Red light therapy gets talked about as though it were a treatment on its own. In my studio it is usually the last few minutes of a facial, and that placement is deliberate.

Everything here is shared for education only — a cosmetic, appearance-focused perspective, not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment of any condition.

Here is what the light actually does, what it does not do, and why I think it earns its place at the end of the work rather than in place of it.

What red light therapy actually is

Red light therapy — photobiomodulation, if you want the clinical word — uses specific wavelengths of low-level light, typically 630 to 670nm in the red spectrum, with near-infrared reaching further into the tissue. The light is absorbed by the skin and supports the look and feel of vital, healthy-appearing skin.

There is no heat to speak of, no abrasion, and nothing to recover from. You lie back with your eyes covered and the panel does the work.

What it does, and what it doesn't

Red and near-infrared light supports the look and feel of healthy, vital skin. In practice that shows up three ways:

  • Supports post-treatment recovery
  • Supports a calmer-looking skin tone and texture
  • Supports the look and feel of firmer, more elastic skin

Now the part most pages leave out. Red light therapy does not produce the dramatic single-session change that hands-on work or microneedling can. It is cumulative and it is quiet.

And the frequency matters more than anyone selling it tends to say. The studies that show visible change run three to five sessions a week for eight to twelve weeks. A red light finish on a monthly facial is not that protocol, and I am not going to tell you it is. If you want the clinical version, that is a home device used most days of the week — not a spa visit.

That is a smaller claim than most pages about red light make. It is also the one I can stand behind.

Add it to a facial, or book it on its own

This is the question I get most, usually phrased as can I just book red light?

Now you can, and for clients on a maintenance rhythm it makes sense. But if you only come in for facials, add it to the end of one.

Red light does its best work on skin that has just been worked on. After buccal technique or lymphatic drainage, circulation is up and the tissue is warm and receptive. Five minutes under the panel then compounds what my hands already opened up.

So I built it into the work, and most clients have it at the end of a facial. For clients on a maintenance rhythm, a session on its own keeps the rhythm going between visits.

Put plainly: a few minutes at the end of a facial is worth having, and a session on its own is worth having if you come in often.

The panel

Clinic-grade, 1,980 LEDs, roughly 6 J/cm² delivered to the skin in five minutes. At the end of a facial it runs five to seven minutes; in a session on its own, about ten.

The dose is the reason five minutes is enough. Photobiomodulation is not a case of longer being better — it follows what the literature calls a biphasic dose response, an inverted curve where too little light does nothing and too much cancels the benefit back out. The useful window for facial skin sits somewhere around 4 to 20 J/cm². Five minutes on this panel lands inside it, and so does ten. The panel's maker says the benefit levels off after five to ten minutes, which is why no session here runs longer.

Where it already comes included

Red light therapy in Murray and the Salt Lake valley

Altru Radiance is in Murray, Utah, near Fashion Place Mall, minutes from Holladay, Millcreek, Cottonwood Heights, Sandy and Salt Lake City. Red light is usually how a session closes here, and you can also book it on its own between visits.

If you are deciding where to start, the Skin Longevity Consultation is 30 minutes, includes the red light finish, and the fee applies toward any service booked within 30 days.

Common questions about red light therapy

Can I book red light therapy on its own?

Yes. A session on its own is $30, for clients who want red light between facials. Added to a facial it is $20, and that is still where it does its best work.

How long is the red light portion?

Five to seven minutes at the end of a facial, and about ten minutes in a session on its own. Either way, there is nothing to recover from afterward.

Does red light therapy hurt?

No. There is no heat to speak of and no abrasion. You lie back with your eyes covered. Most clients find it the most restful part of the session.

How often would I have it?

As often as you are in for a facial, and I will be straight about what that does and does not buy you. The studies showing visible change run three to five sessions a week for eight to twelve weeks, which no spa schedule matches — that is home-device territory. A red light finish on a regular facial is a good close to the work rather than a course of treatment, which is why it is built into the Foundation Package and the Maintenance Membership, and why I offer it on its own for clients who want it more often.