Ask An Expert: Q&A With Dr. Clara Hurst

If you hadn’t heard, Omnilux hosted a Live Q&A on Instagram with Dr. Clara Hurst of Blanc Skin in Perth, Western Australia. Dr. Clara is widely known as one of Australia’s most trusted aesthetic doctors and is an avid user of Omnilux light therapy devices both in her clinic as well as personally, at home.

As we went live, Dr. Clara shared valuable insights into how and why LED light therapy works from her very practical and evidential point of view, as well as real-life advice and personal stories from her clinic that highlight the wide-ranging benefits of both our Contour line of LED products and our CLEAR mask.

Did you miss class? If so, not to worry! Below we've shared some highlights from the Q&A for your reading pleasure. You can also watch (and re-watch) the segment on our Instagram feed now @omniluxled, linked here.

Audience Question: Are you sure Omnilux at-home LED light therapy is safe to use?

Dr. Clara: Absolutely, yes, 100%. It’s also so easy to use. It’s been FDA-cleared, it is completely safe to use with your eyes open, you are not doing any harm to your eyesight. It's actually more than safe, its beneficial. I am yet to see a single reaction from using the technology in my clinic and we use it every day. In terms of age, the CLEAR you can use from 14 years, and Contour from 21, and speak to your personal practitioner if you’re outside of these age brackets for approval.

Audience Question: What are some of the main benefits that you can expect to see after using the Contour mask?

Dr. Clara: The Contour mask is great for general rejuvenation of the skin. The red light is going to work really well on pigmentation, redness and inflammation of the skin. The red light brightens up the skin and the white light [the near-infrared light] means you’re going to be producing more collagen which has the benefit of softer, smoother, more dewy, healthy skin – you just get a beautiful glow. It’s great to reverse the signs of premature aging, especially sun damage which is critical here in Australia. It also has a great healing benefit and is great for any bruising, redness, open cuts, anything where the skin is damaged. It heals and repairs the skin twice as fast as without light therapy. I also recommend it for use after injectables to help with bruising.

Audience Question: Do you need to remove your foundation?

Dr. Clara: YES! You want to use your mask on completely clean skin. You can also use one of the Omnilux Hydrogel Masks during your Contour mask treatment but a CLEAR mask treatment needs to be used only on completely clean skin. No SPF, nothing on the skin at all, you don’t want any barrier. You can then add your skincare after the CLEAR treatment.

Audience Question: Can you use the mask for more than 10 minutes?

Dr. Clara: For Contour yes, CLEAR, no. Each device has a timer and it automatically clicks off after 10 minutes. But for Contour you can click it on again for another 10 minutes – I do mine a couple of times! You’re not going to do any harm, you’re not going to overdose.

Audience Question: Is it best to use LED light therapy morning or night?

Dr. Clara: Doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter if you use it in your morning routine or your evening routine, it's whenever you have time. You use your skincare as normal in the morning and carry on with your day, or you use it before bed and then pop on your serum and moisturizer.

Audience Question: How do you use the Contour mask with topical skincare? Is there anything you can’t use the LED light mask with?

Dr. Clara: You do have to be a little bit careful with some medications and some skincare however I have personally never had a problem with salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide or retinols, I find it 100% safe. If you’re using a tretinoin, which is a strong topical Vitamin A, I also find that safe but it's critical you speak to your practitioner.

To watch the full interview with Dr. Clara Hurst of Blanc Skin in Perth Australia, click here.