What to Put on Your Face Before and After Red Light Therapy
Red light therapy goes before skincare. Use the device on clean, dry, bare skin, then apply serum, moisturiser and, in the morning, sunscreen. That is how the mask trials that describe skin preparation were run, and it keeps pigments and mineral filters, which reflect and absorb light, out of the way. As for which serum to use, the best one is the one you already use and tolerate: in the one study that paired an LED mask with a named ingredient, 48 people used a hyaluronic acid serum, and those who added a 660 and 850 nm mask improved more over four weeks than those who used the serum alone. This article covers what to put on before and after, how vitamin C, retinol and acids fit in, whether "light-activated" serums are a real thing, and the order for morning and evening.
Should you do red light therapy before or after skincare?
Before. Cleanse, dry, do the light session on bare skin, and put your products on afterwards.
The trials are the guide here. In a three-month study of a 630 nm LED mask, volunteers were told to keep the face clean and make-up free for each session and otherwise carried on with their usual day and night skincare. Skin Research and Technology, 2023 In a four-week study of a mask with 630, 655 and 842 nm LEDs, faces were cleansed with water and towel-dried before each session, with nothing under the mask. Cosmetics, 2025 Cleveland Clinic gives the same instruction for LED sessions at home or in a clinic: "you need to have a clean, makeup-free face". Cleveland Clinic
What should you put on your face before red light therapy?
Nothing. Clean, dry skin is the condition the research used, and it is the one in which the light reaching your skin matches the device's stated output.
The products that matter most to remove are sunscreen and anything tinted. Laboratory measurements of the mineral filters zinc oxide and titanium dioxide found that they reflect up to 60% of light in the visible range. Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine, 2016 In a test of 33 sunscreens, the ones containing iron oxide pigment, the same pigment used in tinted moisturiser and foundation, cut the transmission of blue-violet light by 68.54 to 83.84%. Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, 2019 A clear serum or light moisturiser has not been measured in the same way, and it can still scatter some light, so it also waits until afterwards. Make-up and sunscreen are covered in more detail in using a red light mask with make-up or sunscreen.
What is the best serum to use with red light therapy?
A plain hydrating serum you already tolerate, applied after the session. Hyaluronic acid is the ingredient with a study behind the pairing.
In that study, 24 people used a home LED mask at 660 and 850 nm together with a hyaluronic acid ampoule, and 24 used the ampoule alone, for four weeks. Wrinkles, pores, skin density and facial volume were measured with 3D imaging and ultrasound. Both groups improved, and the mask group showed "a significantly faster and higher rate of improvement". Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2020 What the design shows is that the mask added to the serum's result.
| Ingredient | When | What is known |
|---|---|---|
| Hyaluronic acid | After the session | The 48-person study above: mask plus serum did better than serum alone |
| Niacinamide, peptides, copper peptides | After the session | Established skincare ingredients in their own right; use them as you normally would |
| Vitamin C | After the session, usually in the morning | A fragile ingredient that breaks down under strong light in the laboratory, which is why it comes in dark bottles |
| Green tea extract | After the session, if you like it | The idea comes from a 2009 report by two researchers using 670 nm light; it is an early hypothesis |
| Retinol or tretinoin | After the session, in the evening | Light-sensitive mainly to ultraviolet and violet-blue; dermatologists advise night-time use |
| AHAs and BHAs | After, or on alternate nights at first | AHAs raise sensitivity to ultraviolet, so the rule that goes with them is sunscreen |
| Mineral or tinted sunscreen, foundation | Remove before; apply after | Mineral filters reflect up to 60% of visible light; iron oxide pigments block most blue-violet light |
| Face oils and thick balms | After the session | Bare skin is the condition the trials used |
The green tea report is published in Photomedicine and Laser Surgery, 2009. The American Academy of Dermatology's general advice keeps the serum question in proportion: "sunscreen and moisturizer are the two most-effective anti-aging products you can buy." AAD
Do "light-activated" serums work with red light?
Nothing published shows a cosmetic serum being switched on by an LED device. Treat one as an ordinary serum and apply it after the session.
The phrase is borrowed from photodynamic therapy, which is a different thing. There a dermatologist applies a prescription photosensitising drug, leaves it on the skin for three to six hours, and then illuminates it with red or blue light in a clinic to treat conditions such as sun-damaged patches. The skin stays light-sensitive for about a day afterwards. DermNet Red light used on bare skin involves no drug: the light is absorbed by the skin's own molecules.
Does red light therapy help skincare absorb better?
What the laboratory evidence shows is red light supporting the skin's barrier. Serum applied afterwards works the way serum always works.
In an experiment on pig skin whose barrier had been stripped, red light above 600 nm at 40 mW/cm² for ten minutes or more sped the barrier's recovery, while blue and violet light did not. PLoS ONE, 2019 It was a laboratory study on animal skin, so it is a pointer and not a result in people. It does fit the routine: the light is doing its own work in the skin, and the moisturiser that follows is doing a separate job.
Can you use vitamin C, retinol or acids with red light therapy?
Yes, after the session. The light problems documented for retinoids and acids involve ultraviolet and violet-blue light, and red light contains neither.
- Retinoids: in laboratory tests of tretinoin, ultraviolet A was "the major contributor to photodegradation". International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2008 A related retinoid was broken down by light below 480 nm, most strongly at about 420 nm. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 2001 Advice on the American Academy of Dermatology's site is to use a retinoid only at night. AAD So: light first, retinoid afterwards, as set out in red light mask vs retinol.
- Acids: the FDA reports that after four weeks of AHA use, volunteers' sensitivity to skin reddening from UV rose by 18%, and returned to normal a week after stopping. FDA That is a reason for daily sunscreen. With the light, the sensible start is acids on a different night, or after the session.
- Vitamin C: apply it after the session and before moisturiser.
Prescription medication is a separate matter. Our precautions say not to use either device while taking photosensitising medication, and that stands whatever the wavelength. If you use a prescription retinoid, ask your prescriber before adding a light device.
Does a blue light mode change the routine?
A little. Blue sits at the edge of the range where retinoids are light-sensitive, and it is the band in which tinted products were measured to block most of the light.
Before a blue session, take off tinted moisturiser, tinted sunscreen and foundation completely, and keep retinoids strictly for afterwards. In the barrier experiment above, blue light did not speed recovery the way red did, so finishing a blue session with moisturiser makes sense. Blue is best kept to the morning or afternoon, for the reasons in red light therapy morning or night and blue light therapy.
Should you wash your face before or after red light therapy?
Before. The light leaves nothing on the skin, so there is nothing to wash off afterwards.
The American Academy of Dermatology's face-washing advice is a gentle cleanser, lukewarm water, fingertips, and patting dry with a soft towel, no more than twice a day and after sweating. AAD A session straight after a shower works well once the skin is fully dry. Keep both of our devices away from water, and use them on dry skin.
What is the right order, morning and evening?
Cleanse, dry, light, then products from thinnest to thickest. The table is a routine assembled from how the trials prepared skin and from dermatology-association skincare advice.
| Step | Morning | Evening |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rinse or gentle cleanse | Cleanse off sunscreen and make-up thoroughly |
| 2 | Pat fully dry | Pat fully dry |
| 3 | Light session on bare skin | Light session on bare skin, red and near-infrared |
| 4 | Serum, if you use one | Retinoid, on the nights you use one |
| 5 | Moisturiser | Moisturiser |
| 6 | Sunscreen, SPF 30 or higher, broad spectrum | |
| 7 | Make-up |
The sunscreen line follows the American Academy of Dermatology: SPF 30 or higher, water resistant and broad spectrum, applied about 15 minutes before going out. AAD If skin stings or turns red, drop the active products first and keep cleanser, moisturiser and sunscreen. When you are adding a device and a new active, start one at a time. Building the habit is covered in how to build a light therapy routine, and pausing actives after clinic procedures in red light therapy after microneedling, Botox, fillers and peels.
How does this work with Kivorla devices?
The same way: bare skin for the session, products afterwards. We do not sell serums, so use whichever ones suit your skin.
The 4-Wavelength Red Light Therapy Mask runs for 5, 10 or 15 minutes. Its manual allows 10 minutes up to four times a week at high brightness or 15 minutes up to three times a week, and no more than 20 minutes in a day. The red mode is 665 nm red with 850 and 1064 nm near-infrared, and the blue mode is 460 nm blue with 850 nm. On the 9-Spectrum Red Light Therapy Panel the rule for the body is the same: clean, dry skin, goggles on, body lotion afterwards. Our precautions advise against using the panel on Fitzpatrick skin types V and VI.
Standard shipping to the US, UK and Germany is free. Read the precautions before ordering, since returns are accepted within 30 days, less a 10% restocking fee if the device is unopened with its seals intact, or 20% if it is opened but undamaged and complete.
Kivorla devices are general wellness devices, not medical devices. The routine above is general skincare practice and is not medical advice. Do not use either device while taking photosensitising medication, and speak to a doctor first if you have a skin condition or use prescription skincare.