Beauty is seeing red — infrared.
Red light therapy is becoming a popular skincare solution, with promises to reduce inflammation, minimize acne and wrinkles, and boost collagen recovery. Saunas, fitness studios and facial clinics now offer red light sunbeds and therapy sessions. LED wands and face masks from brands like CurrentBody, Shark, Solawave, Vym, Monastery and FAQ have become the latest beauty accessory. It helps that the masks are perfect social media fodder: glowing red light selfies have appeared on feeds of celebs and influencers like Kourtney Kardashian and Bethenny Frankel. Solaris Labs NY is selling a baseball cap with built-in LED light therapy, designed to promote hair growth, with an unassuming “Out of Office” slogan across it. In the last four months, searches for “red light therapy” have surged by 123% on TikTok, according to the platform.
“The cultural and social aspect has had a huge impact on how red light has saturated skincare. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube have contributed to the hype. It’s something you can do at home to support either your existing skincare routine or an ancillary in addition to in-clinic treatments,” says Suzanne Scott, global beauty director at PR and strategy firm Seen Group. “Social entertainment has really helped make red light the main character in GRWM, evening routine content and even cleaning content.”
Even as red light therapy content trends online, practitioners say they see consumers drawn to it as part of a bigger-picture investment in longevity and holistic health, which sees people buying up products that promise to do more than act as a surface-level salve. “People are coming away from the chemical environment and back to understanding healing from within. People are much more aware of how their body works,” says Philippa Harvey, head of holistic health at SHA Wellness Clinic, which has locations in Spain and Mexico and has been practicing red light therapy since 2008.
The global light therapy market was worth $521.1 million in 2021, according to Allied Market Research, and by 2031, the market is expected to be worth $802.7 million. Gen Zs and millennials are driving demand for health devices and tech tools in their routines, according to McKinsey, but specialists say red light therapy spans generations. For many, it’s a pricey skincare habit: tools can exceed $1,000, and regular treatments at spas and fitness centers add up. But experts see the investment as part of the broader swing toward health consciousness and consumers being willing to spend more on wellness over other categories.
Beauty brands are working quickly to get in on the action. From specialized players like CurrentBody — which sells red light devices for face, hair, neck and décolletage, hands and more — to beauty giants like L’Oréal Group, which is rolling out its first red light tools next year. “This sustained engagement of using the mask daily to see the effects makes it much more than just a fad or a phase. Consumers are investing time into their skincare and wellness routines,” says Danielle Lessing, chief roadmap and innovation officer of product development at Shark, whose red light mask sells for $350 and has become a fixture in social media content.
Taking red light home
Laurence Newman, CEO and co-founder of The Beauty Tech Group, which owns CurrentBody, Ziip Beauty and Tria Laser, says red light therapy has become more popular as customers look for treatments that go deeper than the skin, but don’t require going under the knife. “The trend has been fueled by the rise of at-home beauty solutions during Covid, increased social media awareness, and the growing demand for non-invasive anti-aging treatments, even among younger consumers,” he says. The brand’s LED Light Therapy Mask was featured in the opening scene of season two of Emily in Paris. “These moments have helped us move red light therapy from a niche wellness tool to a mainstream skincare must-have,” says Newman.
CurrentBody sales have risen three-fold, from £31.8 million in 2022 to £91.2 million in 2024, off the back of the success of its red light devices.
Luxury opportunities are quickly bubbling up in the red light therapy sector. Lyma, the British luxury medical-technology brand that has one of the most expensive red light therapy devices on the market — the Lyma Laser retails for £1,999 and the Laser Pro for £4,995 — reported £36 million in revenue for 2025. The brand is stocked at Harrods and works with the likes of Dior Beauty, Augustinus Bader and La Prairie.
The brand launched its Laser Pro device in the US in April 2025, generating a 16,000-person waitlist worth over $100 million in demand and driving 130% direct-to-consumer sales growth in the first six months, according to the brand. The device has been endorsed by Sabrina Carpenter, Martha Stewart, Bobbi Brown and Miranda Kerr, with the benefits of attacking wrinkles, pigmentation, skin tightening and scars in 30 days.
FAQ, a brand which sits under the umbrella of Foreo, is moving away from single-benefit LED devices to multi-modal skin and body technologies, a signal of how the space is evolving. FAQ’s fastest-growing demographic is women aged 30 to 55, but in the last year, the brand has also seen strong growth among male users and Gen Zs who are turning to red light therapy as a preventive aging tool.
“Red light works with your biology, not against it. I absolutely think that red light therapy will become as normal as cleansing or using SPF every day. It has become part of the new luxury wellness culture and it’s been embraced by Hollywood actors, professional athletes, models, biohackers, and high-profile entrepreneurs,” says Marta Panera, Foreo’s global director of marketing and communications.
Panera predicts the next step for red light therapy is more about smarter integration. “Think of light therapy that is built into your home’s architecture or wearable second-skin tech,” she says.
How long will the light last?
How far will customers follow the light? New products like L’Oréal Group’s Light Straight + Multi-styler flat iron and LED eye masks, which are due to launch on the market in 2027 from brands in its portfolio, and services like far-infrared heat lamps show where the space is headed.
“When a technology consistently demonstrates safety and efficacy across multiple applications, it naturally extends into adjacent categories. Clinical research supports red light therapy for skin rejuvenation, acne treatment, alopecia, muscle recovery, and pain management. Our hope is it can be used beyond facial care into hair and scalp,” says Guive Balooch, global VP of tech and open innovation at L’Oréal Group.
Even as the use of red light therapy devices at home soars, some consumers are easing themselves into the treatment through gyms and saunas. According to data from beauty and wellness booking platform Fresha, appointments for red light therapy grew by 131% from 2023 to 2025 for main markets, which consists of the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Luxury London gym Third Space is gradually implementing red light therapy into all of its branches. Currently, only the Canary Wharf branch offers red light therapy in the form of a sunbed, this was introduced in 2024 and will soon be extended to locations including Wood Wharf in February, The Whitely in March, and Chelsea in the spring.
SHA Wellness is evolving its red light therapy to blood therapy. In a couple of weeks, the clinic will be launching a Biohacking Mitochondrial treatment, a red light laser that puts NAD, proteins and mitochondrial energy (the chemical energy needed to power the reaction of biochemical cells) back into the body. “It all comes back to the idea of using red light therapy to enhance cell wellness,” says Harvey.
And those bullish still say there’s lots of room for more reticent consumers to climb on board
“The trajectory of red light so far points to red light therapy becoming a sustained element of consumer’s beauty routines. As technology continues to improve, and prices continue to come down, the more people we will see using it. I think there will be a mindset shift that will convince consumers to see red light as more than a beauty treatment but as a legitimate wellness tool,” says Seen Group’s Scott.
