Can This New Device Make Your Skin Care Smarter?
Credit: courtesy
I live for a fabulous shadow palette and enduring matte liquid lipstick, but my real beauty obsession is chasing after fresh, glowy skin. Who wouldn't want a radiant complexion that naturally looks like you're a walking Instagram filter? It's for this reason I take what I put on my face very seriously, and I'm always looking for the next thing that will take my daily regimen up a notch.
Enter the Arbonne Intelligence Genius Ultra, an ultrasound device the brand says will make product work smarter and faster. In an era where we expect immediate action for everything, it's about time we had truly "smart" skin care. But how can one sleek little device increase the efforts of one's favorite serum? To get tech-y, the Genius Ultra reportedly emits 300,000 ultrasound waves per second to apply product more directly an effectively than your fingertips. Interesting...
Cornell physicist Robert E. Grove, Ph.D, who happens to be the Arbonne Intelligence Genius Ultra Development Advisor, spent almost five years developing the device with the Arbonne team, which began by reviewing technologies that were currently being utilized in the beauty space, finally settling on ultrasound technology.
"Arbonne has great topicals, but any product applied just with fingers doesn't necessarily get into all of the ridges of the skin," Dr. Grove told us via email. "The combination of gentle ultrasound waves from the Ultra and a warmed applicator does this very effectively. The applicator has three warmth levels to maximize comfort while the ultrasound goes to work. We all are familiar with the long-established safety of ultrasound, and to ensure this, every single Ultra device is tested for both the level and uniformity of ultrasound output."
RELATED: This Brightening Treatment Is Basically a Magic Eraser for Dark Spots
With a price point of $241.20, it feels like quite the investment. But since one can't physically see the ultrasound waves hard at work the way we can apply pressure or movement from our fingertips it begs the question, is it really necessary?
"Clinical evidence exists from the 1950s that shows the ultrasound can be used to enhance penetration of molecules through intact skin; we call this process phonophoresis or sonophoresis," says Dr. Rachel Nazarian, a dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York City. "With the price of skin-care products increasing, although we are discovering new antioxidants, extracts, and peptides that will enhance cellular pathways of anti-aging in in the skin, the challenge has always been getting the ingredients to absorb deeper into the skin where it is best utilized. Applying only with your fingertips is generally fine, but the goal is to make it better. An ultrasound tool has been shown to enhance penetration, and should theoretically allow for more effective use of topical products."
Credit: Courtesy
RELATED: The Best Pore Products Out Now, According to Beauty Lovers
As far as safety concerns, Dr. Nazarian doesn't see any, noting that ultrasounds have been proven incredibly safe.
"They generate a small amount of heat under the skin, but work by emitting sound waves and are used in pregnancy routinely without any proven adverse effects," she says. "So you can use with confidence."
The Genius Ultra can be reportedly used to increase the effects of skin-care product on the face, eyes, lips, and neck, and the device comes packaged in a set with Arbonne's beloved RE9 Advanced Intensive Renewal Serum and RE9 Advanced Lifting and Contouring Eye Cream, so you can test drive it right away.
Seriously, though, what's next?
