CES 2019: Smarter Skincare

On the last day of CES, I walked by a booth that was empty except a stack of these and postcards on the table.

It peaked enough of my curiosity to stop to pick it up and figure out what they were exactly. The postcard next to what I initially thought may be stickers were actually strips to help analyze skin said, “We believe in the power of science to change your skin for the better.” As I read on, I gleaned this was Atolla’s monthly subscription offer that would analyze my skin and provide a customized facial serum month-to-month. Now that is smart skincare!

I am ALWAYS on the hunt for good yet affordable skincare products. There are only a few products that I’ve stayed loyal to because they work really well for me, but facial serum was not one of them. I don’t know how many facial serums I’ve tried over the years, but every bottle I’ve tried, I’ve never used again and always replaced with another bottle to see if I could find something better.

When I got a chance, I logged into their website to learn more. By using their skin analysis strips with their Skin Health app, a serum would be customized precisely for me. Each month I could analyze my skin and receive a personalized serum. This means as the serum presumably changes my skin, along with other factors such as diet and weather I would imagine, my serum would change month to month to address whatever my skin needs.

That makes total sense to me because I regularly keep different moisturizers according to my varying skin condition, which is usually highly dependent on where I am at the moment, how the weather is and what my lifestyle routine is like. The moisturizer I use when I’m travelling to Las Vegas in August where I may only be averaging 6 hours of sleep a night and going out to eat is completely different than the one I use when I’m home in Houston in the same month getting more sleep and eating healthier home cooked meals.

If you read their blog on their website, you’ll learn some MIT students created this during grad school and had 1000 customers in their first year. They had a 1 month pop-up store in SoHo and also ran a Kickstarter campaign.

One month costs $50 at their current pre-order rate on their website. Buy 3 months or 1 year in advance and the monthly rate significantly drops. I’ve paid an average of $40 for facial serum with an upward range of $60. And while I have not yet taken the plunge and placed an order for this, I am leaning towards doing so. Do you think I should try this out? Let me know, I’d love to hear your thoughts!