Kivorla laser mask with its four wavelengths: 460 nm, 665 nm, 850 nm and 1064 nm

Deep Near-Infrared in a Face Mask: What 1064 nm Adds

Two years ago a face mask had two wavelengths: red around 633 nm and near-infrared around 830 nm. The masks at the top of the sales charts now add a third, further into the infrared, at 1064 or 1072 nm, and call it deep near-infrared. Here is what that wavelength does, what the evidence for it actually covers, and how Kivorla produces it.

Why go deeper than 830 nm

Skin absorbs and scatters light more strongly at shorter wavelengths. Red at 633 nm is largely spent in the epidermis and upper dermis. Near-infrared at 830 to 850 nm reaches the mid dermis, where most collagen sits. Push on to 1064 nm and the light travels deeper still, into the lower dermis and the tissue beneath it. That is why 1064 nm is the working wavelength of the Nd:YAG lasers used in clinics for non-ablative rejuvenation: it gets under the skin without heating the surface.

The mechanism at 1064 nm is thought to differ from the shorter wavelengths. Red and 830 nm light are absorbed mainly by an enzyme in the mitochondria, cytochrome c oxidase. At 1064 nm that absorption is weak, and researchers propose that the light acts instead on water within cells and on light-sensitive ion channels. It is an active area of research rather than a settled one.

What the evidence covers

Be precise about this, because the marketing is not. The clinic evidence for 1064 nm is for pulsed Nd:YAG lasers at powers a home device does not approach. For home masks, the main published support is CurrentBody's own eight-week study of its 1072 nm mask, which reports a 37% reduction in wrinkles. That is one brand's trial of one brand's device, and it has not yet been reproduced independently. The larger body of mask research, including the Omnilux studies, was done at 633 and 830 nm and says nothing about 1064 nm either way.

So the honest position is: 1064 nm reaches deeper, the early trial is encouraging, and the wavelength is worth having alongside red and 830 to 850 nm rather than instead of them.

How Kivorla produces it

Producing 1064 nm efficiently is hard with an LED, which is one reason so few masks have it. Kivorla's mask uses 20 VCSEL laser diodes at 1064 nm, specified to within 3 nm, arranged across the mask alongside 72 laser diodes at 850 nm and 72 at 665 nm. The three run together in Mode 2. A laser holds the wavelength exactly where it is specified, which matters more at 1064 nm than at 633, because the absorption behaviour of tissue changes quickly in that region.

Kivorla has not run its own clinical trial on the mask, and we will not borrow another brand's numbers to imply that we have. What we publish is the wavelengths, the number of diodes at each, and the irradiance at the skin, 50 to 103 mW/cm², so the dose can be compared with the studies you read.

What to expect from it

  • 1064 nm is a slow wavelength. The published protocols run for eight weeks or more before measuring anything.
  • It works alongside red and 830 to 850 nm, not in place of them. A mask with only deep near-infrared would be the wrong buy.
  • It is invisible. You will see the red diodes glow and nothing from the 1064 nm ones. That is normal, and it is why you should never look into the mask from outside while it is running.

Research cited on this page examines these wavelengths in general or other brands' devices. It was not conducted on Kivorla devices. Kivorla devices are general wellness devices, not medical devices. Individual results vary.

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