THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

It’s the latest treatment to promise plump, glowing skin, but how exactly does LED work – and what can it really do for your skin? Rosie Green finds out

Find out which LED treatments might work for you

Like most ‘new’ beauty treatments, LED has been around for ever (well, before Brooklyn Beckham was born at least). But in the last few years, light emitting diodes – to give them their full name – have stopped being something we occasionally came across in the clinics of exclusive facialists and derms, and gone mainstream. Suddenly, they’re in beauty salons, department stores and spas, while commanding the biggest share of the home devices market to boot. (The Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Mask, £59.99, sold 14 units every hour on its launch last year.) As a cosmetic treatment, LED delivers super-bright rays of light via a mask or sci-fi-looking lamps placed close to, but not touching, the skin. It’s easy (you don’t have to get undressed or remove make-up), non-invasive and accessible – LED treatments start at around £30. Depending on the machine, there are four wavelengths of light available that target the skin in different ways, but the ones proving most popular are red, which claims to lead to younger-looking skin, and blue, which helps clear up spots. But what exactly makes the light work? According to Dr R Glen Calderhead, a vice-president at one of the biggest light technology companies in Asia (Lutronic Corp), red light ‘tricks the normal skin into thinking there’s inflammation, which kick-starts a healing process.’ This prompts the skin to produce collagen and elastin (and, depending who you talk to, antioxidants), resulting in a plumper, more youthful complexion.

With blue light, the wavelength causes a reaction in the dermis. The resulting chemical is toxic to P. acnes, the spot-causing bacteria that plague some people’s skin more than others. As the P. acnes are killed off, breakouts are reduced. (It’s no surprise that facialists have long raved about the ability of blue light to treat spots and in the US it has been a staple of acne-fighting facials for years.)

LED works differently from other kinds of light-based treatments, notably lasers and intense pulsed light (IPL). ‘The light produced by a laser travels in the same direction at the same time, producing an intensely concentrated beam,’ says Laura Ferguson of The Light Salon, which recently opened in Harvey Nichols and is one of the first LED operators to offer a stand-alone treatment. ‘LED generates a broad band of wavelengths, with beams that criss-cross over each other, distributing the energy over a larger area.’ This means lasers and IPL are much more intense. They get their results by causing thermal damage to the skin, and downtime and comfort levels can vary (i.e. some can be very ouchy indeed, with people often likening the sensation to having hot fat splatted on your face). LED stimulates without the damage, so it feels warm but treatments are pain-free. (Indeed, once you’ve got past the flashing lights, they’re very pleasant.)

But can there be any gain without pain? Red’s group beauty director, Eve Cameron, has tried hundreds of treatments and really rates LED. ‘I love The Light Salon treatment because you get an immediate glow, plumped-up skin and minimised pores. It’s one of the few treatments I’d actually pay for. I’m also a fan of the Neutrogena anti-acne gadget, which uses blue light, as I still get the odd spot. If I use it, either the spot never comes to anything, or it just doesn’t get quite as nasty.’ Elsewhere, leading facialists Abigail James, Teresa Tarmey and Debbie Thomas all use LED as part of their treatments. ‘It’s safe, suitable for all skin types and really boosts the results of a facial,’ says James.

‘It does depend on the quality of the machine, though. I like Dermalux and Light Fusion.’ Dr. Dennis Gross is a dermatologist, founder of Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare and a well-respected skincare authority. He says,

‘The great majority of derms seem to agree LED is scientifically proven to stimulate collagen. The fact it has been used for years in dermatology offices, with clear-cut clinical improvement, speaks to its legitimacy.’

More cautious is leading UK derm Dr Stefanie Williams. She says LED technology is ‘very mild’ and is only really good as ‘an adjunct to other treatments. You can’t rely on it to tackle medical skin conditions, such as severe acne – and it doesn’t work for rosacea. The first line of treatment here is still the prescription creams and other medication that have a lot of evidence

‘LED STIMULATES SKIN WITHOUT THE DAMAGE, SO TREATMENTS ARE PAIN-FREE’

behind them and are known to be effective every time.’ Then there are those in the No camp, like biochemist and founder of Elequra Skincare, Nausheen Qureshi. She reckons LED ‘is a very old technology with studies that are inconclusive.’ Certainly, if you want quantifiable results – veins zapped, pigmentation cleaned up, visible resurfacing – you can only get there with laser or IPL.

Sometimes, though, we don’t need anything that intense. Like a lovely massage or facial, we might just want a feelgood boost and an LED treatment provides that, especially the way it’s delivered at somewhere like the Light Salon. ‘Sitting under the lamp is a bit like 15 minutes on a sunlounger – incredibly relaxing and afterwards your skin has that lovely tight, glowy feeling and your mood is great,’ enthuses one fan. Cameron calls it, ‘The perfect complexion boost before a big event.’ We say: it’s got to be worth a try.