Las Vegas is punishingly dry. The arid winter air means I awoke on Day 3 of CES 2025 with a nosebleed, chapped lips, and ashy legs. This despite the actual fact I slathered myself with two pumps of a fermented bean essence, eye cream, moisturizer, and a lip masks. Staring at my face within the resort mirror, I’m wondering if any of these merchandise had been doing what they’re imagined to — and if possibly, I ought to attempt one thing completely different.
This is why I used to be so desperate to attempt L’Oréal’s Cell BioPrint.
For anybody who’s struggled with their complexion, the Cell BioPrint seems like a holy grail gadget. The system is a mini-lab setup that analyzes a pores and skin pattern to generate a report about your pores and skin’s present situation. It’ll additionally “grade” your pores and skin with regard to oiliness, wrinkles, pores and skin barrier perform, pore dimension, and uneven pores and skin tone. Based on the proteins in your pores and skin, you’ll additionally see whether or not you’re extra more likely to be inclined to these points down the road — even when they aren’t points now. The take a look at additionally determines whether or not you’re attentive to retinol, a preferred and well-studied skincare ingredient that however causes a ton of confusion on-line.
In my demo, utilizing the Cell BioPrint was easy. Mainly as a result of I didn’t need to do a factor. While L’Oréal hopes to in the future make Cell BioPrint an at-home system, it’ll first be geared toward retail, dermatology places of work, and skincare clinics. As in, the precise take a look at will likely be executed by an expert to make sure accuracy. A L’Oréal staffer collected a pattern from each my cheeks utilizing a particular sort of sticker. I watched as he then dissolved it in a buffer liquid, positioned the ensuing resolution right into a cartridge, and fed that cartridge right into a machine. I additionally had my cheeks and brow scanned with an imaging wand earlier than answering two questions on my age and demographic information.
After a couple of minutes, I bought to see my outcomes. Apparently, I’m doing one thing proper as a result of the report stated that my chronological and organic age had been aligned. But it additionally stated that whereas my pores and skin barrier perform is at the moment good, I’m biologically susceptible to have points with that as I grow old. My report additionally stated that I don’t need to be involved with pore dimension — both now or sooner or later, and that I’m extremely attentive to retinol, which means my pores and skin is more likely to tolerate it effectively.
There had been a number of different insights I gained’t bore you with, however after going over my outcomes, I’ve a greater sense of what I have to deal with. For occasion, I ought to proceed utilizing moisturizers with ceramides, button up my solar care habits outdoors of sunscreen, add a vitamin C to assist with my pores and skin tone, and add a retinol. I additionally know what I don’t want or can take away from my routine. For instance, I don’t want to purchase merchandise focused towards shrinking pores.
Most of this wasn’t shocking. My outcomes aligned with the considerations I’ve seen and the place I have a tendency to pay attention my skincare routine. For instance, the few instances I’ve tried retinol, I’ve by no means had an trace of the sensitivities different individuals appear to expertise.
Of course, this type of personalised suggestion is just pretty much as good because the science behind it. After all, numerous well being and wonder tech firms promise the moon, however are deliberately coy in terms of explaining why it is best to belief them. Barring regulatory certification (which isn’t typically required for wellness and wonder tech), it’s left as much as the person to attempt to discern whether or not an evidence passes the scent take a look at.
With that in thoughts, I requested L’Oréal to dive deep into the science — which Guive Balooch, international vice chairman of L’Oréal’s Technology Incubator, fortunately obliged.
Balooch says the corporate had 800 biologists working (and publishing medical research) to find whether or not there are particular proteins expressed in pores and skin cells that would decide your threat elements for sure pores and skin circumstances. The problem, he says, is that there are a whole lot of proteins produced by the physique. Finding the few out of the 1000’s that may give actionable skincare insights is like discovering a handful of needles in an enormous haystack. It required L’Oréal’s researchers to sequence all of them and then discover the related biomarkers.
This specific department of analysis, Balooch says, is known as proteomics — or the research of how proteins are expressed within the physique. “It’s understanding that our cells each day are making proteins. Depending on our way of life, our geography, and our genes, they may make roughly of those proteins. It modifications over time and habits can change it as effectively.”
Balooch says L’Oréal examined 4,000 individuals over 10 years throughout the US, Europe, South America and Asia, and located 5 proteins associated to pores and skin well being, together with two which are associated to how effectively an individual’s pores and skin will reply to retinol. And whereas the Cell BioPrint can solely at the moment analyze responsiveness to retinol, different substances like niacinamide and hyaluronic acid are additionally within the works.
“In some methods, it’s meant to inform individuals what not to purchase.”
Cynically talking, a tool like this is also considered as a pseudoscientific option to promote extra merchandise to a bunch of individuals already inclined to achieve for his or her wallets. But Balooch argues the Cell BioPrint isn’t meant to encourage individuals to purchase extra.
“In some methods, it’s meant to inform individuals what not to purchase,” he says. “Of course, we’d like to promote extra merchandise, however not by overconsumption. That’s not really good in your pores and skin. It’s about serving to individuals discover the suitable merchandise primarily based on science.”
To that finish, Balooch has a degree. The skincare market proper now could be rife with misinformation and influencers pushing costly 10-step routines that typically do extra hurt than good. I do know higher, and but I’m as responsible as the following skincare nerd. (I’m nonetheless haunted by the total bottle of snail mucin influencers claimed would repair all my issues. It broke me out as an alternative.) Even now, I do know that I’ll most likely get influenced once more. The distinction is at the least I can select to be influenced in direction of a retinol cream or vitamin C serum — issues which have a better probability of serving to me — somewhat than throwing my cash to the wind.
