The at-home beauty gadget market is taking off. Editor-in-Chief Katy Sunnassee puts some of the latest LED face masks to the test.
WORDS: KATY SUNNASSEE. IMAGES: VARIOUS BRANDS. ⋆NCBI.NLM.NIH.GOV/PMC/ARTICLES/PMC3926176/
With the recent backlash against the term “anti-ageing”, it’s now almost un-PC to discuss wanting to reverse or halt time in some way. And it’s understandable; for years, beauty companies made us feel as though it wasn’t OK to grow older, and you’d not see any older models in adverts. This, thankfully, has changed, and it’s far more common to see 50-plus women in advertising, which is to be celebrated.
But yet… most of us still want to look as good as we can. It’s not as though women are no longer seeking the same treatments they once were. It’s just that “anti-ageing” has undergone a rebranding to “pro-ageing” or “age positive” – which is a good thing, as it’s more celebratory of the fact we’re all getting older, while at the same time wanting to look as good as possible for as long as possible.
One way to help stay looking great is to use laser treatments, of which there are many varieties. But LED devices are now becoming the most common as you can get these for at-home use. ‘LED (light emitting diode) therapy is a non-invasive treatment that penetrates the skin at different layers to treat different skin concerns including laxity, acne, pigmentation, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea and ageing,’ says Dr Raj Arora, GP, skin doctor and top medical educator (instagram.com/dr_rajarora).
‘The mechanism of action is essentially at a cellular level. LED light therapy appears to affect cellular metabolism by triggering cellular reactions. This results in increased collagen production, wound healing and increased blood flow,’ she says.
In terms of light range, Dr Arora says it depends on what outcome you want. ‘The most popular is red light, which penetrates skin at a deeper level and therefore triggers cellular changes. Red light therapy can help to stimulate the production of elastin and collagen, as well as increase blood flow. This leads to tighter and smoother skin. Red light therapy is also great for wound healing.’
Other LED colours include blue light to target acne, and green light for pigmentation. Some of the newer and more savvy at-home devices have a wider range of wavelengths to target several concerns, including near infrared (NIR) for skin tightening. NIR comes at wavelengths 810nm to 850nm (nanometres) – beyond what humans can see – and
