In the past nearly ten years, L’Oreal has brought people a taste of beauty technology at CES 2026. This time, it has three devices to show off: one named “Light Straight + Multi-Styler” as well as LED Face Mask and LED Eye Mask.
Don’t let the simple names mislead you. These three products really have some unique properties. For example, the Light Straight (and the Multi-Styler, which I’m going to call Light Straight from here on out), uses infrared light to help generate the heat needed to style your hair. Meanwhile, the LED face mask by Dr. Dennis Gross is different from masks made by companies like Omnilux, Therabody, and Shark. Instead of fairly rigid wraps that sit firmly on your face, L’Oréal’s version looks flexible and thin.
I haven’t seen it in person yet, although I intend to as soon as possible, but the photos of the LED eye mask look good, and I want to say it in the best way possible, ridiculous Not only do they look flexible, but they also appear to be transparent, allowing you to see the bulbs and wires inside. In some of the images provided by the company, the masks are completely immersed in red as the lights are on. In others, only parts of it are red. One of them also shows the mask housed in a small carrying case and they look almost like wireless earbuds. I haven’t seen any pictures of the LED face masks but I can imagine they’ll be very similar to these.
According to the press release, this “ultra-thin, flexible silicone mask” is currently “in prototype form” and was developed in collaboration with LED solutions company iSmart. The company said the mask “delivers light directly onto the face” in an automatically timed 10-minute session. It’s not much different from existing red light masks, but L’Oreal said it believes “the key to the mask’s effectiveness is its advanced, transparent support, which integrates a skin-safe microcircuit to precisely control the emission of two selected wavelengths of light – red light (630 nm) and near-infrared light (830 nm).”
Since the mask is only launching in 2027, there are no details yet on pricing and availability, though Guive Bloch, the company’s global vice president of tech and open innovation, told Engadget that it will be a premium product that will cost far less than the highest-priced offering currently available.
One problem I have with full-face LED masks is that my skin always feels too dry underneath them, since you have to use them on clean, dry skin for 10 minutes at a time. Baloch told me that L’Oréal will be developing a serum for use with its masks that will help with this, as well as improve the effectiveness of the light treatments.
This is certainly interesting, and Baloch indicated that creating formulations designed to work with devices like LED masks is a future direction for the company.
A pair of hands using the L’Oreal Light Straight and Multi-Styler on a person’s hair. (L’Oréal)
I’m also interested in Light Straight, which uses infrared light to help dry or style hair, like the company’s AirLight Pro. According to the company’s press release, “Hair straighteners with normal heating locations can reach temperatures of 400 degrees Fahrenheit and above – above the threshold at which keratin denatures, causing cuticles to weaken, break and lose shine.” For reference, I used to heat my flatiron up to 425 degrees Fahrenheit to control my hair (although these days I think a more reasonable 330 degrees is good enough).
L’Oreal says Light Straight and its “patented infrared light technology” can “help deliver exceptional styling results at low temperatures, to better protect hair health.” The device’s glass plates never exceed 320 degrees, and the company says its testing has shown that the Lite Straight is three times faster and leaves hair twice as smooth as “leading premium hair stylers.” I’m not sure how you would measure spontaneity, but I would expect the results to hold up in the real world.
Light Straight uses near-infrared light which L’Oréal says “penetrates deeply into the hair fiber” to “reshape the internal hydrogen bonds.” It also has sensors with “built-in proprietary algorithms and machine learning” to adapt to your gestures “to maximize the personalized experience.” I’m not sure what this means, but I expect to hear more at CES this week. Given that the Lite Strat won’t launch until 2027, it’s not surprising that pricing and other details aren’t available yet. But for now, I’m eager to see companies continue to discover new, hopefully healthy ways for us to look and feel beautiful.
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