Here is the 4958th instalment of my battle with acne! I feel like over the years I have talked about acne and how I’ve been battling it so many times on the blog, yet I have been finding newer and better products to help me so it is very necessary. And today, I am super excited to be sharing my experience with the Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Mask. I have been wanting to try this mask for the longesttime but up until now, it was only available in the US. Don’t you hate when companies do that? The US always seems to get everything first while I have to be a patient lil’ blogger and wait a year before it makes it’s way across the border to Canada. But, the Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Mask has finally reached us.
So, yes this mask helps to battle acne, but how exactly does this work? How can little LED lights fight breakouts? I was incredibly skeptical at this whole idea to be completely honest. However, I have a very long history with acne light devices. First I tried out the Tanda Clear Devicethat is more of a spot treatment with a narrow light source that you stick on singular blemishes. I didn’t notice any results with this machine at all. It might have even made my acne worse because it just irritated it so much. And then, a couple of years later, I went to my dermatologist and got professional light treatments done once a month. This was a much bigger machine and I would have to sit in the spherical device for a half an hour while trying to keep perfectly still. I had horribleacne at this time. It was probably the worst it had ever been in my whole life so I wasn’t very surprised to see that this light device didn’t help it at all. And so after trying two different light treatment devices, you could see why I was so skeptical at the idea of this Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Mask.
But first let’s get in to how this Mask actually works before I start discussing my experience with it. Neutrogena found that blue light and red light are the most effective wavelengths to address the two major causes of acne, P.acnes bacteria and inflammation. The blue light kills the bacteria while the red light reduces inflammation that is associated with the acne! So immediately after you use the mask, your skin will appear less red and inflamed while over time you will see less acne because future breakouts are stopped. But one thing that is important to note with this device is that it is only intended for mild to moderate acne. If you have more severe acne with bigger pimples that are inflamed and raised above the skin (how my skin was a couple of years ago), this mask will unfortunately not work for you.
So how do you use the mask? Everyday, after cleansing and drying your face, put the mask on (that has built in sunglasses) and press and hold the button on the remote to activate the lights. Then just relax and leave it on for 10 minutes! It’s that easy! However, I would definitely close your eyes while the mask is on your skin; the lights are extremely bright and although there are built in sunglasses with amber lenses to reduce glare, it still irritates my sensitive eyes. After 10 minutes, the mask will automatically turn off and you’re all done!
I have been having really bad hormonal breakouts lately. For the most part, my skin has been really good but I do still get breakouts around my chin and mouth especially when I’m on my period (or as my boyfriend would say, when uncle Tom is visiting, ew). I was super curious to see if this mask would help and it definitely did! I have been using it everyday for almost two weeks now and my skin is definitely looking less red and I haven’t gotten a single new breakout since I started using it! My existing pimples are starting to go away and fade. This mask definitely impressed me. And the best part? It’s super affordable. The Light Therapy Acne Mask with the Activator is available at Walmart and Shoppers Drug Mart for $49.99 CAD. This mask is good for 30 sessions (AKA a month) and then you just need to buy a new Activator which is $21.99 CAD. It’s definitely the most affordable light therapy device that I’ve tried and one that works the best as well!