L’Oréal beauty accessories for CES 2026 include a flexible LED mask that looks like skin
For the past decade or so, L’Oréal has brought a taste of beauty technology to the masses at CES 2026. This time, it has three devices to show off: the “Light Straight + Multi-styler” and the helpfully named LED Face Mask and LED Eye Mask.
Don’t let the humble words fool you. These three products actually have some unique features. The Light Straight (and the multi-styler, which I’ll just call Light Straight from here on out), for example, uses infrared light to help generate the heat needed to style your hair. Meanwhile, the LED Face Mask is different from those made by companies like Dr. Dennis Gross, Omnilux, Therabody and Shark. Instead of hard shells that stay hard on your face, L’Oréal’s version looks soft and thin.
I have not seen this in person, although I intend to do so as soon as possible, but the pictures of the LED Eye Mask look, and I mean this in the best possible way, ridonkulous. Not only do they look sleek, but they are also transparent, with bulbs and wires you can see inside. In some of the images provided by the company, the mask is filled with red as the lights are on. In others, only its parts are red. One of them even features a mask that sits in a small carrying case and almost looks like wireless earbuds. I haven’t seen any pictures of the LED Face Mask but I think it will be similar to this one.
L’Oréal LED Eye Mask in a carrying case (L’Oréal)
According to a press release, this “very thin, flexible silicone mask” is currently in “prototype form” and was developed in collaboration with LED solutions company iSmart. The company said this mask “brings light directly to the face” in 10 minutes programmed automatically. That is not very different from existing red light masks, but L’Oréal said it believes that “the key to the performance of the mask is its advanced support, transparent, which includes a skin-safe microcircuit to precisely control the output of two selected light waves – red light (630 nm) and near-infrared light (830 nm).
Since the mask will only be launched in 2027, there are no details on pricing and availability yet, although the company’s vice president of global technology and open innovation Guive Balooch told Engadget that it will be a premium product that will sit somewhere below the most expensive offerings currently available.
One of my issues with full face LED masks is that my skin always feels very dry underneath them, because you have to use them on clean, dry skin for 10 minutes at a time. Balooch told me that L’Oréal will have an advanced serum to use with its mask that will help with that, while also improving the effectiveness of the light treatment.
That’s quite impressive, and Balooch indicated that creating formulas designed to work with devices like LED masks is the way forward for the company.
A pair of hands that apply L’Oréal Light Straight and many styles to human hair. (L’Oréal)
I’m also interested in Light Straight, like the company’s AirLight Pro that uses infrared light to help dry or style hair. According to the company’s press release, hair straighteners “with conventional heating zones can reach temperatures of 400°F and above—above the threshold where keratin denatures, leading to weakened cuticles, breakage and loss of shine.” For context, I used to turn my flatiron up to 425 degrees Fahrenheit to manage my tresses (although these days I find 330 degrees reasonable enough).
L’Oréal says that Light Straight and its “infrared light technology” “can help provide superior styling results at lower temperatures, better protecting hair health.” The device’s glass plates never exceed 320 degrees, and the company says its tests found that the Light Straight is three times faster and leaves hair twice as smooth “as the best hair styles.” I’m not sure how to calculate smoothness, but I hope the results come out in the real world.
Light Straight uses near-infrared light that L’Oréal says “penetrates deep into the hair fiber” to “reestablish internal hydrogen bonds.” It also has sensors on board with “built-in proprietary algorithms and machine learning” to adapt to your touch to “enhance the individual experience.” I’m not sure what that means, but I hope to find out more this week at CES. Since the Light Straight doesn’t launch until 2027, it’s no surprise that pricing and other details aren’t available yet. But in the meantime, I’d like to see companies continue to investigate novel, hopefully healthy ways for us to look and feel beautiful.
