Foreo Just Launched Its Smartest Luna Yet – But Is It Worth It?

Within the past decade, cleansing brushes have enjoyed a meteoric rise and subsequent fall from grace (see: Clarisonic shuttering its doors two years ago). Today, the powerhouse skin tool is slowly but surely primed for a comeback, with one brand emerging unscathed as a leader in the space: Foreo.

The Swedish brand has been around since 2013 and has won fans all over the world with its gentle, naturally antimicrobial silicone skin devices. I myself traded in my Clarisonic for an early Luna model years ago and have never looked back. Almost a decade later, the beloved brand is unveiling a fourth generation of the iconic Luna series, and I got the chance to test it out. Keep reading for the ins and outs of Foreo’s smartest skin brush yet — and how it stacks up to previous versions.

If you're not familiar with Foreo's suite of Luna devices, here's a quick run-down: Each device — from the entry-level Luna Play (which is currently $64.35 on Foreo's site) to the just-dropped Luna 4 — features the brand's trademarked T-Sonic pulsations and petal-soft silicone bristles to effectively yet gently clean skin. (The brand reports its devices remove 99% of dirt, oil, and makeup residue and are 35 times more hygienic than brushes with nylon bristles.) Depending on the model, you get additional benefits like face-massaging capabilities, vibration patterns or intensities, and app-enabled functions. As someone who's used many different Luna brushes (most recently the Luna 3 for sensitive skin), I was curious to see what set Luna 4 apart from the pack.

Right out of the box, I have to admit: The Luna 4 looked nearly identical to my Luna 3. I opted for the lavender-hued Luna 4 for sensitive skin (other types for normal and combination skin come in coral and mint green, respectively). The bristles on the sensitive skin model are visibly smaller than those on the normal and combo skin models, resulting in a gentler experience. Other thoughts: The size, color, and app compatibility were pretty much neck and neck with the Luna 3. However, once you get more into the tech specs, this is where the Luna 4 shines.

As with the Luna 3, you can use the app to customize the Luna 4's vibration intensity for each quadrant of the face, creating a truly bespoke clean. However, one major modification for the Luna 4 is the addition of two buttons for gentle and deep-cleanse modes on the back of the device. This allows you to create three presets for you to easily toggle between if you're in the shower and want to turn the intensity of the clean up or down. (The alternative: Peeking your head out from the water to quickly grab your phone from atop the toilet to manually change your Luna's settings.)

Another upgrade with the Luna 4 is the addition of four guided massages and five massage cycles. I'll admit they weren't on the level of my Theraface Pro, but I will say that they still felt pretty nice. (While I don't love the name, my favorite treatment was the Contour Crazy, which is bliss for alleviating tension in the jawbone area.)

I think an accurate analogy for comparing the Foreo Luna devices is akin to upgrading your iPhone. Does an iPhone 11 basically do all the same things the 14 does? To varying degrees, yes. However, if it's important for you to have the latest features available, then, by all means, splurge on the Luna 4. If you care more about being able to get an amazing cleanse and are fine with the manually customizable features of the Luna 3, save the $60 and call it a day. No matter what, I don't think you can go wrong with either model. And with high-tech beauty tools only getting more popular these days, I for one am ready to give my skin-care routine the Jetsons treatment...