GADGET Review

At-home light therapy masks leave a hole in your wallet, but are they worth it? Juliette Sivertsen finds out.

Idon’t know about you, but travel really upsets my skin. The combination of drying airconditioning on the plane, a change in routine, climate and a different diet causes flare-ups. I also have the unfortunate issue of perioral dermatitis popping up every few months. I never had it when I was younger; it was an unpleasant pandemic gift that began in 2020 and never left. During a flare-up, the skin on my face becomes red, itchy, scaly, inflamed and stingy. Anyone who has suffered from it will know how frustrating it is to get rid of, and the impact it can have on your self-esteem.

Usually the only thing that clears it is a round of antibiotics. But long-term antibiotic use can cause its own set of problems.

I’ve previously had successful treatments with in-clinic LED light therapy to tame hormonal breakouts and I read that it may also assist in helping perioral dermatitis. The downside is that it’s very expensive.

After spending months trawling through pages of online reviews, and faced with yet another inflamed outbreak, I forked out nearly $800 for the cult at-home light therapy device, the Dr Dennis Gross SpectraLite FaceWare Pro.

Charged via USB, the mask has 100 red LED and 62 blue LED lights. Red light is meant to stimulate collagen and smooth wrinkles, while blue light fights bacteria and inflammation. After cleansing, you pop the mask on and in just three minutes a day, it gets to work.

After a couple of months of daily use, I noticed a reduction in scarring and redness and my skin seemed to be clearer overall. But the biggest difference I’ve noticed is that I haven’t had any new perioral dermatitis outbreaks – even after a trip to Mexico, where I had a very different daily routine, multiple climate changes and, of course, a lot of tacos with plenty of cheese, chilli and fried meats – a food combination which usually causes havoc on my skin.

I’m not going to make a broad claim to say this mask has cured it completely – but so far, it’s looking good and has been well worth the investment.

The Dr Dennis Gross SpectraLite FaceWare Pro LED mask starts from NZ$771. See: mecca.com

Got a travel product you’d like the Stuff Travel team to review? Email travel@stuff.co.nz with the subject line ‘review’.