I've Been Loyal to My Super-Luxurious LED Mask for Years—This £200 Alternative Has Tempted Me Away

I have never been one for skincare trends, but if there is one trending product I can wholeheartedly recommend it is an LED mask. I genuinely consider my £465 device my most prized beauty possession. I use it every night before bed and feel pretty confident in saying I really notice how dull and lacklustre my skin looks when I skip a few days. That being said, I appreciate that spending nearly £500 on a skincare tool isn't always necessary, so I have dedicated a lot of time to finding more affordable options that rival my go-to's efficacy.

For the most part, I'll admit I haven't found something that compares. LED light therapy is considered a complex beast in the skincare world, and different masks offer different things. While my current favourite offers a trifecta of red, near-infrared and blue light to target skin tone, redness, fine lines, luminosity and breakouts, I appreciate this isn't something everyone desires. For the most part, if you're not looking to tackle breakouts, you really don't need the addition of blue light. Having said that, up until recently, I hadn't come across a mask with decent enough results from red and near-infrared light alone to convince me they could be worth the money. But then UKLash launched the UKSkin LED Dual Light Pro-Therapy Face Mask and everything changed. Here's what to know...

UKLash LED Dual Light Pro-Therapy Face Mask

Overview

Testing Criteria

Before we get into why I love this mask so much, I want to give you a bit of background into why I usually stay pretty quiet on the topic of LED Masks. For starters, you really need to use them every single day to reap the benefits of them—so if you're not prepared to do that, you'll be wasting your money. But secondly, and most importantly, as I've already somewhat explained, they're not all made equal. While I do appreciate the accessibility of some more affordable options, I'm yet to have found one that I genuinely think is worth the money.

Let me explain. Most of the cult LED masks primarily harness red- and near-infrared light technology—this is widely considered by experts to help boost collagen production, improve skin elasticity and firmness, reduce the appearance of fine lines, improve evenness in skin tone and generally leave skin more glowing. And, truthfully, the blue light addition in the really expensive models is just an added bonus for those who, like me, battle acne and post-breakout marks. The UKLash LED Mask utilises red light and near-infrared light technology, and still rivals other masks twice its price.

So what is it that makes this one stand out from the crowd? While I adore the cult Series 1 Currentbody LED mask that offers almost identical technology (the Series 2 has had an update), it retails at £399. For this price, I'd rather my £465 option that also offers blue light. And the same goes for the other fan-favourite of the The Light Salon Boost LED Mask—it's truly exceptional, but the £395 price tag is still a little too high for me to justify. And while I am a major fan of Beauty Pie's £120 LED mask that does pretty much the same as the rest, there's a slight discomfort on the fit for my face that isn't that serious, but also means I'd rather opt for my more expensive model.

My criteria, therefore, is simple: if an LED mask is only going to offer red- and near-infrared-light technology, then I want it to cost less than £200 and be comfortable enough for me to want to wear it for 10 minutes every single day. Plus, it needs to work abroad—because you'd be surprised at how many other models don't.

Features

In essence, the reason the UKSkin by UKLash LED Dual Light Pro-Therapy Face Mask has quickly won me over is because it has been created with ease of use in mind. Yes, it harnesses almost identical light technology as plenty of the other cult LED masks on the market, but it does so at nearly half the cost at £199.

Utilising near-infrared light at 830nm and red light at 630nm, this mask has virtually identical light-therapy benefits to most of the other market leaders—it is a clinically-proven combination that is thought to kickstart the skin's cellular renewal process, helping reduce the appearance of fine lines, promote increased skin firmness and generate that healthy-looking glow we all crave from our LED masks. In terms of red-light technology, there's nothing notable that this mask doesn't do. It has the same 10-minute treatment time that so many other competitors also offer, but for the price, it's truly stand-out.

What gives it the edge, in my opinion, is that the design is so well thought out. The soft, flexible design sits comfortably on the face without digging into the bridge of your nose like so many others do. You get 10 uses out of every charge, and the charger comes with various adapters for international travel (something my super-luxe mask does not have, by the way). It also comes with eye guards to improve comfort and help protect eyes from the bright lights while it works.

Verdict

I've been using the UKSkin LED Dual Light Pro-Therapy Face Mask every night for two weeks, and so far, I'm impressed. I know that the results will be equal to that of the other masks of its kind on the market—the technology is practically identical. What makes it such a stand-out, for me, is the price (and the slight edge it has on comfort over some of the other more affordable options).

Does it compare to my super-luxurious, £465 mask that also offers blue-light therapy? The UKSkin by UKLash mask doesn't sit flush to my chin, the head strap is a little tight, it only has one light setting (compared to my favourite's three setting options) and the treatment time is 10 minutes instead of three. But, really, I'm comparing apples to oranges. It's when I'm comparing this mask to the others of its kind that things get interesting—it offers almost identical results, with a smidge more comfort.

Truth be told, if I was splurging my own hard-earned cash on an LED mask (and not having them land on my desk every day as a perk of the job), I couldn't justify splurging £500+ on one. If you can afford the expense without batting an eyelid, then by all means go for the pricier, more luxurious options that offer blue light technology as well. But if you're looking to reap the wide benefits of red and near-infrared light, this mask is the one I'd invest in.