What are the best LED face masks on the market? You might have seen a wave of people on social media channeling their best Hannibal Lecter while wearing an LED face mask with red or blue light-emitting diodes. They’re not eating liver with a side of fava beans but instead claiming that the wrinkles and fine lines on their faces have disappeared with the help of a red light therapy mask. There’s nothing wrong with aging, but after seeing their huge rise in popularity, we had to find out if the technology behind these masks could make a big impact on your skin. How does it work? Why does it?
Research shows that certain light can have benefits for your skin. There are two primary types: red light therapy utilizes near-infrared light and can help with wrinkles, while blue light therapy uses wavelengths of blue light to help kill acne-causing bacteria. There are also several styles of masks—most are full-face masks, ranging from soft ones that wrap around your face to firm ones that channel your inner Iron Man, along with other variations like wands, neck masks, and more. After talking to dermatologists and testing several LED face masks (plus other LED devices), we’re here to tell you everything you need to know about LED masks, how to use them, and which ones make an impact on our skin.
Don’t miss our tips below on how to correctly implement these tools into your routine. If you’re looking for more beauty and self-care gadgets, catch our guides to the Best Electric Toothbrushes, Best Hair Dryers, Best Showerhead Water Filters, Best Beard Trimmers, and the Best Hair Straighteners.
Updated February 2025: We’ve added the Therabody TheraFace Mask as a new pick, and notes on the Solawave Neck & Rejuvenating Mask.
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Table of Contents
How Does Light Therapy Work?
The right types of light can have a positive effect on the skin. Red light therapy utilizes near-infrared light and can help with wrinkles, while blue light therapy uses wavelengths of blue light to help kill acne-causing bacteria.
Collagen and elastin, proteins that help improve elasticity in the skin and reduce wrinkles, are produced by fibroblast cells in the dermis of the skin—the middle layer, under your epidermis, which is the outer layer. Red light LEDs penetrate the dermis and can stimulate the production of these proteins to help reduce wrinkles, according to Abigail Waldman, clinical director of the Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Research funded by NASA has revealed that red light can also speed up the healing process in some injuries. “High-intensity red and near-infrared LEDs significantly accelerated the healing of oxygen-deprived wounds in rats and also sped the growth and proliferation of skin, bone, and muscle cell cultures from mice and rats,” it was reported. NASA supplied LED devices to the US Navy to treat training injuries. Those who used the LEDs had a 40 percent improvement in musculoskeletal injuries and 50 percent faster healing for lacerations over the control group.
Blue light, on the other hand, penetrates the epidermis, the top layer of skin, killing acne-causing bacteria. “It also reportedly helps to regulate oil production and reduce inflammation, leading to clearer skin,” says Shoshana Marmon, a board-certified dermatologist and assistant professor of dermatology at New York Medical College.
Topical retinoids, like over-the-counter retinol and prescription tretinoin, can also treat wrinkles and texture by slowing the breakdown of collagen and increasing skin cell turnover. Both retinol and LEDs typically take several months to see results, but retinoids come with more side effects, such as increased breakouts and sometimes flaky, burning skin.
Unfortunately, not everyone will see results from red or blue light therapy—and this might contribute to the suspicion around these devices and whether they work. (Make sure to also correctly implement it into your routine.) You won’t know until you try, though you should talk to a dermatologist to see what they recommend based on your skin type. Waldman says there’s no reason to believe red light could be harmful if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, but as there isn’t much research involving pregnant women, you should consult your physician first.
We also recommend making sure the device you’re considering is FDA-cleared. FDA clearance means the FDA has cleared the device for marketing and that it’s safe to use. There’s a 510(k) or Premarket Notification process they go through to get it. You can check the database to see what’s FDA-cleared. It’s not the same as FDA-approved, which is a higher standard that takes more testing and research. We haven’t seen FDA approval for LED masks yet, but we have seen clearance.
Light therapy devices are often quite costly, but there’s good reason: You can’t get the same effect with just any red LED from the hardware store. If the wavelength isn’t strong enough, it won’t penetrate your skin—sorry to the one TikTokker sitting in front of a chicken coop heat lamp.
These are the typical wavelengths, measured in nanometers, to look for:
- Red light therapy commonly uses wavelengths in the 630 to 660 nanometer range, with the lowest effective wavelength around 600 nanometers.
- Near-infrared red lights are commonly 800 to 1,400 nanometers. These penetrate deeper into the skin and are used mostly for healing and reducing inflammation.
- Blue light is typically 405 to 420 nanometers to kill acne-causing bacteria.
How to Use Red Light Therapy in Your Routine
LED light therapy doesn’t work for everyone, but consistency is crucial if you want to try it. If you don’t think you’ll remember to use a light therapy mask multiple times a week, you won’t see results, and it won’t be worth the money.
Follow the directions for the specific device you’re using, but in general you’ll want to wash and dry your face and use the mask before applying any skin-care products. Devices should have a set session time, usually between three and 10 minutes. Use it for the full time unless it feels uncomfortable. Apply your skin care after as normal, focusing on hydrating serums or moisturizers, especially if you’re prone to dryness. Do not use these masks longer than indicated in their directions.
While you can use red light therapy and retinoids in your routine, Waldman doesn’t recommend using them simultaneously, as it can increase the chance of irritation.
Take some photos before you start using a mask so you can track progress. You may not see dramatic results immediately, but with photos you can at least tell whether something is happening.
The Best LED Face Mask
The LED Esthetics Glotech Mask Pro has everything you might be looking for in an LED face mask for a good price. It includes both red light therapy, hitting 63 nanometers red and 830 nanometers near-infrared wavelengths, and blue light therapy, with a 415 nanometers blue light wavelength that can help treat acne and better control your oil production (read more below on how exactly light therapy works). Most folks think of LED masks as red light only, but both have benefits for your skin, so having a two-in-one device truly makes the most of your buck.
It takes time and consistency to see results from these masks. While I didn’t see much change in my 32-year-old facial lines after about six weeks of consistent use, I did see a healthier glow in my skin and consistently get more compliments since using the Glotech mask on a near-daily basis. I also found that scabs and acne cleared up faster and didn’t leave scars like they usually did, even without using the blue light mode.
It’s a soft, flexible mask that you strap to your head with a single Velcro strap. I have a pretty big head and found I had plenty of strap and slack to secure it. But the mask is heavy, and with the single strap, I found I couldn’t really move around without jostling the mask or causing it to slip. It’s best for wearing and sitting or lying down; I use it while watching TV or reading a book after washing my face.
If You Don’t Want Blue Light Therapy: The Omnilux Contour LED Face Mask for $395 is a very similar style to the LED Esthetics face mask and almost the same price. Both masks have 132 LEDs and reach similar red light levels—the Omnilux reaches 633 nanometers of red light to LED Esthetics’ 630 nanometers, and both promise 830 nanometers of near-infrared light—but the Omnilux doesn’t have a blue light acne option. If that isn’t a worry for you, this is a similar mask to consider that’s also FDA-cleared with a 30-day return policy.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Most Versatile
The Dr. Dennis Gross SpectraLite FaceWare Pro not only includes red (630-nm red and 880-nm infrared) and blue light (415 nm) therapy like the LED Esthetics mask above but has a mode that combines both into one treatment. Not only that, but SpectraLite’s treatments operate within three minutes—much faster than the others we tried, which almost all require 10-minute treatments. It pulls this off with fewer LED lights than other masks, too, with 100 red light-emitting diodes and 60 blue light-emitting diodes.
That quick treatment time might be one of the reasons this mask is so comfortable to wear. It’s a firm mask rather than a soft one, and former WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano described it as “a little more superhero-esque than Hannibal.” She found it more comfortable to wear than the Omnilux soft mask, though said the strap is annoying to use and isn’t always secure. During testing, her breakouts cleared up quickly when the combination of red and blue light was used.
Photograph: Medea Giordano
Best Vibrating Splurge
The TheraFace Mask has become my favorite excuse to sit still for 10 minutes (fine, nine minutes). Most LED masks stop at red, blue, and infrared light, but this one ups the ante with built-in vibration therapy that massages pressure points around your brows, temples, and scalp. It’s so soothing that I almost don’t care whether it’s transforming my skin (though I’d like to believe it is).
You can opt for a three-minute targeted treatment or a nine-minute session that cycles through all three wavelengths. Therabody claims 93 percent of users saw visible improvements after eight weeks. After 12 weeks of daily-ish use (give or take 10 days due to travel), my skin does look slightly clearer and brighter. The blue light didn’t do much for my hormonal breakouts, since it only treats existing blemishes, not prevent them. But more than anything, this gadget has encouraged me to be more consistent with my skin care routine.
It’s lightweight and cordless, and it has removable eye shields (a feature that should be mandatory). There’s no mouth hole, so snackers and yappers, be warned—or project your voice. At $599, it’s a splurge, but if you want an LED mask that goes beyond light therapy, this is the one. —Boutayna Chokrane
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Photograph: Boutayna Chokrane
Most Comfortable Soft Face Mask
The CurrentBody LED Face Mask Series 2 is almost an in-between of a soft and firm mask. It retains some of its facelike shape when I take it off, folding a bit into itself rather than going completely flat like the LED Esthetics or Omnilux masks, but it’s soft and flexible like those two masks. It also comes with a more secure strap, with each side shaped like a U rather than a single strap, making it much easier to securely wrap around my head. This mask I can wear and walk around if I’d like without worrying about it easily slipping off, and the attached remote even has a little clip on it to hook it to your body.
This mask only has a red light mode, though it does have three red light wavelengths while most others only have two: red (633 nanometers), near-infrared (830 nanometers), and what CurrentBody calls deep near-infrared (1072 nanometers). CurrentBody says the deep near-infrared lights are designed to target areas that will have more aging signs, though you can’t tell a difference in the lights just by looking at the lit-up mask.
It also has more LED bulbs in it than most other masks, with 236 LED bulbs in total. It’s a powerful mask, but I didn’t see much different results than I did from the cheaper LED Esthetics, once again seeing my acne clear up quickly with fewer scars left behind and a good glow to my skin. It was noticeably more comfortable and easier to wear around the house, so if you’re looking for a red light-only mask you can multitask while wearing, the CurrentBody Series 2 is a great choice. CurrentBody also has a better return policy of 60 days, so you could wear it for long enough to see whether or not you get results before deciding if you want to return it. It also has a better warranty policy, with two years over the usual one of other brands.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
A Handheld LED Wand
Some handheld devices offer the same functionality for less money than a mask, but be cautious. Wavelength matters. You also need to think about what area you’re trying to improve. If it’s your under-eyes or your “11” lines (between your eyebrows), a handheld device might work. But if you want a full-face treatment, sitting down every night and making sure a wand touches every part of your face for several minutes will be tiring.
The Solawave is popular. It has a single 630-nm red light wavelength, and Medea found it quite relaxing to use. With the vibration and warmth thrown in with the light, it feels like a full spa experience. Two other WIRED staffers have had positive results with skin tightening. One told me the skin around her eye area looked tighter in just a few weeks of use. This device is not FDA-cleared, but the company’s face mask is—Solawave just released a new version of its mask, which we haven’t tried. It also has a longer return window than some of our other picks, so you can always try this and have time to see if it works.
