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Rant: I dropped $450 on a high-end LED mask and my skin freaked out
I bought one of those red light therapy masks everyone raves about, thinking it would fix my acne scars. After using it for two weeks, my face broke out in the worst cystic acne I have had in years. Has anyone else had a reaction like this or did I just get a dud unit?
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karen2754mo ago
I actually want to gently push back on the purging idea a bit. Red light therapy doesn't really cause "purging" the way chemical exfoliants or retinoids do. Purging happens when ingredients speed up skin cell turnover, and red light works more on inflammation and collagen. What you probably had was an irritation breakout from using it too much or too strong right away. I made the same mistake with my first mask and had to drop down to using it just twice a week with a layer of moisturizer underneath to protect my barrier.
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karen_sanchez104mo ago
Same thing happened to me with my first red light panel. I was so mad because of the price but it turns out my skin was purging from the increased cell turnover, not actually breaking out. I scaled back to using it every other day instead of daily, and I added a really gentle niacinamide serum afterward to calm things down. Plus I made sure my face was totally clean before each session no moisturizer or anything. Took about three weeks but the cystic bumps went away and my scars did start looking better after that.
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