BACKGROUND The Fitzpatrick skin phototype classification scheme has become the standard method for assessing the reaction of the skin to solar stimuli; this method can be easily biased by different factors, such as ethnicity or chronic sun exposure. METHODS Diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry (DRS) is an objective and non-invasive method used in this work to determine constitutive skin color from the upper volar arm as an objective way of measuring skin pigmentation. A DRS-determined melanin index that accounts for skin pigmentation was obtained for 35 subjects of Hispanic origin, this melanin index was compared with the physician-diagnosed and self-reported skin phototypes. RESULTS The results show that at least for Hispanic individuals, there is a clear clinical distinction between subjects with skin phototype I and their DRS-determined melanin index; however, subjects with skin phototypes II-VI have a large melanin index overlap. CONCLUSIONS Clinical assessment of skin phototype can be complemented by using DRS.