That time an old school esthetician told me to ditch my LED mask

I had been using this $200 LED mask for months for acne, and a veteran esthetician at a conference said it was basically a fancy nightlight. She told me to stick with simple benzoyl peroxide and a good salicylic acid routine instead. I was skeptical but tried it for 6 weeks. My breakouts cleared up way faster than with the mask, and I saved so much money. Has anyone else had a pro give you advice that totally contradicted what you thought was working?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph52920d ago

LED masks are a scam for acne. Pure marketing. The esthetician did you a favor. Benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid have decades of research behind them. LED masks have celebrity Instagram posts. Not the same thing. My dermatologist told me the same thing about my red light panel for wrinkles. Said it was like charging a dead battery with a phone charger. Might do something eventually but not worth the time or money. Stick with the basics. Your skin will thank you.

shane75120d ago

Wait, did @joseph529's derm actually say the red light panel was basically useless or just slow? I've seen some studies showing red light can help collagen but the at-home panels are way weaker than clinic ones. The thing about your esthetician's advice that gets me is she didn't just say ditch the mask, she gave you a specific swap that worked. Like, there's a big difference between "this thing is a scam" and "here's what actually works instead." Most pros just tell you to stop wasting money without offering a real solution. What was it about the benzoyl peroxide routine that made such a fast difference compared to the mask? I wonder if your skin just responded better to chemical exfoliation than light therapy, or if the mask was doing absolutely nothing like she claimed.