Most of us spend more time in front of a screen that we’d like to admit, whether at the desk on a laptop or PC for work or time spent on our mobile devices enjoying leisure time whether it being social media enjoyment or alternatives to traditional entertainment because of this there have been a range of new products released that claim to protect against blue light, but does screen time really impact your skin?
The most notable example comes from a huge content creator known as Valkyrae who last year spawned a huge amount of community backlash after planning to launch the “RFLCT” skin care line which had been marketed towards women in the gaming space primarily as something that would protect against extended exposure to blue light, essentially aiming it at those who had a lot of screen time. The marketing claims were that some research had been conducted that suggested extended screen time could cause damage, and that this range of products would protect against this – but the kicker is this research was never published and never peer reviewed, leading understandably to a lot of skepticism.
In fact, the opposite has been true, scientific research suggests there’s little evidence and almost no link to blue light causing skin damage particularly in the way most users are exposed to the blue light – devices are held far enough away that any impact could never truly be measured, and if anything, standard ceiling lighting which often emits much greater quantities of blue light would be a bigger culprit but with no evidence either. Blue light has been linked to other health changes, notably with the circadian rhythm and how it can disrupt sleep with higher levels of bright blue light in the evening, but in terms of skin condition? Screen time will have no impact according to studies.
Since then, another big content creator has looked to launch a very similar product as Addison Rae promoted a blue light mist as part of her beauty skincare range, and whilst the backlash wasn’t as severe it did raise some eyebrows as to why the same claims were being made once again – after the backlash RFLCT ceased to exist and highlights how savvy many consumers have become aware, but for those concerned that spending too much time in front of the screen can have some negative skincare impact, fret not as there is no evidence to suggest this is the case.