From Donald Trump’s election for US president to the still raging civil war in Syria, a whirl of political, economic and social disturbances defined 2016. The year, which is only days in the past now, brought more than a slate of scandals and tragedies and gasps of utter disbelieve. Quietly, it also ushered in inventions and innovations. The beauty industry welcomed its own share of breakthroughs in the last 12 months. Haute Beauty takes a look at several of them.

Gadgets

Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Mask            

In the fall of 2016, science fiction upended beauty with Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Mask .
The pearly white contraption, which looks like it was taken straight out of the Star Wars franchise, brings home the largely exalted Light Therapy, which estheticians have employed in the fight against skin imperfections for years. Based on LED technology, the mask, which costs mere $35, beams two separate shafts of light – blue and red, which merge into a glimmering neon pink to administer a remedy for the two prime causes of acne. Blue light annihilates the acne-causing P. Acnes bacteria, while red light allays inflammation. Neutrogena states that its initial trials of the mask’s efficiency showed a 100 percent rate of breakouts reduction in the span of three months. For the fastest and best results, wear the mask for 10 minutes every day.

Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer        

                                                                                                                                                                         
You might have seen the name Dyson on vacuum cleaners, hand dryers and heaters. In 2016, the multi-million British tech company sent gushes through the beauty industry with its inaugural Supersonic Hair Dryer, which comes with a price tag of $399. Tucked inside the handle rather than in the head, the dryer’s motor is three times lighter and six times faster than a conventional one – and only a third of its size. But fear not – its power, which propels 13 liters of air per second, will not fray your locks. Sensors measure the temperature of the gush five times a minute, making sure it will not exceed 302 degrees, the mark above which the heat starts to damage the hair.

Simplehuman Sensor Mirror Pro          

Your vanity mirror may reflect a flawless look. Once you step outside, though, all the errors show – blindingly glistening highlighter, poorly blended foundation, overly intense eyeshadows. This is what happens when you are enhancing your beauty out of the harsheness of daylight. Luckily, Simplehuman Sensor Mirror Pro came in early 2016 to put a halt to the unexpected and unforgiving smear of light – any light, this is – on your makeup. Equipped with LED bulbs, the three-panel mirror projects the full spectrum of daylight – an unmatched feat among its peers. If you are preening for a special place, though, which you have dutifully captured on your phone, load the snap into this smart mirror and it will recreate it. Voila, you now know how you will exactly look when you make your grand entry. The mirror’s glass, which also decks out solar panels, ensures that you will preen at a crystal-clear reflection of yourself.

Products

Lancôme Le Teint Particulier Custom Made Makeup                                                                                                                                              Your foundation has never matched your skin so perfectly. This is – it has never been custom created for you. Until now. Enter Lancôme Le Teint Particulier (http://www.lancome-usa.com/LTP-landing-page.html). Available in 11 Nordstrom stores across the United States, the revolutionary foundation squirts out of a three-step technology. A hand-held scanner records your facial skin tone and feeds the data into a software that determines the right mixture of pigments and a moisturizing base (the latter dependent on your coverage preferences). The concoction is then pumped into a sleek container through peristaltic tubes that seal the air out to avoid oxidization and discoloration. Your bottle of custom-made long-lasting, fragrance-free foundation is then coded with an unique ID to facilitate refills. 

Skin Better Science AlphaRet Overnight Cream

A well-known tenet of the beauty industry postulates that the age-defying retinoid and hydroxy acid are not to meshed together. The mixture can lead to skin irritation. Skin Better, a novel physician-dispensed skincare brand, however, upended the rules in 2016. It combined the two “gold-standard” ingredients in tis “game-changing” AlphaRet overnight cream. After several years of research, the company insolated  retinoid, which reduces wrinkles and sun spots, and hydroxyl acid, which enlivens skin texture and tone, into their separate bubbles that it then strapped together to create a single molecule – ethyl lactyl retinate. The resultant formula is a buster of age-related imperfections.  

Juvederm Volbella XC                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Last year also saw the arrival of Allergan’s novel lip filler, Juvederm Volbella. This is the first laugh line- erasing filler to earn the approval of the US Food and Drug Administration. It contains a relatively small concentration of the naturally occurring, water-absorbing hyaluronic acid (HA) – 15 mg/mL – that is, nonetheless, enough to ensure long-lasting effects. The filler’s formula – which comprises disparate molecular weights of HA – delivers fuller, softer and smoother lips that retain their suppleness over moths.