Past the personal "which side do you prefer" framing, the underlying question — does a red/near-infrared light mask actually rejuvenate skin? — has a real answer in the literature: yes, modestly, backed by randomized trials.

noli's read

The post's format — two months, one side of the face treated, the other hidden, a public vote — is a single-subject anecdote, not evidence on its own; that's exactly the staging to set aside before judging the underlying question. Several randomized, controlled, double-blind trials exist on this specific topic: a red LED/PBM mask (Dior x Lucibel, PMC 2023) reduced crow's-feet wrinkle depth by 15.6% after one month and up to 38.3% after three months in 20 volunteers; a sham-controlled trial of 95 women measured a significant reduction in glabellar and periorbital wrinkles after four weeks; a home-use near-infrared LED device reduced wrinkles by 24-27% over 8-12 weeks. The effects are real but modest compared with sunscreen, require weeks of consistent use, and most trials are funded by the mask manufacturers being tested — a bias worth knowing without it invalidating the underlying mechanism (fibroblast stimulation, increased collagen). The post's self-experiment, honestly run ("no one knew which side"), doesn't add anything these trials don't already show more rigorously.

the sources

No named source held this one up — that absence is part of the verdict.