Color films used to come in two varieties, more or less. Films designed to represent caucasian skin tones in a desirable way, and films designed to make colors

Color films used to come in two varieties, more or less. Films designed to represent caucasian skin tones in a desirable way, and films designed to make colors that pop. Fuji had 160C and 160S, while Kodak had Portra 160NC and 160VC. I think they tweaked something in the sensitivity curves of the “suitable for skin tones” product lines which reduced contrast in the relevant parts of the curve. My sense is that this would keep it looking peach-colored without going into the more brilliant reds or magentas. The sensitivity curves for “makes colors that pop” were tweaked to increase the contrast in certain places. This was great for nature photos, product photos, or photos of food, but but if you put caucasian skin in the picture, it might come out looking somewhat reddish or magenta, and skin blemishes stand out more. Worst case you get crab people. This is just my perspective on the film itself, based on my experiences shooting and printing color film (in a wet lab). I was printing slowly, trying to get the best out of each print. I spent a lot of time looking at prints and sussing out variations in color, stuff that you could fix at the touch of a button in Photoshop, if it were digital.