I have to admit — I used to be skeptical of LED devices being good for your skin. When they started being sold for home use, I felt they were often expensive, ineffective appliances that were obvious cash grabs. Nowadays, however, as is often the case with any emerging product category, technology has evolved. We see more sophisticated offers that not only use better ingredients, but are more comfortable to wear. Full face masks from the likes of Therabodydr. Dennis Gross and Omnilux exploded in popularity, took over social media and sold out regularly. After hearing the praises from friends and family, and going through more light treatments in salons myself, I am more convinced that there is a place for devices like this.

Shark, the maker of vacuum cleaners, air fryers and various kitchen appliances, unveiled its take on the LED face mask device here at CES 2025. Launched under its three-year-old Shark Beauty arm, the new “CryoGlow under-eye cooling + LED anti-aging and skin clearing face mask” has a long name. I’ll just call it the CryoGlow mask from here on out. At a meeting here in Las Vegas, Shark’s senior vice president of global product development Danielle Lessing described the many ways CryoGlow is different from what’s out there today.

First of all, as its name implies, there is a cooling component in this device. In addition to the 160 “interlocking tri-wick LEDs” in the mask, there are two metal plates on the cheeks shaped like eye masks. It’s the gateway to what Shark calls “InstaChill” technology and is basically a pair of cold plates that, in my short time with the CryoGlow, felt incredibly comforting. In fact, that might be my favorite part of the device (and frankly its versatile nature).

After wearing the CryoGlow for maybe a minute, and after I took a lot of hilarious photos and selfies with it, I really appreciated how cool it felt under my eyes. To be clear, the plates felt cold immediately after I put the mask on, but it was the long-lasting coolness that I enjoyed. And after removing the device, I was still happy with the feeling left, even after a few minutes. I didn’t feel like I wore the mask long enough to know if it would start to feel clunky after long wear, but at least in my demo, I didn’t feel overwhelmed, nor did the wired remote. control entered. my way

I also want to note that, unlike the Therabody option, Shark’s CryoGlow does not vibrate. Lessing said “It’s a skin care system and the vibration doesn’t affect the skin.”

I can’t stress enough the importance of tri-wick LED bulbs that each produce red, blue and deep infrared light, as it differs from other products on the market that may only use single or dual-wick bulbs. In those cases, manufacturers may choose to place only red bulbs or only blue bulbs in alternating layouts or different arrangements that allow them to claim to provide both types of light, while effectively covering a small area per bulb.

It’s this kind of math that Lessing enthusiastically emphasized in our quick meeting, as he told me that the company is working hard to calculate the ideal combination of factors such as the distance of the bulbs from the face of dressed separately from each other. To that end, CryoGlow sits in such a way that the LEDs are about 15mm from your skin – a good balance between effectiveness and range. The bulbs themselves are spaced 10mm apart, and the four programs offered by Shark also take into account the duration of the lights on your face.

Lessing said the company wanted to create something more inclusive, not only of different head sizes and types, but also of skin problems. Most of the products available today tend to target the signs of aging in women, she said. Shark wants to reverse that trend, and part of that effort includes creating a mask that fits people of all types — from women with small faces to men with big ones. head.

When I first saw CryoGlow in person, I couldn’t help but smile. Unlike the Theraface or Dr. Dennis Gross mask, which looks a little robotic or cyborg-like, the Shark device is, surprisingly, cute? The shape of its cut mouth is slightly raised and the whole thing looks like it’s smiling at you. I also instinctively reached out to stroke the textured edges of the mask, which looked like sandblasted lines. I can see making it my pet.

CryoGlow not only looks great, but is also comfortable to wear. It’s big enough for my larger-than-average head, but not too heavy. Maybe thanks to the adjustable T-shaped head strap that reminds me the Apple Vision Pro. Lessing said the team also took inspiration from ski goggles for the design, especially the protective guards around the eye cutouts.

There’s also the fact that the CryoGlow is relatively light, likely due to the fact that it’s powered by a battery in the included remote control. This handheld controller is connected via a cord, which is a slightly less elegant approach than competing products with mask buttons. But I appreciate that it looks and feels like a Nokia 3310 with a nicer screen and a dial and two buttons below it.

You can rotate the wheel to scroll through the menu, and I like the Shark aesthetic used for the interface, too. The system offers four treatment modes: an under-eye “revive” that delivers “cryo-inspired tightening and soothing,” a 6-minute “Better aging” option, an 8-minute ” Skin Clearing Treatment” that targets acne and a 4-minute “Skin Sustain” maintenance mode intended for daily use. There are also three levels of cold available, which you can control with this system. Shark says its tests show that clearer skin can be observed in four weeks of use, while two months of consistent use can result in firmer skin.

Shark says that its programs are all backed by clinical testing, and most interestingly, it actually puts its CryoGlow device to the test against competitors. According to Shark, this image “captures a demonstration that was conducted showing light-absorbing, photochromic paint to demonstrate the even coverage of CryoGlow’s iQLED technology compared to the uneven coverage of a competitor.” I would like to point out that although it seems that Shark’s device has a more uniform and generally larger spread, it leaves the two patches under the eye bare.

It’s unclear what this competing device will be or how much it will cost, but considering the CryoGlow is priced at $349 while the Theraface Mask and the Dennis Gross SpectraLite FaceWare Pro starting at $599 and $455 respectively, I’m already intrigued. It feels like a sophisticated device at least within my reach. And I loved my brief experience with it, too. I’ll probably have to try other competing products before I can assess how well the CryoGlow fares against what’s out there, but for now, and for the price, I’m very impressed with Shark’s LED mask debut.