LED masks are sold by colour, and the colours are not decorative. Different wavelengths of light are used for different things, which is why some masks offer one and others offer four.
Here is what each is generally used for, and how to work out what you actually need.
Blue, around 460nm
Blue light is the acne wavelength. It is the shortest of the four and the shallowest in the skin, which suits it to a surface concern.
BeamViva's blue is cleared for the treatment of mild to moderate inflammatory acne.
If acne is your reason for buying a mask, a device with no blue light is not built for your problem, however impressive its red light figures are.
Red, around 630nm
Red is the wavelength most people picture when they hear "LED mask," and it is the one associated with fine lines and skin ageing. It penetrates further than blue.
BeamViva's red is cleared for the treatment of wrinkles.
If you see a mask advertised with a single wavelength, this is almost always the one.
Amber, around 605nm
Amber sits between blue and red. It is less commonly included, and when it is, it is often the wavelength a brand cannot say much about.
We can say this: BeamViva's amber is cleared for the treatment of wrinkles. We are not going to tell you it does anything beyond what our clearance covers.
Near-infrared, around 850nm
Near-infrared is invisible. Switch it on and the mask looks almost off, which surprises people the first time.
It is the longest of the four wavelengths and penetrates deepest. It is typically paired with red rather than used alone.
BeamViva's near-infrared is cleared, in combination with red, for the treatment of wrinkles.
So which do you need?
Work backwards from the problem.
- Acne only. You need blue. Red is a bonus, not the point.
- Fine lines only. You need red, ideally with near-infrared.
- Both, or you are not sure. This is most people, and it is the case for a multi-wavelength device. Skin concerns rarely arrive one at a time, and buying a red-only mask in March does not help you in August when something else turns up.
Whichever you pick, the timeline is not the same for both. Acne moves in weeks and wrinkles take months. We set that out in how often to use a mask and when you will see something.
Why four instead of one
The honest version: a single-wavelength mask can be perfectly good at the one thing it does. If you know exactly what you are treating and it is not going to change, you do not need four.
The case for four is coverage. Most at-home masks under $200 offer one or two wavelengths, usually red and near-infrared, which leaves acne uncovered. The BeamViva mask runs all four, with 240 single-chip LEDs and 60 dedicated to each wavelength, so you are not choosing at the point of purchase which of your concerns to treat.
One thing to check before you buy anything
Ask which wavelengths a mask is actually cleared for, not just which ones it emits. Those are different questions, and the gap between them is where a lot of marketing lives. A device can emit a wavelength without holding a clearance to treat anything with it.
If that distinction is new to you, start with FDA cleared, registered and approved: what those words actually mean. And check the intensity claims too, using what mW/cm² means.
BeamViva is cleared under 510(k) K253086 for wrinkles and mild to moderate inflammatory acne. You can look the number up.