I Tried LED Light Therapy to Treat My Acne
Kourtney Kardashian Swears by LED Light Therapy, So I Gave It a Try to Treat My Acne
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As someone who is used to getting regular facials to keep my skin in tiptop shape, the last few months of social distancing have prompted me to find at-home solutions for some of my favourite in-salon beauty treatments, like LED light therapy. Using LED light to treat different skin-care concerns is nothing new, but the increase in popularity for home devices really spiked in the last few years. Still, I had never given one of these DIY skin-care gadgets a try until just last month.
In full transparency, I was inspired to look for an LED light therapy gadget by none other than Kourtney Kardashian. The oldest Kardashian sister and founder of Poosh is constantly posting selfies and taking videos in her full-face LED light mask and in addition to wanting to test out the benefits of the treatment myself, I just thought the device looked cool. That's when the opportunity to try the Lightstim presented itself and I jumped on it.
But before we get into my personal experience with incorporating the Lightstim For Acne ($169) into my personal routine, let me explain a bit more about the benefits. LED, otherwise known as light emitting diode therapy, was originally developed by NASA to help with plant growth before being adopted by dermatologists, aestheticians, and other skin-care experts to treat cosmetic concerns. Blue light is used to treat acne, while red light helps promote anti-ageing.
Now back to my own skin-care experiment: because anti-ageing isn't one of my main skin-care concerns yet, I gave the Lightstim device with blue light a try because breakouts, on the other-hand, definitely are a concern. I srtruggle with hormonal acne around my jaw and chin, which has only been aggravated lately by wearing a mask.
I started using the Lightstim wand every day in my nighttime skin-care routine, after double cleansing. It's super easy to use — there's only one button on the handle that switches the device on and off and the LED light works in three-minute increments. You hold the wand gently to your face and after the three-minute timer beeps, you move it to another area or switch it off. What I love about the wand as opposed to a full-face mask is the ability to target the LED light to the lower half of my face. The device gets warm to the touch but not hot, and is completely painless. When you're watching Netflix or scrolling Instagram, three minutes goes by fast.
It wasn't hard to remember to use every night, nor did it feel like it was time-consuming. I found the added step to be a welcome addition to my self-care routine, especially during this time when I'm missing professional treatments so much. Utilising the Lightstim along with other acne-fighting products in my skin-care routine has really helped me fight maskne and keep my hormonal breakouts in check. My skin hasn't cleared up completely but it has definitely improved.
