Dr. Robb Akridge, who invented the Clarisonic face-cleansing brush 17 years ago, found inspiration for his latest beauty creation in a chocolate shop in Paris. “Most of the chocolates were individual morsels,” he says, “and each created an experience that could only be achieved at the time you bit into them.” Why couldn’t skin care be the same, he wondered. Now it is. Think of the Opulus Beauty Labs Treatment System ($395) as a Nespresso machine for skin care—minus the plastic waste. Customers place a small pod, which includes two formulations, into the water-bottle-size device, which heats and blends the treatment to deliver a single-use dose of skin-care product, to be applied immediately when it is warm and more easily absorbed by the skin. Opulus currently offers a retinol treatment, and with a recent $8 million infusion of cash from investors, more treatments are on the way. —Taylor Bryant
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