The science
How light reacheswhat creams cannot
Fine lines are a structural change. Understanding why is the fastest route to understanding what red light can and cannot do about them.
Collagen, and whyit stops arriving
Collagen is the protein that gives skin its density, and elastin is what lets it return to shape. Both are produced by fibroblasts living in the dermis, the layer beneath the surface you can see.
From the mid-twenties onward, fibroblast output declines gradually. The dermis thins, loses its scaffolding, and the skin above begins to fold along the lines your expressions use most. Those folds stop springing back. That is a wrinkle.
Anything applied to the surface is working several layers above where the change is happening. That is not a criticism of skincare, it is a description of where it can reach.
Mechanism
One mechanism,six depths
01
Absorption
All six wavelengths are absorbed within the energy-producing structures of the cell. That part does not change across the spectrum. What changes is how far into tissue each wavelength travels before it gets there.
02
Energy
That absorption is understood to increase the cell's available energy. Fibroblasts are metabolically expensive cells, and collagen synthesis is one of the first things they scale back when energy is short.
03
Synthesis
Visible red at 630 and 660 nanometres reaches the surface and upper dermis, where fibroblasts sit. With more energy available, they are supported in producing collagen and elastin — which is why the skin evidence concentrates in this band.
04
Depth
Near-infrared at 810, 850, 940 and 1060 nanometres is invisible to the eye and interacts with tissue further down: deeper dermis, subcutaneous tissue, and muscle. The same absorption, applied to layers visible red does not reach.
The evidence
What the controlledtrials actually found
These are independent studies of red light on facial skin, not minara's own. They are cited because the wavelengths and protocols overlap with ours, and because you should be able to check the claims yourself.
01
Density beneath the surface rose 47.7% over twelve weeks
Twenty women used a 630 nm device delivering 15.6 J/cm² for twelve minutes, twice weekly. Ultrasound measured dermal density rising 26.4% at 28 days, 41% at 56 days and 47.7% at 84 days. Crow's feet depth fell 38.3% and surface roughness 23.8% over the same period. Measurements taken 14 and 28 days after treatment stopped showed the gains held.
Couturaud V, Le Fur M, Pelletier M, Granotier F. Reverse skin aging signs by red light photobiomodulation. Skin Research and Technology, 2023. [doi:10.1111/srt.13391]02
Collagen density confirmed by ultrasound, not by opinion
A randomised controlled trial of 136 volunteers across four groups, treated twice weekly for 30 sessions. Outcomes were measured by blinded evaluation of clinical photography, ultrasonographic collagen density and computerised digital profilometry. Treated groups showed significant improvement in complexion, skin roughness and intradermal collagen density against controls.
Wunsch A, Matuschka K. A controlled trial to determine the efficacy of red and near-infrared light treatment. Photomedicine and Laser Surgery, 2014;32(2):93–100. [PMID 24286286]03
86.2% improved against a sham device they could not tell apart
A multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, sham-controlled trial of a home-use 630 nm and 850 nm device over sixteen weeks. Neither participants nor the independent raters scoring the photographs knew which device was active. Independent raters recorded improvement in 86.2% of the treated group, against the sham control.
Park J, et al. Clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a home-used LED and IRED mask for crow's feet: a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study. 2025. [PMC11835066]04
31% more type-1 procollagen at 660 nanometres
Pulsed 660 nm light applied to tissue-engineered human skin raised type-1 procollagen production by 31%, with the laboratory finding carried through to a single-blinded split-face clinical study where each participant served as their own control.
Barolet D, Roberge CJ, Auger FA, Boucher A, Germain L. Regulation of skin collagen metabolism in vitro using a pulsed 660 nm LED light source. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2009;129(12):2751–2759. [J Invest Dermatol 2009]These trials tested other manufacturers' devices. They are evidence for the mechanism and for the wavelength range minara operates in. They are not measurements of the minara panel, and the figures above should not be read as results you will obtain from it.
Why these wavelengths
How deep eachwavelength reaches
Why these wavelengths
Depth is thewhole argument
630 nm
Surface skin. The band most closely associated with tone, surface texture and collagen activity.
660 nm
Upper dermis, where fibroblasts sit. The most studied wavelength for skin outcomes.
810 nm
Mid to deep dermis. Invisible near-infrared, where the recovery literature concentrates.
850 nm
Deep dermis. Reaches denser tissue that visible red light does not.
940 nm
Subcutaneous tissue. Extends the delivered spectrum with a gentle thermal effect at depth.
1060 nm
Muscle and deep tissue. The panel's upper boundary, broadening coverage rather than concentrating it.