How Beauty Devices Finally Broke Through

Swedish brand Foreo didn’t score an instant success with its vibrating, face-cleansing silicone brush, the Luna, when it launched in 2013.

The device — whose inventor had some adjacent experience, having helped launch the sex-toy brand Lelo — hit the market at a time when the general public was still wary of incorporating electricity into their skincare routines. By the end of the decade, however, the company’s sales had crossed the $1 billion mark. Consumers had finally come around.

Foreo sits alongside a few others beneath the beauty-device umbrella, which is rooted in cosmetic technology from dermatologist offices and medspas and stretches across LED face masks, microcurrent wands or handheld lasers. The category has taken off in recent years, especially since the pandemic, when the onset of government-mandated lockdowns finally seemed to convince customers to spend hundreds on at-home versions of their beloved in-office treatments.

Today, it’s among the fastest-growing corners of the beauty business. A November 2024 report by the Beauty Tech Group (BTG) and Price Waterhouse Cooper estimated devices to be growing at four times the rate of the overall skincare category. NielsenIQ similarly recorded surging growth in “electric cosmetics” across the globe over the past two years, particularly in China, though new device regulations in the country have caused sales to soften.

There remains plenty of room to grow. In the US, less than a fourth of customers know these beauty devices exist, and as few as 7 percent use them, said Laurence Newman, chief executive and co-founder of device maker Currentbody and BTG.

The path to market success for a device-led brand is arduous, but it can pay off. After each came to market in 2003 and spent decades on shelves, Tria, a maker of hair-removal lasers, and Omnilux, a purveyor of LED masks, were both acquired — by BTG in 2024 and GlobalMed Technologies in 2016, respectively.

Now the goal for many beauty tech brands is to become a one-stop shop. Currentbody launched BTG to fill gaps in its portfolio by acquiring device brands. Others, like Foreo or the UK-based Vanity Planet, hope to become the authority on all devices, releasing a variety of tools that offer capabilities from LED to microcurrent to help customers build their at-home arsenals.

“They’ll reach out to our customer care team and say, ‘I’m reading about LED light all the time… do you have anything like this?’” Evan Feldstein, general manager of Foreo North America, said.

Turning Customers On

Over the years, devices have become a bigger part of consumers’ personal care routines, like the Sonicare toothbrush or Dyson Airwrap. But unlike those for teeth or hair, tools for skin have mostly baffled customers when they’ve appeared on shelves.

“A lot of companies that failed in the early days gave [their tech] straight to traditional bricks and mortar stores, and they sat on shelves and never moved,” Newman said.

Some devices may have just been ahead of their time. Clarisonic’s face brushes were once the hottest device on the market, championed by Oprah and eventually acquired by L’Oréal. But the conglomerate discontinued the brand in 2020 after demand decreased and copycat products tarnished its shine. In 2016, Neutrogena launched an LED mask — hot technology today — but pulled it in 2019 due to concerns over possible eye injury.

Then the pandemic came. Market research firm Circana reported that sales in devices surged during the second quarter of 2020, along with hair treatments and nail care, in step with a deluge of online content focused on bringing beloved beauty treatments inside the home.

Social media chatter has steadily increased awareness. LED masks are the buzziest on TikTok at 1.5 million weekly views, with microcurrent in second-place receiving half as many, according to social listening firm Spate.

Influencer content has proved successful in spreading the word. Last year, a campaign for Omnilux by the influencer marketing firm Benilabs enlisted 80 influencers and resulted in some 15,000 conversions, according to Benilabs, plus the takeaway that “influence helps an innovative product shortcut trust.”

The growing market has also propped open heavy regulatory doors. Device brands that sell in the US must contend with the Food and Drug Administration, which distinguishes medical devices from cosmetics as changing “the structure or function of skin.” But the majority of devices on the market are FDA-cleared, having demonstrated equivalence to other approved products — allowing new inventions to make it quickly to market.

“Practically speaking, you file a 510(k), and you find a predicate out there of a device that’s somewhat similar,” said Feldstein, who is also Foreo’s FDA czar.

The NuFace, a microcurrent device that turns 20 years old in 2024, was cleared based on inventions called “FaceMaster Beverly Hills” and “Rejuvenique,” while the Omnilux came to market predicated on three different LED devices. Some of Foreo’s new machines that combine different modalities — such as LED and microcurrent — can be Frankensteined by multiple FDA predicates.

Vanity Planet’s next launch is a three-headed hydra: a gua sha tool combined with a microcurrent device enhanced with LED panels.

“We already have buyers lined up for it,” said CEO Inna Tumarin.

Electric Growth

It’s one thing to build a truly innovative beauty device. But without a robust collection of other technology or consumable products to go alongside it, it may not be enough to compete in the fast-growing category.

“Devices aren’t as strong unless you have topicals attached to them,” said Tumarin, a beauty veteran who held posts at Tom Ford Beauty, Clarins, and Panasonic. “If you have a beauty tech company, why are you going to be sending customers to another brand to pick up another product?”

Solawave has since expanded into masks for the face, eyes, and neck. But the company’s most exciting launch of late might be its topicals, explains founder Andrew Silberstein. “We now have a dedicated consumable product for every single device,” he said, intended to minimise cannibalisation or confusion.”

Devices can also make attractive additions to a skincare collection, if done well. Dr. Dennis Gross was early to LED, launching its Spectralite series in 2017 with an eye mask, and a full face version in 2019; the company was acquired by Shiseido in 2023 for a reported $450 million. Currentbody sold items from Foreo and Tria but had also deemed LED masks an opportunity, and began selling their own in 2019.

For customers who aren’t used to spending hundreds of dollars on a single product, devices need to establish equivalence to expensive in-office treatments. In this light, the celebrity-favourite aesthetician Shani Darden’s $399 Facial Sculpting Wand (“inspired by the vibration therapy” used in her facials, launched in 2020) could be deemed a steal compared to her treatments, which can cost upwards of $500 for a single session. Darden said the key to marketing a device is to “constantly spew out education,” making sure people are using her wand correctly and consistently to see its promised results.

But she also pointed to a devoted cohort that doesn’t need convincing. Darden used to recommend the NuFace to clients, and though she phased it out when she launched her wand, was surprised to find people using both. “Which, you don’t need to at all,” Darden said, shaking her head. “People get really obsessed.”

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