Medtech-enabled cellular personalization is coming to skincare

The story: L’Oréal claims its new Cell BioPrint device can analyze a person’s individual, cellular-level skin aging, recommending which products would work best for them.

• The device is the result of the company’s partnership with Korean biofluids startup NanoEntek, which specializes in biofluid-reading chips.

Get your biofluids read: Here’s how using the Cell BioPrint device works.

• A user takes a tiny sample of their facial skin’s biofluids by using a special piece of tape, sticking it to their cheek, and then placing the strip in a buffer solution that then gets analyzed by the device.
• The user then answers several questions about their skin concerns and aging and the device takes a few photos of their face.
• Cell BioPrint then spits out its analysis of the user’s skin aging, offering advice on how to improve the skin’s appearance and how certain ingredients (e.g., retinol) would work for them.
• All of this happens in under five minutes, L’Oréal says.

Science vs. recommendation culture: The showcase of this new device comes when personal care, wellness, and beauty are dominated by recommendation culture.

• Instead of turning to traditional authorities like medical providers or even a wellness publication, today’s wellness and beauty consumers take their cues from the internet—from influencers and regular people alike. This trend has even fueled fears about young internet denizens’ premature turn to adult skincare products.
• In a time when any product can suddenly develop a cult following overnight on the basis of a short social media post, it can be hard for users to tell which purchases and practices are actually worth it. After all, what works for one person’s skin may not work for another.
• That’s where L’Oréal’s pitch comes in: so much of health and beauty is personal because of individual biology. Why not let a device tell you what your biology actually responds to and cut through the online noise?

The marriage of wellness and medtech: This device—and the partnership between a beauty giant and a medtech startup—is an important signal for what we can expect from the continually blurring border between the wellness industry and medtech.

• Of course, what is showcased at CES isn’t necessarily what’s hitting the market anytime soon. Many products, like the much-discussed Omnia smart mirror, are more futuristic proof-of-concept and brand advertisement than anything else. 
• But the massive tech event—and the products that make waves—are a signal for what consumers and industry insiders alike are yearning for. Personalization and science-backed health tools are a strong pull. The rise of smart rings, another CES hallmark, can back that trend up.
• What’s interesting to us is that it’s not just Big Tech and tech startups leading this charge. Brands we associate with drugstore beauty products are investing in this branch of health innovation. While those of us tuning in to CES are more in touch with the cutting-edge than the average consumer, these household names will be who introduces this tech to the masses.