$100 instead of $100k? How to make your own light therapy gear

Paying tens of thousands of dollars for the newest trends in wellness and beauty might be a thing for celebrities like Kim Kardashian, but you can recreate some of these products at home for a mere $100, as British entrepreneur and engineer Ruth Amos proved with her light therapy gear.

Indeed, rather than shelling out $100,000 for the light therapy bed like the one that Kim K swears by, Amos decided to build her own solution from equivalent functional components – a bunch of cheap red LEDs – and described the process in an article on Instructables, as well as in a YouTube video.

Specifically, she started with a welding mask, inside which she fitted red LED strips of the correct wavelength for beneficial skin effects. She also retrofitted an oversized tracksuit with an array of LED strips to cover as much of the body as possible, with the whole setup costing her about a mere $100.

Light therapy gear supplies

For her LED mask, Amos needed a welding mask as the base, red LED strips with the correct wavelength, a soldering kit (iron and wire), wires to connect the LEDs, a power supply compatible with LED strips, and electrical tape to insulate connections and make it safe to wear.

As for the LED loungewear, it required an oversized tracksuit or any other comfortable clothing, red LED strips, reflective tape to maximize light exposure, velcro for attaching LEDs in a removable way, fabric panels to hold LEDs in place, wire connectors to connect LED strips together, and electrical tape.

In Amos’s words, for red light therapy to work positively for skin, it needs to be within a specific wavelength range, ideally around 630-660 nm.

Building LED Mask

To start making her own skincare red light therapy mask, she first cleaned the surface where she planned to place the LEDs, measured and cut the LED strips to fit inside the welding mask, soldered wires to connect strips in parallel or series as needed, and insulated all the connections with electrical tape.

Then, she stuck LED strips inside the mask while ensuring even distribution and secured the wiring neatly so it didn’t interfere with wearing. Finally, she turned on the LEDs to check visibility, and adjusted brightness levels as necessary.

Creating LED loungewear

To create her cool LED loungewear, she chose an oversized tracksuit with enough space for components, identified sectors where LEDs were to be placed (arms, legs, back), and made sure that the garment could take this much extra weight.

She then cut fabric panels for each section, attaching reflective tape on one side to enhance LED effectiveness, and stuck LED strips onto the panels. Then it was time to solder wires to connect LED strips using different wire colors to differentiate positive/negative, and to cover soldered points with electrical tape.

To secure the LED panels, she sewed Velcro strips inside the clothing and attached LED panels using Velcro, which allows for the removal of the gear when washing the tracksuit. She then made sure all LEDs were connected and functional, as well as that wires were routed neatly to avoid discomfort when wearing.

Conclusion

All things considered, by deciding to build her own beauty solution instead of paying for the insanely expensive off-the-shelf beauty product, Amos not only saved a ton of money for herself but has also allowed the rest of us to enjoy (almost) the same skincare benefits like Kim K by sharing the instructions in a simple and easily replicable way.