What would we do without our precious collagen? Basically we’d all look like saggy old hags. We don’t give much thought to this essential skin protein until we start to notice its decline, and then we’re all about the vitamin C and retinoids to prompt our skin to produce more. Aside from skincare, light is a powerful collagen stimulator, and up until a few years ago you could only get these anti-aging treatments at a doctor’s office or spa. But these days there are scores of at-home devices that promise to give your fibroblasts (the cells that produce collagen) a kick in the pants—and the latest is ReVive Light Therapy’s Anti-Aging Treatment.
The brainchild of Kathy Ireland (who wouldn’t want to look like her?), this handheld LED-based device uses infrared and red light to increase collagen production deep within the skin. Totally painless, all you have to do is plug it in, put on the included goggles (if you want), place it on fine lines like crow’s feet, and sit there. A fan comes on after 3 minutes to keep the device cool, and it shuts itself off automatically after 25 minutes. A little advice from me to you: The light is BRIGHT so try not to look directly at it after you plug it in. Now this isn’t a safety issue, but you’ll thank me. While most people see results after about four treatments, the company recommends sticking with ReVive for 10 weeks to see optimal improvement.
Obviously I was most interested in the anti-aging treatment, but my package also included the acne and pain relief device heads. The acne one uses blue LEDs to minimize the bacteria that lead to acne, while the pain relief one uses infrared light to heat the skin’s temperature, in turn soothing pain, soreness and stiffness in the muscles or joints.
So what do you think? Worth a shot?
