We investigated the relationship between chromophore concentrations in two-layered scattering media and the apparent chromophore concentrations measured with broadband optical spectroscopy in conjunction with commonly used homogeneous medium inverse models. We used diffusion theory to generate optical data from a two-layered distribution of relevant tissue absorbers, namely, oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin, water, and lipids, with a top-layer thickness in the range 1–15 mm. The generated data consisted of broadband continuous-wave (CW) diffuse reflectance in the wavelength range 650–1024 nm, and frequency-domain (FD) diffuse reflectance at 690 and 830 nm; two source-detector distances of 25 and 35mm were used to simulate a dual-slope technique. The data were inverted using diffusion theory for a semi-infinite homogeneous medium to generate reduced scattering coe±cients at 690 and 830nm (from FD data) and effective absorption spectra in the range 650–1024nm (from CW data). The absorption spectra were then converted into effective total concentration and oxygen saturation of hemoglobin, as well as water and lipid concentrations. For absolute values, it was found that the effective hemoglobin parameters are typically representative of the bottom layer, whereas water and lipid represent some average of the respective concentrations in the two layers. For concentration changes, lipid showed a significant cross-talk with other absorber concentrations, thus indicating that lipid dynamics obtained in these conditions may not be reliable. These systematic simulations of broadband spectroscopy of two-layered media provide guidance on how to interpret effective optical properties measured with similar instrumental setups under the assumption of medium homogeneity.