LED Light Therapy Masks: Do You Need to Spend a Fortune?

My first introduction to LED Light Therapy was when I was gifted a Tria Clearing Blue Light (here’s my review from way back in 2014) and I remember being incredibly cynical over the concept that passing a light over your skin would do anything at all, let alone aid in the battle against stubborn acne, but to my surprise, it really did, and I’ve been a convert to LED LT ever since.

My first LED Light Therapy Mask was the gorgeous Aurora Light Therapy Mask that I featured almost two years ago to do the day (here it is) and it was one of the best things I ever added to my routine; packed full of features and very easy to use, this provided incredibly quick results in a fairly comfortable device.  However, it gave up the ghost a few months ago (not great considering it’s priced at almost £400!) and as the lockdown kicked-in, so did my breakouts, so I decided to purchase another mask replacement at a much cheaper price and see what it was like.

I did quite a bit of research and set myself a budget of around £150.  However, the most well reviewed mask was the Photon Facial Skincare Mask, which came in at less than £70, so I figured it was a risk worth taking.  My main criteria for the mask was that it would be capable of various treatments (so it would need a few different lights) and that it didn’t have a neck attachment as to me they look uncomfortable and I feared I might find them claustrophobic.  This met my needs, so I ordered it on Prime and it arrived a couple of days later.

The big difference between the Aurora and the Photon mask is the material: the Aurora is soft silicone that you place across your face and attach at the back of your head, so you can get on with other things.  The Photon device is solid and a lot less comfortable to wear, plus you are quite limited in what you can do – I could watch TV wearing the Aurora but I can’t wearing the Photon, even though it does come with a strap, it’s just too uncomfortable.  During my first couple of treatments with the Photon mask I was ready to write it off as it was so uncomfortable, but I removed the eye protectors as they were so badly designed and really dug in to the nose and forehead and I purchased sunbed eye covers which gave me much better protection that was a lot more comfortable.

Another advantage the Aurora has is that it’s chargeable, so you either wear it whilst it’s plugged in, or charge it up and move around, which again makes it a lot easier to use – these things are well worth considering as ideally you need to wear the mask for 20 minutes a day, which is a hard task if all you can do is sit there quietly waiting out the time, whereas with the Aurora you can do other things.

The Photon mask has a much better remote that allows you to completely customise your treatment, meaning you can adjust the colour of the LED (there are seven choices plus an option to let them run through them all consecutively), plus you can also adjust the brightness and the time of the treatment, so this is a lot better than the remote on the Aurora which just allows you to change the light colour.

These are the main differences between splurging on a really good device, or being a little less spendy with something more budget-friendly.  For me, I think, if you can afford to spend a bit more then the Aurora is worth the investment, purely based on the fact that you can get on with things whilst wearing it, plus it’s a lot more comfortable in general.  However, if you’re on a budget or just want to try an LED mask without spending too much, the Photon one is a great starting place; I’d say both devices are pretty even with how effective their treatment is (the Photon might be slightly ahead due to the fact that you can increase/decrease the intensity) so the main differences are mostly down to comfort and ease of use.

Find the Aurora Light Therapy Mask here – link – for £399. 

Find the Photon Facial Skincare Mask here – link – for £68.69.

*PR Sample – the Aurora Light Therapy Mask was a PR Sample, whilst the Photon Facial Skincare Mask was a purchase.