Radiant; FOREO and the World of Beauty Tech

What device are you using to read this article? Is it a laptop, a tablet, a phone? These computers are exceedingly powerful, and yet they are small enough to fit comfortably in a backpack, a handbag, or a back pocket. We should not only be thankful for the advantages of today; we should remind ourselves daily of how amazing our world of tech truly is.

The first computing machines invented in the 20^th century were enormous. They could only exist in massive rooms as a collection of cabinets, each containing vacuum tubes, capacitors, switches, and relays. Despite their great size, these computers, the first of their kind, had very limited power to carry out tasks. Most were used primarily for mathematical problems. Alan Turing’s Bombe computer, for example, cracked the German Enigma code during World War II. J. Presper Eckert Jr.’s ENIAC machine completed tedious calculations at what was then considered a remarkable speed.

Today, the devices that grew from the Bombe and the ENIAC—our laptops, our tablets, our phones—have changed the world. The applications for these computers have changed as well; their use is no longer limited to mathematical functions. Businesses of all sorts have adopted technology to revolutionize their products, and the beauty industry is no different. Skincare especially has been affected by the technological innovation; today, clean, glowing skin is more attainable than ever through the use of smart products, such as FOREO’s new Luna 3 Mini.

The Luna 3 is the third of the wildly successful Luna line of sonic cleansers. Like its predecessors, it embodies the look and feel of modern, technological skincare; the body of the cleanser is nearly perfectly round, made of a totally waterproof, hygienic silicone. All Luna products cleanse and massage the skin using sonic waves that pulsate through silicone touchpoints to remove 99.5% of dirt, oil, and sweat.

Sonic skincare is already technologically advanced—skincare using sonic waves is much more effective than cleansing by hand—but the Luna 3 Mini takes beauty technology to a new level. Unlike earlier products of the Luna line, the Luna 3 and the Luna 3 Mini feature smartphone connectivity with a FOREO app, effectively programming each Luna device with personalized settings for individualized skincare. The app also controls the newest skincare mode, unique to the Luna 3 and Luna 3 Mini: a time-saving glow boost that requires only thirty seconds for a refreshing cleanse.

Creating technological skincare can present a bit of a risk. After all, technical difficulties can hinder even the best of devices. But FOREO appears to have considered even that in the creation of its new product. The “Find my Luna” feature on the FOREO app, for example, uses Bluetooth connectivity to help an owner find a lost Luna; activate the program on the app and the Luna vibrates. FOREO even managed to tackle one of the largest problems concerning technology-powered skincare: battery life. Both the Luna 3 and Luna 3 Mini boast a whopping 650 uses on a single charge, meaning that the cleansers are ideal for travelers—and for those of us who frequently forget to charge our hungrier devices.

Although the computers of old have passed, there is something rather beautiful about their designs: the symmetry of their cabinets, stood end to end, or the patterns in their switches and tubes. In these machines, it is likely that aesthetics were purely coincidental. Function, of course, had to outweigh form as the technology churned away, calculating the answers to our most pressing problems. Today, our devices, like FOREO’s Luna 3 and Luna 3 Mini, can be intentionally beautiful, almost frivolous, because their purpose is to make us feel beautiful.

Technology has certainly changed. So has skincare. Beauty tech is creating an entirely new world of products, often personalized just for us. Perhaps these products are not as seminal as the Bombe or the ENIAC, but they are ever important; after all, smart brands like FOREO keep us moving forward, fresh-faced.

Check out FOREO’s new Luna Mini 3, released in late September, here.

FOREO’s Luna 3, the full-size model, is also available for purchase here.