WELLNESS AUTHOR
Emily Effren
INTRODUCING YOUR NEXT SKINCARE OBSESSION: LIGHT THERAPY n Bet you didn’t know about this one, huh?
L
ight has always been a resource humans look to for restorative energy. However, it wasn’t until the early 20th century that light was discovered as a resource for therapy. In 1903, a scientist named Niels Finsen was given a Nobel Prize for his findings on the “therapeutic and physiological effects of light treatment from artificial light sources,” according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Fast forward to 2020, and one of the latest trends on the beauty and wellness market is light therapy,
OCTOBER 2020
and more specifically, tools and masks with different colored LED lights designed for skincare and rejuvenation. It’s common to see these new gadgets flooding social media feeds along with influencers recommending various skincare products and LED devices — here’s why. “It’s a light emitting diode, so it’s a certain wavelength that each color has and can penetrate in certain areas of concern. These masks are great because, one, it’s really not harmful for the skin. It just helps with the combination of skincare and treatments,”
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Stephanie Molina, lead medical esthetician at Rejuvenate Austin says. Light therapy has been known to treat seasonal affective disorder, sleep disorders, dementia, depression, skin conditions and more with few side effects, according to Mayo Clinic. Diving deeper, different colors have different benefits.
Red Light
“Red light is the most common, because it stimulates collagen and elastin, and that’s just kind of everyone’s go-to because, starting at the age of 25, we start losing collagen,” Molina says. With a lower wavelength, red light works to increase circulation, protect cells from damage, reduce fine lines, reduce pain, improve
