Foreo launches 'UFO' smart face mask

Beauty startup Foreo is launching a "UFO" to make salon-style face mask treatments as much a part of people's days as brushing teeth.

The young Swedish firm is giving visitors the full treatment with a glamor gadget that resembles a tiny alien spacecraft this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Face masks, which typically involve coating one's face with skin-loving lotions that work their magic while drying for 20 minutes or so, were among top search terms at Google last year.

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Foreo, which was founded in 2013 and boasts nearly a half-billion dollars in annual revenue, decided sheet masks were due for a make-over with some help from technology.

"The sheet mask hasn't changed since ancient Egyptian times," Foreo spokeswoman Dawn Watt told AFP at a CES event.

"This is the world's first smart mask."

The puck-shaped device fits easily in the palm of a hand. Face mask ingredients are placed inside and activated by heating or cooling elements as the "UFO" glides about a face.

"When you are finished it is like you've had a full facial experience, but in only 90 seconds," Watt said.

Foreo chief executive Paul Peros was adamant that he used UFO, which the company said was a play on 'Your Future Obsession,' each morning and evening.

"Of course my wife thinks my face is prettier," Peros quipped when asked.

"Why else would I do it?"

UFO models will be priced at $179 and $279 when they are released to the mass market in April, but can be bought at discount online at Kickstarter.

Foreo also sells mask ingredients priced at $10 for a seven treatment packets.

Watt said the beauty industry is steadily merging with the tech world in a trend that is inevitable and "amazing."