highlights, Bronde Balayage |
 Customer 9 | Bronde Balayage | Blonde Balayagethen Dimensional Caramel Honey Blonde Root Melt, Dimensional Light Golden Blonde Root Melt | Dimensional Caramel Honey Blonde Root Meltthen Dimensional Light Golden Blonde Root Melt, Blonde Balayage |
 Customer 10 | Chocolate Brown | Dark Brownthen Chocolate Brown | Dark Brownthen Chocolate Brown, Mocha Brown |
 Customer 11 | Platinum Blonde | Dimensional Rooted Platinum Pearl Blondethen Platinum Blonde | Dimensional Rooted Platinum Pearl Blondethen Platinum Blonde, Dimensional Buttery Champagne Blonde Root Melt |
 Customer 12 | Natural Red | Natural Red | Natural Redthen Natural Red, Natural Red |
 Customer 13 | Jet Black | Off Blackthen Jet Black | Off Blackthen Jet Black |
 Customer 14 | Off Black | Off Blackthen Jet Black | Off Blackthen Dark Brown |
 Customer 15 | Mocha Brown | Off Blackthen Jet Black, Dark Brown | Off Blackthen Dark Brown |
 Customer 16 | Off Black | Off Blackthen Dark Brown, Jet Black | Off Blackthen Dark Brown |
 Customer 17 | Off Black | Off Blackthen Off Black | Off Blackthen Jet Black |
 Customer 18 | Dimensional Beige BlondeNot offerable: Every trusted on-model photo of this shade in Luxy's catalogue is a photo of this customer, so once those are excluded the desk cannot be offered the shade at all. | Dimensional Cream Blondenot countedthen Beige Blonde Balayage, Dimensional Buttery Champagne Blonde Root Melt | Beige Blonde Balayagenot countedthen Dimensional Buttery Champagne Blonde Root Melt, Dimensional Rooted Platinum Pearl Blonde |
The same customers ran with YouCam switched off: the same model, photo and swatches, no YouCam tools. Without YouCam, the right shade was on the shortlist for 12 of 16 and the desk showed 0 of 16 customers wearing anything. With YouCam it was 13 of 16, and the desk showed 16 of 16 wearing its pick, which is what a customer gets to see before buying hair they cannot return. The first pick matched 8 of 16 in both arms: naming the shade is the model’s job, and YouCam is what puts it on the customer, measures the density that decides fill-ins versus length, and gives the desk a render to reject when it changes the face.
How this was measured
Real customers photographed by Luxy Hair before wearing a Luxy product, each in exactly one shade. The shade Luxy's stylists put on that customer is the answer. Built from luxyhair.com's public products.json on 2026-10-25; a before photo used under more than one shade was excluded as ambiguous.
Every photo of every Luxy product that shares a photo of a person (perceptual hash within 6 of 256 bits, among photos classified as a person facing or side-on) with the product the customer's before photo came from, so the agent never sees this customer as a reference. Where Luxy's filenames name the model (for example Uma or Prashansa), every Luxy photo whose filename carries that name is excluded too.
A match means the desk’s first pick has the same shade name as the product Luxy put on that customer. Eighteen customers is a small sample, and the answer is one stylist team’s choice rather than the only right shade. The truth set and every run are committed in data/benchmark/.