After applying an absorbent lotion, users spray the fibres onto their face and a thin translucent sheet is quickly formed, acting as a “greenhouse” for the real skin below to soak up the moisture and still be able to breathe.

The “second skin” can be worn overnight or peeled off after about a minute.

“This is the world’s first cosmetic product using such technology,” according to Masayuki Uchiyama, skincare researcher at Kao, the firm behind the innovation.

The hand-held diffuser was 10 years in the making, said Uchiyama, who admitted: “We struggled to make the device small.”

Kao researchers did not initially think of using the technology of ultra-thin fibres to create a layer on the skin, he said, adding that the precise material from which they were made was a secret.