An exhaustive guide to LED masks for gorgeous skin: expert picks and a Google Doc!

Plus rose deodorant that smells like Diptyque

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I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. I’ve left the house a grand total of twice since Friday: once for dinner and once for hot yoga. It’s been great.

Today’s Substack is all about LED masks, inspired by these DMs I’ve received over the course of the last fortnight:

Sometimes I plan these Substack topics in advance, but other times I just go with the flow. This is one of those weeks. I’ve written a little bit about LED and skin devices before (you can read it here), but I haven’t really gotten into the details. LED light masks are expensive and confusing, so I get it. Who wants to spend $700 on something gimmicky or dumb? No one.

Trying to fit a chip through the mouth opening^

IN THIS SUBSTACK:

• Colours, wavelengths, dot points on what’s clinically proven

• A table comparing the major ones (Omnilux, DDG, CurrentBody, Tru Dermal, Celluma Pro etc)

• My thoughts, plus the favourites of some skin experts/aestheticians

• Usual news, saves headlines etc (Miu Miu makeup!)

• Product of the week (deodorant that smells like a Diptyque Bais)

What’s LED light — what does it actually do?

LED stands for light emitting diode, and is a form of light therapy that uses non-UV wavelengths to penetrate the skin and trigger cellular changes. Its effectiveness for skin health is based on the principle of photobiomodulation, where the light energy is absorbed by mitochondria within the cells (kind of the same way plants use sunlight for photosynthesis). The tech was actually discovered and then developed by NASA, who used LED light to grow potatoes in space.

In terms of effectiveness — does it work?? — the answer is yes, but this depends on the specifications of the LED light and how consistent your are… But there is a lot of clinical evidence to prove its efficacy.

Benefits of LED light include:

• Reduced wrinkles and fine lines

• Reduced acne

• Improved skin tone

• Reduced inflammation and redness

• Gorgeous glow

Red light vs blue light

LED light comes in a few different colours, but the most common ones are red and blue.

• Red Light penetrates into the dermis layer of the skin, boosting cellular energy. It’s good for lines, wrinkles, redness, inflammation, dullness and discolouration.

• Blue light works more on the surface of the skin to treat acne. It destroys porphyrins, a byproduct of acne-causing bacteria (P.acnes).

• Near-Infrared Light — I admit this one confuses me slightly, but some at-home LED masks offer this. It is the deepest penetrating wavelength and offers similar benefits to normal red light but on a deeper level (also great for muscle soreness, injuries etc).

What’s up with wavelengths?

Onto the next point. Certain wavelengths are proven to be the most effective, so you want to look out for these:

• Red light 630nm to 660nm

• Blue light 415nm

• Near-infrared (NIR) light 810nm to 880nm, usually 830nm

Two good reference links —

https://international.celluma.com/blogs/blog/what-is-the-most-effective-color-for-led-light-therapy

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24286286/

Irradiance

The irradiance of an LED mask is also important to consider. It refers to the amount of light energy being delivered to your skin (its power, basically). There isn’t a standard benchmark in the way there is for wavelengths, and the ideal number will depend on the colour of the light, etc. A lot of brands don’t directly disclose it, so I would email directly and ask. In my google doc table below, I shared the ones that do disclose irradiance…

What to buy: expert suggestions, a comparison table/LED Google doc + my experience