Page 54 - Allure - November 2016 USA

BEAUTY REPORTER
ON TRIAL
Blue Light
Is it a villain that’s aging your skin or a hero that eradicates acne and skin cancer?
The Prosecution: Blue light, which cell phones and other digital screens emit at low levels,
can penetrate skin and let loose skin-aging free radicals. The claim is scary and, so far, relatively unsupported—save by the chief scientists at Junetics, a company
that just so happens to make a new cream designed to protect against blue light. Only
one small study found that blue light might age skin, and it didn’t separate blue light from
violet. The Defense: Blue light is used to treat precancerous spots in an in-office procedure
known as photodynamic therapy and can also
kill acne-causing bacteria at certain wavelengths, says dermatologist Brian Zelickson. (Your phone’s blue light isn’t acne-fighting.) Skin should be clearer after several weeks of twice-weekly, 20-minute in-office sessions or daily use of the latest at-home options, says dermatologist Anne Chapas. Neutrogena’s Light Therapy Acne Mask (above left) teams blue light with anti-inflammatory
red, while Tria’s Positively Clear Acne Clearing Blue Light is almost as powerful as in-office LEDs. The Verdict:
The only thing truly endangered by your phone’s blue light is your beauty sleep; blue light depresses melatonin levels, which in turn may elevate collagen-degrading cortisol. Research is on the side of blue light’s safety in at-home and in-office devices and even suggests it
could speed skin’s wound-healing process. —JESSICA CHIA
OUR NEW
OBSESSION
DRY Spell
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that sheet masks make you look like a serial killer or a superhero.
Or so we thought, until we saw Nannette de Gaspé’s Restorative Techstile Masque for the Eyes. The mask’s scalloped edges and filigreed design seem like something we’d wear to a masquerade ball
(if we ever went to a masquerade ball), not a place as downmarket as our bathroom sink. But that’s not even the coolest part: It’s totally dry. Not dry-oil dry. Actually dry-dry. Embedded in the feltlike mask are semisolid plant oils that warm up and imperceptibly
Shazam for more sheet masks.
melt at body temperature, explains cosmetic chemist Ni’Kita Wilson. Those oils jibe well with the skin barrier and can be more effective at delivering active ingredients, like peptides and antioxidants, than the water- based masks we’re used to. After 15 minutes, our skin was a lot softer and glowier; if you have oily skin, use it before bed
to avoid outright shine. —J. C.
Left: Nannette de Gaspé’s collection includes masks for the face, eyes, hands, neck, and mouth.
FROM TOP: PHIL OH/TRUNK ARCHIVE; JOSEPHINE SCHIELE (2)