Interesting question :)
I think it's much easier to make a shader look right in certain light then in ANY light.
I'm thinking about makeup for us wimminz for example, there's day makeup that looks good in daylight, but would look too weak in the evening, in the evening one typically puts on a bit heavier makeup (because the mood and lighting is different), and then there's TV and film makeup which is extra heavy, and also very dependent on the lighting they're going to use.

It may be kind of like people's complexion and what color looks good on them... not all colors look good on all complexion colors. I can see how similar concepts would apply to rendering too.
anyway, just my 2c :)

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