Charging ahead: South Korea’s FRANZ develops innovative microcurrent facial masks
The award-winning skincare brand FRANZ is rising in popularity and expanding globally, thanks to a game-changing at-home microcurrent facial mask that does not need any special device or power source.
Looking just like a regular sheet mask, FRANZ’s patented Microcurrent Facial Dual Mask was developed by South Korea’s BioSensor Laboratories together with researchers from Seoul National University. They found that the best way for skincare ingredients to be better absorbed and improve the complexion is with microcurrents.
They developed their Tissue X™ Technology, the world’s first transdermal drug delivery system — delivering drugs through the skin — that harnesses the benefits of a process known as iontophoresis. In dermatology, iontophoresis treatments use microcurrents to deliver skincare ingredients. The weak electrical currents gently stimulate the skin and allow it to better absorb beauty ingredients, resulting in a more hydrated, smoother, and clearer complexion.
FRANZ’s Microcurrent Facial Dual Mask takes this microcurrent concept a step further as it delivers these benefits conveniently at home without requiring electricity or expert assistance.
As its name suggests, the product comprises two sheet masks: a hydrating and revitalizing Enriching Mask and an Empowering Mask that triggers microcurrents. First, you place the Enriching Mask — soaked in hyaluronic acid and naturally derived conditioning ingredients, such as chamomile, rooibos, and sage — on to the skin. Next, you apply a Boosting Essence Elixir on either side of the Empowering Mask to generate ion energy flow and activate microcurrents. Then, you overlay the activated Empowering Mask on the Enriching Mask, leaving them on for 20 to 25 minutes before removing.
Here’s how it works: With a silver mesh stretching across it, the Empowering Mask acts as a conductor. When the microcurrents are activated via the Boosting Essence Elixir, the skin care ingredients in the first Enriching Mask unravel like a ball of wool to become something akin to single threads. The technology uses the difference of ions between the negatively charged skin surface and the negatively ionized beauty ingredients so that these ingredients permeate the deeper layers of the skin more easily.
Since launching the innovative Tissue X™ Technology, FRANZ has garnered international acclaim and scooped up numerous awards, including innovation honors at the 2019 Aesthetic Everything Aesthetic and Cosmetic Medicine Awards. BioSensor Laboratories has published two academic journal papers on the technology, which has also been recorded in the global scientific database SCI. With this recognition from the scientific community, FRANZ has also been invited by the American Academy of Dermatology to present at trade shows.
Along with being sold in beauty clinics and salons in South Korea, the Microcurrent Facial Dual Mask is also available in regions such as the US, Canada, Europe, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
In Japan, the response to the product has been overwhelming since its online launch in March 2019, despite the absence of a huge campaign. BioSensor Laboratories is expanding the sales network in the country, with a particular focus on the department stores of Isetan Mitsukoshi Group. They are looking to develop Japan-targeted products in collaboration with their South Korea and Japan offices.
The company is also exploring how to utilize the technology to develop medical treatments that deliver drugs through the skin, as an alternative for patients who cannot take medicines orally.
Text: Denyse Yeo
Original text (Japanese): Makiko Sato
