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What we bought: A microdermabrasion device to scrape off my skin
The PMD Beauty microdermabrasion device is a skincare tool I don't regret buying.
The TheraFace Pro gently punches your face to help you relax
The TheraFace Pro is a handheld gadget offering multiple facial therapies, including percussive and microcurrent treatments.
L’Oréal reveals its first at-home hair color device
The company says Colorsonic mixes the product via a mess-free process.
Amazon is opening a hair salon with an AR color bar
Amazon is opening its first salon in east London to show off its augmented reality tech and beauty products.
Chanel's AI Lipscanner app will find lipstick in any shade
The company is announcing today its new Lipscanner app that lets you use your phone's camera to identify a hue — whether it's on someone's lips or just the color of your favorite purse.
YSL's at-home lipstick maker lets you create thousands of shades
When L'Oreal showed off its Perso Smart Skincare system last CES, it was still just a prototype. Today, the company is announcing that the Perso system will finally be available for consumers to buy under the Yves Saint Laurent brand. Instead of making different formulations of skincare though, the Rouge Sur Mesure will create a new shade of lipstick each time you need it.
Dyson's Corrale is a $500 straightening iron with over-engineered plates
Following the success of the Supersonic hair dryer and Airwrap curler, Dyson is ready to unveil its latest hair-styling device. The company is leveraging its experience in heating and cooling home appliances to make beauty gadgets that can style your tresses with less heat, therefore promising to be less damaging overall. The Corrale is Dyson's new cordless straightening iron, and it's supposed to provide "all the same styling with half the damage" of a conventional straightener. It's also the first Dyson beauty product to not use the company's air multiplier technology.
Pinterest lets users virtually try on makeup
Pinterest is joining the AR makeup game. From today, Pinners will be able to virtually try on lipstick from brands such as Sephora, Urban Decay, NYX and Lancôme before they buy, using a new Try On feature, powered by Lens. Just open the Lens camera icon in search, tap "try on" to explore different shades, then swipe-up to shop.
L'Oreal's handheld skincare dispenser doles out custom formula at each press
Beauty tech is tricky business. Every other month it seems like a new company pops up, promising to make a custom blended product that targets your specific skin type and concerns. But there are also environmental factors that affect what you'd want to apply, and these change when you travel or move. You're not going to want to reorder a whole new bottle just for the winter and another for when you go on a beach holiday.
Opte is a printer that covers up only the blemishes on your skin
Applying concealer or foundation all over your entire face just to cover up some discolored portions is a waste of time and product. Not all of your skin needs to be masked -- if you could spot-erase blemishes, you could look picture perfect while still letting your pores (mostly) breathe. The problem is, it takes a ton of time, patience and skill to do that. Enter the Opte "precision skincare" thermal "printer." It's a handheld scanner-and-cartridge system that you drag across your face, and it will "print" concealing pigment on specifically the discolored bits.
Sunday Riley settles with FTC over fraudulent skincare reviews
The FTC's fight against fake product reviews has extended to the world of hype-driven cosmetics. Skincare maker Sunday Riley has settled with the FTC over reports that it ordered employees to post fake reviews on Sephora's website in a bid to boost sales. Managers and Sunday Riley herself reportedly created fake accounts to post reviews between 2015 and 2017, and urged employees to do the same. They also asked staff to dislike negative reviews to get them pulled, according to the FTC, and even resorted to using VPNs to mask their identities after Sephora spotted earlier fake reviews.
YouTube launches a fashion destination for style and beauty content
Today, YouTube launched a new destination dedicated to fashion. YouTube.com/Fashion, or "slash fashion," will include videos from popular creators, a "beauty today" section, collaborations with the industry's biggest names and live-streamed runway shows -- all just in time for September Fashion Month.
China’s Alipay will add beauty filters when you pay with your face
We all know how startling it can be to accidentally open a front-facing camera and find your own unassuming face looking back at you. Now, imagine if you saw that image every time you made a purchase. In China, Alibaba's e-wallet affiliate Alipay will soon add beauty filters when you pay with its facial recognition system.
AI picks your 'perfect' makeup shade without seeing your face
Finding a decent foundation is the Holy Grail of beauty that many makeup-wearers can only dream of. Even if you find something that just kind-of-works for you, chances are you'll stick with it instead of risking spending more on something that won't. But now, tech-focused cosmetics brand IL MAKIAGE says it's developed a shade-matching algorithm that's so effective it can find your perfect tone without even seeing your face.
Olay's electromagnetic face wand turns skincare into a mobile game
Olay's FaceNavi Smart Wand isn't a magic solution for perfect skin, but it is pretty fun. The Smart Wand is a handheld device that uses electromagnetic pulses to transform a singular Olay face cream into a multi-use product, able to treat puffiness, wrinkles, sagging, discoloration, uneven skin and other conditions in one fell swoop.
This smart mirror uses AR to let you 'try on' different hair styles
We've seen a slew of smart mirrors get introduced over the past few years, including one from Panasonic that's designed to analyze your skin. But for CareOS, a company based out of Europe, it wants to make an entire connected platform for the home and beauty salons out of its Artemis smart mirror. The mirror uses augmented reality to do things like "try on" a variety of different hair colors on your, which would come in handy before you decide to get a makeover. It can also integrate with brands to let you buy facial creme, as well as show you video tutorials on how to apply the makeup you're buying.
Neutrogena app 3D scans your face to create perfect-fit sheet masks
At CES last year, Neutrogena unveiled an iPhone attachment that lets you examine the condition of your skin in excruciating detail -- pores, moisture levels, wrinkles you didn't even know were there, the lot. Now, branching off the Skin 360 tool, the company has unveiled an app that accurately measures your face to ensure a good fit for the sheet masks designed to counteract these skin woes.
District app helps you shop thousands of fashion brands
It's no secret that the fashion industry dislikes Amazon, but it might have a relatively simple solution: put many of its brands in one place. Checkout network ShopRunner has launched District, a mobile shopping app that lets you buy from "thousands" of apparel and beauty brands (including Bergdorf Goodman, Cole Hann, Kate Spade and Neiman Marcus) using one cart, with free two-day shipping across the board. If you want to complete an ensemble from multiple labels, you don't have to complete sales one at a time.
No one needs this $279 vibrating face puck
I'll admit it: Any combination of tech and skincare gets me super excited, and I was stoked to try out the Foreo UFO. It's a puck that heats up, vibrates and glows to enhance the traditional facial-sheet-mask experience, and it can be controlled via an app. But I didn't just relish the excuse to pamper myself in the name of work. I was also intrigued by the potential for the device to not only cut down application time from 15-20 minutes to about 90 seconds but also help my skin better absorb the mask's essences.
The ethically murky marriage of technology and beauty
The last time I bought foundation, I couldn't decide if I was a "Fair" or a "Light." Confusing names aside, shades of cosmetics are particularly tricky for me -- a relatively pale Asian woman with yellow undertones in my skin. Colors designed for Asian complexions tend to be a bit dark or dull for my liking, while those for white skin look unnatural on me.
