Alternating 415 nm blue and 633 nm red LED sessions for acne

What they did

Twenty-four people with skin types II to V had eight sessions, two a week, alternating between 415 nm blue light and 633 nm red light, 20 minutes each. Each session was preceded by mild microdermabrasion.

Spots were counted at the start and at weeks 2, 4, 8 and 12.

What they found

Twenty-two people finished. Spot counts fell by 46% at four weeks and 81% at 12 weeks. Severe acne responded slightly better than mild acne. Inflamed spots responded better than blackheads and whiteheads. Side effects were minimal and short-lived.

What it cannot tell you

There was no control group, and the microdermabrasion before every session makes it hard to separate the effect of light from the effect of exfoliation.

In short

Supportive of the blue-plus-red pattern for inflamed spots, but too small and uncontrolled to say how much the light alone contributed.

Masks with these wavelengths

Four of the 10 masks in the comparison list a wavelength in every band used here (blue near 415 nm and red near 633 nm). They are examples, listed alphabetically, each with our specification page and the manufacturer’s own product page. They are not recommendations, and the links carry no affiliate parameters.

• CurrentBody Skin LED Face Mask Series 3415 · 532 · 590 · 633 · 830 · 1072 nm · CurrentBody product page
• Dr. Dennis Gross DRx SpectraLite FaceWare Pro415 · 630 nm · Dr. Dennis Gross product page
• Shark CryoGlow FW312415 · 630 · 830 nm · Shark product page
• Therabody TheraFace Mask Glo415 · 633 · 830 nm · Therabody product page

These masks list one of the bands, but not all:

• CurrentBody Skin LED Mask Series 2633 · 830 · 1072 nm · CurrentBody product page
• Dr. Renú SpectraLift Advanced465 · 530 · 630–660 · 850 nm · Dr. Renú product page
• Nanoleaf LED Light Therapy Face Mask460 · 520/525 · 640 · 850 nm · Nanoleaf product page
• Omnilux Contour Face633 · 830 nm · Omnilux product page
• Silk’n LED Face Mask 100463 · 592 · 633 nm · Silk’n product page
• The Light Salon Boost LED Face Mask (Boost Advanced)633 · 830 nm · The Light Salon product page

Matching a wavelength is not the same as matching the study. Dose, irradiance, session length and schedule also differ, and a mask’s reported output is not independently measured. See how dose works and home vs clinic doses.