LED light therapy sounds more complicated than it is. A device shines specific colours of light at your skin; the colour — measured as wavelength, in nanometres — determines what the light does when it gets there. That's the whole idea. The complexity (and the marketing) lives in the details.
The colours, decoded
- Red (~630–660nm). The workhorse. Absorbed in the upper layers of skin; the band with the deepest cosmetic research history for the appearance of fine lines, texture and tone.
- Near-infrared (~800–850nm). Invisible to the eye, penetrates deeper than red. Almost always paired with red rather than used alone — the 633/830nm combination is the closest thing this category has to a standard.
- Blue (~415nm). Marketed around blemish-prone skin. It's also the band that attracts the most eye-safety scrutiny, which is why some brands — ours included — simply leave it out.
- Amber/yellow (~590–605nm). Appears on multi-colour spec sheets; the research base is much thinner than red's.
More colours ≠ better mask
A seven-colour mask sounds like more product for your money. In practice, a device has a fixed budget of LEDs and power; every extra mode splits that budget thinner. The serious question isn't "how many colours?" — it's "how much of the light that matters reaches my skin?"
The three numbers that matter on any spec sheet
- Wavelengths — is the red + near-infrared pairing there?
- Irradiance (mW/cm²) — how much light power arrives at the skin. Most brands don't publish it; a few do. Treat an unpublished output figure as a question mark you're paying for. And even a published figure should state the measurement distance — output at the LED surface reads far higher than at real skin distance.
- Session protocol — session length and frequency tell you the dose philosophy. Shorter sessions at higher output and longer sessions at lower output can deliver similar total energy.
Masks, panels, wands
The same wavelengths ship in different shapes. Masks fit the face at consistent close distance and make routines easy. Panels cover more area at higher power but need you to sit in front of them. Handheld wands concentrate on small areas and demand the most patience. For facial skin specifically, the mask's fit-and-forget convenience is why it became the default — the best device is overwhelmingly the one you'll actually use 3–5 times a week.
A note you will find at the end of every Rosalume article: changes in skin appearance from light therapy build over 8–12 weeks of consistent use, 3–5 sessions a week. They are gradual, not dramatic. Any brand — including ours — promising more than that is selling, not informing.
Rosalume is a Perth-founded red + near-infrared mask brand launching soon at $349 — with published, independently verified output specs. Join the launch list or read our straight-answer FAQ.