BY SARAH AUSTIN

Beauty Is Getting Smarter: CES Rundown

Big time beauty companies like L’Oreal and Neutrogena are jumping on tech trends and launching new products to bring a pretty new face to electronics. This year at CES - the annual consumer electronics show that takes place in Las Vegas - there were a wave of launch announcements related to skin health and technology. 

From devices that measure your skin and recommend products, to a smart sheet mask treatment that accelerates the time of wearing a mask down to two minutes, the beauty-tech gadgets featured at CES are sure to make beauty lovers shine.

Here are some of the most talked about products in the beauty tech community at CES this year, followed by the most important information - when and where users can buy them.

Get the perfect tan, and never get a sunburn again

Reapplying sunscreen is an art. Yet anyone who waits too long to reapply sunscreen is violating the first beauty secret of all, which is to always wear sunscreen. But at the beach you are jumping in and out of the water, and on hot days you sweat, so the sunscreen comes off and you forget to re-apply it. In cases like these, how much are you exposing your skin to harmful UV light during a day at the beach? And when should you re-apply your sunscreen? 

Paul Peros, Foreo CEO says, “Face masks have been around since Cleopatra’s time, but here at Foreo we knew there had to be a better way. After four years in development and many sleepless nights - boom - the UFO has finally landed,” referring Foreo UFO - the world’s most advanced smart mask. Featuring Hyper-Infusion Technology (heating, cooling, and t-sonic pulsations, the UFO offers professional level treatment from your home.

To use the device, simply pop out the plastic ring and place one of the two round paper thin Foreo masks inside the device. Then choose the daytime or nighttime option. Secure the ring around the mask and press the button on top to activate the t-sonic pulsations and LED light therapy, which work in unison to help your skin absorb the mask faster to give you radiant skin. Massage the device all over your face and neck for 90 seconds to finish the treatment.

Now, you can put a fast track to having flawless looking skin by turning a 20 minute treatment into a 90 second treat. 

The Foreo UFO Mini will retail for $199 with free shipping worldwide coming this April in limited supply.

Get Up Close And Personal With Your Skin

Neutrogena's newest technology innovation is like having a dermatologist at home. The SkinScanner tool fits over the top of your phone to take a closer look at your skin. The SkinScanner ultra-magnifying lens has built in LED lights and sensors that collect data on your skin and then delivers all that data to your phone. The gadget has an accompanying app that allows users to track skin moisture levels and other factors like wrinkles and acne. The app will also offer you product recommendations for your skin type based on the information collected by the SkinScanner.

L’Oreal solves this problem with it’s skin safety technology. A few years back, the company released the UV Patch, a sticker patch with a sensor in it that syncs to your iPhone to let you keep track of UV exposure. This year, the product is new and improved with UV Sense, a small sensor sticker that fits on your thumbnail and connects to an app where you can get information on your sun exposure. It will even tell you when you need to reapply sunscreen. 

UV Sense by L’Oreal is launching summer 2018. You can buy it on their website, and while they have not announced the price yet, their spokesperson told me it will cost under $50.

Get results from your Mirror

Smart mirrors have been around for some time now. In the 90s, there were smart mirrors that would let you watch TV or check the weather. Fortunately, the mirrors in 2018 have gotten to be much smarter. . For example, HiMirror brings skincare assistance to the product with a built in camera that captures video of your skin and analyzes your skin to track results.

Using HiMirror, you can track your pores, redness and dark circles under your eyes, all while receiving real time feedback on your progress and goals. It may sound a little annoying to have your mirror point out your flaws, but the upside is that the mirror has some useful information to share about the products you use. For example, you can scan your skincare products by holding them up to the mirror to get notifications on when expiration dates are coming up.

The mirror will also provide all of your skin data and stay connected with you through Alexa. The Mini version of HiMirror has Alexa built in with a microphone and speaker to tell you the weather or play music for you while you get ready.

HiMirror Mini retails for $249 and is expected to be released in 2018 on HiMirror.com.

Speed up your Sheet Mask Routine

Facial masks were a big beauty trend last year, but is lying down for 20 minutes under cold, wet sheets of paper really the best we can do for 2018? I didn’t think so.

Foreo, the company that made the Luna vibrating soap scrub?, is bringing innovation to sheet masks. This is a common mask application process where the mask is applied to your face through a thin sheet similar in texture to wet paper. Usually a sheet mask treatment takes 15-20 minutes, but with the Foreo gadget you can get results in just 90 seconds. Now you can get more mask time because you can integrate this routine into your busy work day morning, rather than planning on an extended weekend skin care routine.

Paul Peros, Foreo CEO says, “Face masks have been around since Cleopatra’s time, but here at Foreo we knew there had to be a better way. After four years in development and many sleepless nights - boom - the UFO has finally landed,” referring Foreo UFO - the world’s most advanced smart mask. Featuring Hyper-Infusion Technology (heating, cooling, and t-sonic pulsations, the UFO offers professional level treatment from your home.

To use the device, simply pop out the plastic ring and place one of the two round paper thin Foreo masks inside the device. Then choose the daytime or nighttime option. Secure the ring around the mask and press the button on top to activate the t-sonic pulsations and LED light therapy, which work in unison to help your skin absorb the mask faster to give you radiant skin. Massage the device all over your face and neck for 90 seconds to finish the treatment.

Now, you can put a fast track to having flawless looking skin by turning a 20 minute treatment into a 90 second treat. 

The Foreo UFO Mini will retail for $199 with free shipping worldwide coming this April in limited supply.

Get Up Close And Personal With Your Skin

Neutrogena's newest technology innovation is like having a dermatologist at home. The SkinScanner tool fits over the top of your phone to take a closer look at your skin. The SkinScanner ultra-magnifying lens has built in LED lights and sensors that collect data on your skin and then delivers all that data to your phone. The gadget has an accompanying app that allows users to track skin moisture levels and other factors like wrinkles and acne. The app will also offer you product recommendations for your skin type based on the information collected by the SkinScanner.

To use the SkinScanner tool, all you have to do is put the device over your phone and hold it up to your face, resting the lense on your skin. The technology captures your face and sends information to the app to analyze your skin and recommend products.

The problem with this device, however, is that the app only recommends Neutrogena products. Shoppers may want to buy a variety of products, which means more brands to choose from.

Neutrogena Skin360 App and SkinScanner Tool will release this year on Neutrogena.com for $49.99.

Perhaps more brand agnostic is Lumini, an artificially intelligent Skincare assistant. Lumini is a Samsumg spin off company, so unlike the Neutrogena SkinScanner, Lumini won’t be biased to sell users it’s own products. 

Lumini is a product prototype that was created as part of C-Labs, a Samsung initiative to introduce ideas to the market and gauge the public’s reaction so that Samsung can decide where to further invest their money to generate returns, but also to help improve the gadgets before they are released. Unfortunately, this means that the Lumini is not a product coming to consumers in 2018.

Lumini is a portable device that spots skin problems before they even occur. You take your picture with the Lumini device, and it analyses the information using an AI algorithm. It then sends the diagnosis to an app for you to view. The gadget will identify issues that may be under the surface of the skin, like pimples or freckles that have not yet developed. It can also tell if your pores have increased or decreased. Lumini then recommends cosmetic products based on its analysis and even offers users a remote consulting service with a real dermatologist or skin care specialist.

Another device in the Samsung C-Labs class is S-Skin, which uses a microneedle patch with a portable device to analyze your skin. The microneedle patch penetrates your skin to deliver skincare products like moisturizer while, at the same time, measuring information about your skin in that specific area. The device can measure hydration, redness, and melanin of the skin to provide customised skincare products. The condition of your skin can be tracked over time on the accompanying app.

Yet while Lumini and S-Skin products may be more advanced than the SkinScanner,the SkinScanner is certain to move into production. Lumini and S-Skin are prototypes that are not available at this time. Hopefully these two Samsung products make it to the market by the end of the year, though. In the meantime, beauty lovers have the Neutrogena SkinScanner at the tip of their fingers.

Why CES is the Hotbet for Beauty

Who knew the Consumer Electronics Show would become the hotbed of beauty technology and innovation? While January is the best time of year to announce product launches for tech companies, now beauty companies have added the conference as a must-go addition to the beauty brand’s calendar. CES has had so much traction in the beauty space that they added the Beauty Tech Summit as programming to the conference. As geek chic customers are buying more sophisticated and innovative solutions, brands are taking note of the customer’s demand to add tech to their beauty routines.