Blue light from your phone can harm your skin
Blue light is part of the visible light spectrum.
Social media is full of claims that everyday habits can harm your skin or recommendations or advertisements for products that protect you. Now social media has blue light from our devices in its sights.
So can scrolling on our phones really damage your skin? And will applying creams or lotions help? Here’s what the evidence says and what we should be focusing on.
What actually is blue light?
Blue light is part of the visible light spectrum. Sunlight is the strongest source. But our electronic devices – such as our phones, laptops and TVs – also emit it, albeit at 100-1,000 times lower levels.
As we spend so much time using these devices, there has been some concern about the impact of blue light on our health, including our eyes and sleep.
How does blue light affect the skin?
Blue light can increase pigmentation: Exposure to blue light can stimulate the production of melanin, the natural skin pigment that gives skin its colour.
So too much blue light can potentially worsen hyper-pigmentation – overproduction of melanin leading to dark spots on the skin – especially in people with darker skin.
Blue light can give you wrinkles: Some research suggests blue light might damage collagen, a protein essential for skin structure, potentially accelerating the formation of wrinkles.
A laboratory study suggests this can happen if you hold your device 1 cm from your skin for as little as an hour.
However, for most people, if you hold your device more than 10cm away from your skin, that would reduce your exposure 100-fold. So this is much less likely to be significant.
Blue light can disrupt your sleep: When your eyes look tired or puffy, it is often because of sleep deprivation, not just blue light.
Blue light from screens can mess with our sleep by reducing melatonin, which helps us sleep. Looking at stimulating content on screens also makes it harder to unwind and fall asleep.
If you don’t sleep enough for a long time, it can worsen skin conditions like acne and eczema. Lack of sleep raises stress hormones that break down collagen, making skin less firm. It also weakens the skin’s defences against damage and dryness.
What can you do to minimise blue light?
— Use your device’s “night mode” or a blue-light filter app in the evening.
— Limit screen time before bed and establish a relaxing bedtime routine.
— Keep your phone away from your skin to lessen blue light exposure.
— Regularly use sunscreen, especially mineral sunscreens with titanium dioxide and iron oxides, which protect against blue light too.
