How to choose a red light face mask: Look at the wavelength first
There are some ways to tell if a bright red face mask isn’t going to work before you buy it and use it for a few months.
Wavelength is the first factor anyone will tell you to consider. You want to find products that emit light within the therapeutic window, or wavelength range that would work best when treating common skin conditions. There is now a lot of evidence that certain wavelengths of red light can be effective in:
-
Reduction of fine lines, dark circles, and crow’s feet
-
Improving skin texture
-
Fighting wrinkles
-
Increase collagen production
-
To reduce swelling and redness
To be effective, the light from the mask must penetrate different parts of your skin. There is an appropriate wavelength for each type of light that a face mask emits, and any reputable brand will put their mask’s wavelength front and center on the list. These carefully selected categories are strong enough to penetrate your skin, but gentle enough to avoid overusing delicate facial skin.
Red light does its work in the middle layer (dermis) of your skin, requiring wavelengths between 630 and 633 nm to reach the top layer. There, red light stimulates cells to produce regenerative proteins such as collagen and elastin, evening out redness, and prevent scars or red spots after acne.
Shark CryoGlow’s Better Aging technique combines red and near infrared light.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
The CryoGlow Shark Skin Removal Cycle uses a special sequence of red, near-infrared, and blue light.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
Many red light masks also use near-infrared red light therapy, which requires longer wavelengths to travel beyond normal red light. Near-infrared light between 830 and 850 nm reaches the tissue beneath the dermis to promote cell turnover, firm skin, and heal dark spots or stubborn dark circles.
What about blue light therapy?
Blue light is often used to target acne, and some of the best red light masks use a combination of blue and red light therapy.
Blue light affects the top layer (epidermis) of your skin, so its wavelength is shorter than that of red light. Blue light at 415nm has an antimicrobial effect, killing acne-causing bacteria before breakouts begin. If hellbent bacterial acne makes it past the blue light stage – or if you’re also dealing with hormonal or cystic acne that isn’t caused by bacteria – red light comes in to reduce inflammation and speed up the healing process.
The thing is, the most common LED face mask hits those frequencies. So, how do you choose between masks if their wavelength numbers are the same?
Importance of irradiance
Irradiance is another big factor that determines whether a red light mask works or not. While wavelength refers to the length that light can travel, irradiance refers to the amount of light energy that actually reaches your skin per session (not just the amount of light produced by the lamp). If the wavelength numbers are right but the irradiance is low, the mask will still be kind of a dud.
Bulb placement is one of the most important things we considered in our testing.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable
Comfort is another important factor, as consistent use is key to results.
Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable
Irradiance is officially expressed as milliwatts per square centimeter. The ideal irradiance range for a red light face mask is quite large (anywhere between 30 and 100 mW/cm²), although most brands do not specifically provide that number.
Most of the products do note the length of each session, which is one of the ways to quickly measure irradiance without entering into calculations. Dr. Mamina Turegano sums it up very well on her YouTube account: “No high brightness means efficient power delivery in a minute of use.” Longer sessions do not automatically mean that the results will be stronger – a mask with sessions lasting less than 10 minutes has a higher glow than a mask with sessions lasting 20 to 30 minutes. Since a low-irradiance mask needs to stay on your face for a long time, you may be less likely to continue wearing it.
Is bulb count and bulb placement a big deal?
The number of bulbs and the placement of the bulbs within the mask can also affect effectiveness, especially if you are expecting results on a specific area of your face. A mask with multiple bulbs packed evenly across the face will give you more coverage over every inch of your face than masks with bulbs spaced at intervals.
Some masks also provide additional light sources overall by emitting both red and green light simultaneously from each bulb, such as the Shark CryoGlow. This can be a better option to prevent acne on the whole face than masks with blue and red LEDs that focus only on certain areas, such as Dr. Dennis Gross DRx SpectraLite.
Which red light masks work for us?
Well, you probably didn’t come here for a science lesson. You want to find the best red light mask that Mashable reviewers and fans use.
After trying 11 different products, we finally found six that we can recommend. These masks have brought visible results to our product testers.
Remember: Consistency is key for best results (or anywhere effects) with LED face masks. You will need to wear your mask at all times at least 1-2 months.
