Joan Kron, writing for March 2011 Allure magazine, is curious about the future of the bathroom. After interviewing oracles on the cutting edge of lighting, technology, and cosmetic surgery innovation, she predicts that the bathroom of the future will be an anti-aging fortress, a cross between a doctor’s office and the fountain of youth.

Have you ever purchased the wrong makeup because of bad store lighting? In the future, artificial bathroom light may come from tiny gallium nitride bulbs that mimic sunlight, showing true makeup colors. Light may also be used therapeutically: certain blue wavelengths of light are reputed to treat acne by killing bacteria. Red and yellow lights are said to be anti-inflammatory and to reduce the redness of rosacea.

Nothing is worse than stumbling out of bed into a strange shower and being dumbfounded by the temperature controls. If you’re lucky, your showerhead may be rimmed with LED lights, flashing different colors to indicate water temperature. This system is already in use in some places. Further, you may not have to wash your hair. Static fighting carbon fiber vacuums, now used on pets to suck up dirt particles, could conceivably be adapted for humans.

Would you like to erase your own wrinkles? There are some treatments traditionally done in doctor’s offices that are being considered or tested for home use. Revance, a wipe-on botulinum toxin, carried through the skin by a chemical peptide, is being tested on crow’s feet. To kill two birds with one stone, it can also be used as a general antiperspirant. Hyaluronic acid gel patches may be available for self-application to plump under eye depressions, and a custom molded mask could smooth smile lines or tighten a sagging jaw.

Brown spots are an unwelcome sign of aging. Coming down the pipeline is a laser pen to remove age spots and benign skin growths in the privacy of your boudoir.

Pretty is as pretty does but mirrors lie, actually reflecting your image in reverse. There are already special non reversing mirrors, showing the real you, in some plastic surgeon’s offices.

Your future toilet may test your urine for abnormal levels of sugar, albumin and blood and determine your weight, BMI and blood pressure. Is this too much information?

If you cannot wait for new technology to grace your own bathroom, contact the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. A board-certified plastic surgeon will suggest what you can do right now to slow down the signs of aging.