The next time you're wandering by the beauty counter of your favorite department store, you might be asked if you want to have your skin analyzed. Basically, you put your face in the box, have your picture taken, and the machine reveals all of your skin care sins -- wrinkles, large pores, you name it. After this unseen damage has been revealed, the sales person at the beauty counter will be happy to assist you in "fixing" it.

So what's the deal here -- are these boxes for real, or just a big scam? It depends on who you ask, and the NYT has a good article that covers both sides of the story. Many dermatologists think they're invaluable in telling patients about unseen damage, while others take a "if it's not broke, don't fix it" approach. If my large pores and hidden sunspots don't bother me, then do I need to spend hundreds of dollars fixing them? (The machines are not designed to detect skin cancer.)

Read the article and decide for yourself. Have you tried one of these skin analyzers? What did you think?