Adverts from several beauty brands and retailers have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for making medical claims about LED masks.
Beautaholics, Luyors Retail, Project E Beauty, and Silk’n were rapped by the regulator for making claims that the devices could treat acne, heal rosacea, or kill acne-causing bacteria.
Medical claims can only be made when products or medical devices are licensed by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Acne and rosacea are both recognised as medical conditions.
The ASA determined that the claims to treat or prevent the conditions found in the ads were medicinal in nature.
As the products did not meet the relevant MHRA requirements, the adverts broke the rules.
All of the adverts were identified by the ASA’s artificial intelligence (AI) active ad monitoring system.
The tool uses AI to proactively search adverts online that might break the rules.
How did LED mask adverts break ASA rules?
Beautaholics’ was found to have run a paid-for advert on Meta, the company behind social media sites Facebook and Instagram, for its RejuvaLux LED mask on 16 May this year.
The caption read: “You have seen the hype around LED face masks — but RejuvaLux goes further.
“With seven LED colours, near-Infrared technology, and three intensity levels, it delivers a fully customisable treatment using clinically proven light therapy.
“Whether you are targeting […] acne — this is advanced skincare made easy”.
On the brand’s website, a page featuring the mask also included a description that read: “With seven LED colours plus near-Infrared technology, this mask provides targeted solutions for […] acne, […] rosacea […].”
Additional text also stated: “Clinical studies have shown that specific wavelengths of LED light can […] reduce acne-causing bacteria.”
During the ASA’s investigation, Beautaholics acknowledged that certain wording implied medicinal claims.
While the cosmetics device was UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) certified, it was not registered with the MHRA.
The brand said the ad was no longer appearing, that the website description of the product had been updated, and that it would not make such claims in future.
The ASA identified Luyor’s Retail ran a paid-for Meta advert on 16 May 2025 that showed an LED mask and text stating: “[…] With six specialised light settings, it helps tackle everything from acne […] with clinical precision […].”
The beauty tech retailer said the ad was no longer appearing and that it had not intended to make medical claims about the device.
It also told the ASA it would ensure future advertising did not refer to acne or imply medical claims.
A third brand, Project E Beauty, was also found to be running a paid-for Meta ad in May this year, that featured a video that included the text: “Quality at-home LED light therapy can also help reduce […] acne”.
A man who appeared in the ad said: “LED light therapy actually has clinically proven benefits […] blue light kills acne-causing bacteria.”
He then appeared in front of a list which included the text “anti-acne”, “eliminates acne-causing bacteria”, “reduce acnes”, and “alleviates redness from […] rosacea”.
He also said: “This mask from project E beauty […] has seven different colour modes […] one for acne” and “three minutes of blue light for reducing acne”.
On the company’s website, the ASA also found a page featuring the LumaLux Face LED therapy mask along with text that read: “Our most advanced LED mask for deeper skin renewal – […] acne”.
Other text stated, “treats acne”, “target […] acne”, “clear acne” and “83% Improvement in acne lesions in four weeks”.
The page also featured before and after images of a woman’s head with and without acne.
Text also read: “By Week 3, my acne had disappeared” and “use your mask to target […] acne”, as well as “heal acne” and “acne healing blue light therapy uses specific acne-targeting wavelengths to eliminate acne-causing bacteria […] while […] treating other acne biomarkers”.
Further text stated “Skin repair red, cyan and yellow light help to […] fight signs of […] rosacea” and “target acne at all its life stages […] destroy acne-causing bacteria P-acnes” as well as “prevent acne breakouts. Acne can damage the skin barrier, so it is important to take a reparative approach to treatment including red light therapy”.
Project E Beauty told the ASA it had removed the ad from all platforms and had updated the web page to remove medical claims related to “healing”, “treating acne” and “rosacea”.
The company said it has also amended the page to state that any references to acne in before and after photos and reviews were testimonials based on personal experiences.
Acne-related redness considered a medical claim
A final paid-for Meta ad spotted by the ASA came from Silk’n and appeared on 20 May 2025 and featured a woman using the LED face mask along with the caption “[…] Finished with the blue light to help treat my acne and scars”.
On the hair and skin care tool retailer’s website, a page also showed an image of the mask being used by a woman, and text that stated, “Targeted acne-related treatment […] precise and targeted treatment to effectively reduce acne-related redness”.
The company said that the ad was created by a user of the device and was based on her experience after prolonged use, with wording that reflected her individual perception and results.
Silk’n also told the ASA that the woman had approved the use of her testimonial for advertising, and that the company always ensured such user testimonials were realistic and reflected individual outcomes that could be influenced by a number of factors, such as diet and lifestyle.
It acknowledged that the term acne constituted a medical claim and said it never used it in their own corporate or product communications, only when quoting consumer reviews.
Silk’n also said it believed “acne-related redness” was not a medical claim, based on industry and legal guidance, and had intended to indicate the cosmetic benefits relating to the visible redness associated with blemishes rather than treatment of a medical condition.
During the investigation, the ASA contacted the MHRA, which said that in general, claims to treat redness related to acne were a medical claim, though it does review products on a case-by-case basis where claims may be borderline.
The ASA considered that the claims in both adverts about the product treating or preventing acne were medical, including acne-related redness.
The regulator also said that no medical claims could be made about the device, whether or not such claims appeared in customer testimonials.
Silk’n has been told the ad must not appear again and that it can not make medicinal claims that were not registered with the MHRA.