Published on: October 22, 2026
Red light is having a moment. Glowing LED masks, wands, panels, and even full-body beds that look a lot like tanning beds are all promising more collagen, fewer wrinkles, and younger-acting skin. Patients ask me about them all the time, and I wanted a real answer. So I did what I always do when a skin question gets complicated: I called a friend who knows more than I do.
Dr. Leslie Baumann is a board-certified dermatologist in Miami who has been in practice for thirty years, and she joined me on the Medspa Confidential podcast to talk about red light. She warned me that her view is a little controversial. I don’t think it should be, because it comes down to one simple question: does the science support what these devices are being sold to do? Here’s what we found, and what I’d tell you if you were sitting across from me in my office.
The technical name is photobiomodulation, which simply means using light to change how cells behave. Scientists have known for decades that different colors of light do different things in skin. That’s the whole idea behind lasers. Red light is interesting because it appears to reach the tiny power plants inside your cells, called mitochondria, and help them make more of the energy your cells run on. Dr. Baumann adds that red light also seems to switch on one of the signals that tells skin cells to make collagen, the protein that keeps skin firm and springy.
Cells with more energy that also make more collagen? It’s easy to see why people are excited, and why the people who use these devices tend to love them.
Here’s the catch. A recent feature in Nature, one of the most respected science journals in the world, confirmed that the way red light works in cells is real and fascinating. It also explained that researchers see a “sweet spot” between too little light and too much, and that many at-home devices haven’t been carefully tested by anyone independent of the company selling them. Most of the strong medical evidence for red light is for things like wound healing, nerve pain, certain types of hair loss, and skin damage from radiation treatment. In 2025, an international panel of 21 experts reviewed the research and found red light to be safe for adults and not damaging to DNA, which is the worry with UV light. That’s reassuring. But wrinkles and sun damage didn’t make the list of well-established uses, and safe and effective are two different questions.
Some small studies do show improvement in wrinkles, and I don’t want to dismiss them. But the studies I’ve reviewed tend to be small, short, and often paid for by the companies that make the devices. None of them follows people for the years or decades it takes for skin to age. One leading dermatologist, quoted in a publication from the American Academy of Dermatology, said the results so far have been stronger for acne than for wrinkles.
Dr. Baumann has asked around and hasn’t heard of any independent studies underway. If you think about it, why would there be? Products sold directly to consumers are already selling like crazy. A company that’s making money has very little reason to fund a study that might show its product doesn’t work.
Think of red light the way you’d think of a medication. The dose matters: how strong the light is, how long you use it, how far it sits from your skin, and the exact color of the light. Change any one of those and you change the result. In a clinic or a research study, all of that is controlled. Dr. Baumann has used red light in her practice to treat rosacea, with the light set at an exact distance and a timer running. At home, you’re on your own. One dermatology report notes that professional devices put out several times more power than most consumer masks, and many companies don’t publish how strong their devices are at all.
And with light, more is not better. Cells respond to the right amount, and too much can blunt or even reverse the benefit and too much can cause irritation, inflammation, and make some conditions worse. Scientists call this a biphasic response. I call it the Goldilocks effect. Dr. Baumann sees people add a few extra minutes to “make it work better,” or use a mask every single day, and she knows people who lie in red light beds daily. The science says you should do it no more often than every three days, and no longer than the device instructs, which is usually around six to eight minutes for a mask. Instructions vary from device to device, and some studies have used daily sessions with one specific product, so follow the directions that came with yours exactly. Extra minutes don’t mean extra results. As a matter of fact, too much is often damaging.
Beds are a bigger problem. Your nose, chest, and belly sit at different distances from the light, so different parts of your body get very different doses. Dr. Baumann and I both steer people away from them. Masks are better, since they at least hold the light at a more consistent distance from your face. And speaking of devices, those handheld wands are useless. Save your money.
Dr. Baumann is careful to say that she believes red light works in a research setting, where everything is controlled and the people running the study don’t own the product. What you buy online doesn’t match those conditions. There’s also the opposite problem: plenty of people buy a device with the best intentions, use it for a week or two, and then it ends up in a drawer.
If you have melasma or other dark patches, or if you have a deeper skin tone, be cautious. Light of many kinds can make melasma worse. Some people swear red light improved theirs, and a few small studies have reported the same, but Dr. Baumann has seen worsening as the more common outcome.
Her caution comes from history. Blue light was widely used to treat acne because it kills acne bacteria. After years of use, doctors learned it could also trigger dark patches, melasma, and skin aging. Her question is whether red light will turn out the same way. A small study of visible light in general found that it darkened skin, especially in melasma patches, although that study wasn’t looking at red light alone. And if you take medications that make your skin sensitive to light, or you have a history of seizures, talk to your doctor before using one.
Red light is actually good for your eyes, and you can get it for free. She goes outside every morning at sunrise to water her plants, or you can do it at sunset if you’re a night person. The Nature feature describes research suggesting that red light may help protect the aging retina, and Dr. Baumann connects it to better mood and even better color perception in older adults. To be clear, that research isn’t about sunrise itself, so think of this as her read on an emerging field, not settled science.
Even setting the retina aside, getting outside in natural light is good for you. We spend our days under LED bulbs that give us very little of the full range of natural light, and time outdoors, especially around trees and plants, does wonders for mood. It costs nothing.
Keep the sunscreen on. Anywhere you want your skin to age well, whether that’s your face, neck, chest, or hands, sunscreen goes there. Dr. Baumann suggests an untinted zinc oxide sunscreen on mornings you’re outside for red light, since tinted formulas can block some of the visible light. I still prefer a tinted sunscreen on my face, because visible light can contribute to dark spots and aging. We landed in slightly different places on that one, and which is right for you depends on your skin, especially if you’re prone to pigment.
The good news is that you don’t need a red light mask to make collagen. We have way better topicals and treatments that are a lot more reliable and proven. Your skin makes it in response to lots of things, and several of them have far better track records. Retinoids and vitamin C and other antioxidants are the ones Dr. Baumann and I both lean on. When patients tell her how much they love their red light mask, she doesn’t argue. She makes sure they’re on the right skincare for their skin type. That’s my advice too: figure out your skin type, use well-made products, and include at least one thing that stimulates collagen.
At Glow Medispa, the in-office options for building your own collagen include PRP with microneedling, RF microneedling, laser resurfacing, Sculptra, and EMFACE. Each is a different fit for different concerns and different amounts of downtime. If you’d like the full rundown, take a look at our post on collagen-building treatments.
Red light is real science with real medical uses. What it hasn’t shown yet is a reliable, well-studied benefit for aging skin from the masks sold for home use, and the light in the studies isn’t the same as the light you buy. Dr. Baumann and I are in agreement that we cannot recommend red light masks. There are better-studied ways to spend your time and money: the right skincare for your skin type, daily sun protection, and collagen-building treatments with a proven track record. And there is simply no long-term data to be sure that there are not any adverse effects that accumulate down the line.
If you already own a red light mask and love it, here’s how to lower your risk of anything untoward. Choose one with FDA clearance. Follow the instructions exactly, and don’t add minutes or days. Skip the beds. Be extra careful if you have melasma, a deeper skin tone, or take medications that make you sensitive to sun. And stop if you notice new dark spots or irritation.
Dr. Baumann has also put her prediction on the record. Twenty years from the day we recorded, on September 18, 2046, we’ll look back and see whether red light lived up to the hype. She predicts it won’t. Unfortunately we can't predict the future to be able to use that data to guide decision making today. That's why we are not recommending routine red light treatments to our patients.
If you’d like help figuring out what your skin actually needs, whether that’s the right routine for your skin type, a plan for pigment, or which collagen-building treatments make sense for you, we’d be glad to talk it through. Book a consultation at Glow Medispa and we’ll take it from there.
Dr. Kate Dee is the founder of Glow Medispa in West Seattle and Kirkland. She is a Yale-trained physician with a deep interest in skin health, hormones, and medical aesthetics.
