About two years ago, I tried a facial treatment in Singapore that had left me feeling refreshed and my skin smooth and taut. I found out it was called an “aqua peel” and started investigating how I could replicate the experience at home in the United States. Back then, the available options were either too costly or looked dubious. At the time, devices like the BeautyBio GloFacial weren’t showing up in my searches, and the Dermaflash Dermapore+ Pore Extractor and Serum Infuser just didn’t seem like what I was looking for.
When I first read the description for Shark’s FacialPro Glow, I felt a spark of hope ignite. It sounded like the aqua peel I had experienced, and it wasn’t until I actually was able to try it out recently that I was convinced. The company says its latest gadget is a “hydro-fueled, skincare-enhanced facial device that delivers spa-level results.” Basically, imagine a nozzle being dragged around your face as it sucks gunk out of your pores while also flushing them clean. That’s the refreshing sensation I experienced and was, to use a Singaporean term, “damn shiok.”
There are two parts to the FacialPro Glow system: the “cleanse” or exfoliating attachment and the Shark Depuffi, which will be sold separately starting October 17. Both of these components can snap onto a handle that houses the power unit. The “cleanse” portion is made up of a dual-pump system that applies suction and also sprays water or a hydrator into your pores so it infuses as it cleans. From all the descriptions I’ve read of “aqua peels” or “hydra facials” the FacialPro Glow seems to do pretty much the same thing.
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I’ve only had the chance to try it out once so far but I’m already pretty impressed. But before I get into that, a word on the setup. You can choose to use the Depuffi to warm up your skin before moving on to the exfoliating attachment, but I didn’t do so. The Depuffi is basically like a bigger, rounder gua sha (Asian smooth-edged tool for scraping your face to sculpt it) with a much larger surface area. It can either heat up or be cold, and uses similar technology as the undereye plates in Shark’s LED mask that launched earlier this year.
I missed that suggestion as I didn’t see it in the manual and was eager to begin with the suction, but I did use it after I was done with the exfoliation session to relax and cool my face.
The very first step in the process is to apply a thin layer of the included “Derm Detox” exfoliating gel on your face and leave it there for three minutes. It’s a combination of glycolic and salicylic acids that Shark says “gently dissolves impurities.” So far, I haven’t found anything noteworthy about the formulation. It didn’t have any smell or fragrance, didn’t leave my skin feeling tingly and despite being called a gel it had a mostly watery consistency that was reminiscent of facial treatment essences.
There are two tanks on the FacialPro Glow — a smaller one near the nozzle for clean water (or the BHA hydrator that Shark includes) and a larger one behind it labeled “gunk tank.” For your first pass, which is mostly about suction and cleaning, you’ll need to fill the front section with clean, cool water.
A close-up look at the Shark FacialPro Glow after one round on my face. (Cherlynn Low for Engadget)
Shark includes five tips for the device: gentle wide, gentle T-zone, normal wide, normal T-zone and self-cleaning. Once you’ve attached your preferred head and filled up water to the “max” line, you can turn on the FacialPro Glow and adjust the intensity using the “plus” button above the power button.
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