Beauty Gets Personal at CES

L’Oréal Water Saver
L’Oréal Water Saver

The 2021 all-digital CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) featured innovation in many areas—including beauty—to improve our world. Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association, this mega event kicks off each year in Las Vegas. I love to report from the show and be one of the first to experience the new technological breakthroughs in beauty, health, lifestyle, pet, smart homes, education, baby, elder care and other important categories that impact every segment of our lives. 

“The all-digital CES 2021 showed how the pandemic accelerated the arc of innovation and illustrated the resilience and innovative spirit of our industry,” says Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CTA. “From the newest innovations for the home and entertainment to advances in 5G, vehicle technology, AI, digital health and much, much more, the new technologies we saw at CES 2021 will pave the way for a brighter tomorrow.” 

Key themes emerge at CES 2021

CES 2021 featured innovation that will improve our world.

  • Tech innovation accelerated by COVID-19: Tech companies innovated during the pandemic, launching smart masks, disinfecting robots, body sensors that detect COVID-19 symptoms and smart air filtration systems. 
  • Consumer privacy and trust: The heads of privacy at Amazon, Google and Twitter discussed new privacy regulations and the need to increase consumer trust, stating that tech companies must give users more control over their data.
  • Space tech: NASA was joined by leaders from Lockheed Martin and Space Tango to discuss technology’s role in accelerating space research and breakthroughs that will benefit all of humanity. 

Beauty tech sits alongside 5G, robots

Artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality and other technology advancements have created new opportunities in the beauty sector, allowing consumers to interact with products and find customized care. The increasing integration of the tech and beauty sectors has changed the way consumers use beauty products and think about self-care, and it’s revolutionized the kind of results beauty products can achieve.

Let’s take a look:

L’Oréal unveiled the L’Oréal Water Saver, a sustainable hair-care system for the salon and at-home, developed with environmental innovation company Gjosa. Gjosa’s core water-optimizing technology applies the principle of fractioning used in rocket engines to water flows, ensuring every drop of water is used in the hair washing and rinsing process while making shampoos, conditioners and other treatments easier to rinse. It reduces water usage by up to 80% by combining high-powered water-optimizing technology with specially designed hair-care products from L’Oréal Professionnel and Kérastase that flow directly into the water stream. The L’Oréal Water Saver platform uses two liters per minute, compared to the household standard eight liters, with no detectable difference in pressure. The L’Oréal Water Saver hair-care experience is available in select L’Oréal salons in New York and Paris; a global rollout will span 2021 and 2022. 

L’Oréal also announced the first consumer launch of its award-winning Perso technology. The Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Sur Mesure Powered by Perso creates personalized lipsticks. This sleek AI-powered device utilizes color cartridge sets from YSL’s universes of red, nude, orange or pink. Users can create thousands of bespoke shades of YSL’s Velvet Cream Matte Finish lipstick with a single touch. A limited pre-sale of this device (MSRP $299.00) is available for registration at www.yslbeauty.com/rouge-sur-mesure

The Panasonic Nanoe Hair Dryer (MSRP $149.99) uses patented nanoe technology and includes a new oscillating quick-dry nozzle for gentler and effortless drying. Nanoe technology draws moisture from the air to create tiny, moisture-rich particles that are small enough to penetrate each hair shaft to help protect against damage from styling and brushing, while enhancing smoothness and shine. These particles are almost 1,000 times more moisture-packed than the negative ions used by many modern hair dryers. Designed for home use, it comes with the nozzle, a professional concentrator nozzle and a diffuser. Check it out at www.na.panasonic.com.

SelfCare1 uses robotics and the Internet of Things to deliver a personalized combination of essential oils in individual doses. The app offers over 40 programs for modern life issues from well-being to nose & throat. The connected dispenser with the pre-filled cartridge is controlled using a smartphone. Each cartridge contains eight organic essential oils. Visit https://selfcareone.com/.

HairMax introduced the Flip 80 laser hair growth cap, which treats pattern hair loss and stimulates hair growth in the front or back of your head or both—when flipped. The densely concentrated 80 medical-grade lasers within half the cap provide the equivalent scalp coverage of 160 lasers and 800 mW total power output. HairMax laser devices are FDA-cleared to treat hereditary hair loss and stimulate hair growth. Visit www.hairmax.com.

Hailing from South Korea, Amorepacific’s Formularity was a CES 2021 Innovation Award Honoree in the health and wellness category. Formularity is an at-home beauty device that dilutes an ampoule to a single dose toner dispensed on a cotton pad, based on the user’s skin condition. It then heats or cools the soaked cotton pad to an ideal temperature for skin absorption. 

Taiwanese biotech startup VesCir launched its medical-grade, portable skin-care system. The iCI analyzer skin tester with precision levels comparable to NASA’s Skin.B project testing tools, assesses the underlying physiological state of the skin through the use of Diffuse Optical Tomography and Hydration Sensing technology. It provides real-time information on the skin’s oxidation, hydration and melanin levels. It gets relayed to the iCI smartphone app, which uses AI to analyze results and provide a snapshot of how your skin is today. The ratio of ingredients in the serum is then adjusted to provide exactly what the skin needs that day.

Expected to be a hybrid in-person and digital show, the next CES is scheduled for January 4-8 in Las Vegas. You can bet that I’ll be there! For more information, visit www.ces.tech.


Jayne Morehouse is president of Jayne & Company, a full-service Public Relations, Social Media Marketing and Content Development Agency for companies, brands, salons and spas. She is also the CEO of the Beauty Industry Report, a digital magazine for senior executives in the professional beauty business. Reach her at [email protected]. Visit www.bironline.com.

 

More in Education