Government urged to tackle misleading LED face mask claims before Christmas

Health officials have been called upon to review the regulations surrounding advertisements for anti-ageing LED face masks ahead of the festive shopping season.

Addressing the House of Lords on Wednesday, Baroness Pidgeon asked whether the government would examine promotional claims that the technology is capable of softening lines and wrinkles.

The peer highlighted a previous ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which prohibited a firm from stating its product was "clinically proven to reduce wrinkles in four weeks" in the absence of robust supporting evidence.

The watchdog ruled that the promotion for the C-Wave Light Facial LED mask was "misleading" on the grounds that studies cited by buyers’ club Beauty Pie "were unpublished and had methodological limitations".

While Beauty Pie provided research showing 92 per cent of self-assessed participants agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "my fine lines appear less visible" after four weeks, the ASA noted the study "had a relatively small sample size of 28 participants".

A second study put forward, which reported an average visible reduction in lines and wrinkles of 20%, had a smaller sample size of 20 participants.

Beauty Pie has been contacted for comment.

“The ASA upheld a complaint in June about an LED face mask, claiming it was clinically proven it could reduce wrinkles in four weeks,” Lady Pidgeon told the Lords.

The Liberal Democrat peer continued: “Given there are numerous adverts for at-home LED beauty devices in the run-up to Christmas, will the government urgently assess whether existing regulation adequately protects consumers in terms of both the product safety but also the evidence supporting claims about their health benefits?”

Pointing to the claims made, health minister Baroness Merron replied that she was “sure that many noble lords, if it was a true claim, would be very keen to benefit” from an LED face mask.

To laughter, she added: “Myself included.”

Lady Merron continued: “But quite seriously, it’s good that the ASA is looking into this.

“We do have regulations to ensure that people are not misled and are protected.”

She said a proposed change to cosmetic surgery regulations was “tangential” to her exchange with Lady Pidgeon but added it “really strengthens this point”.

The government last week launched plans for a crackdown on what health minister Karin Smyth described as “cosmetic cowboys”.

As part of planned rule changes, only qualified medics would be able to carry out procedures that involve injecting fillers anywhere other than the face, which would include new restrictions on who can perform Brazilian butt lifts (BBLs).

“These changes mean that only properly trained professionals can carry out the most serious, high-risk procedures, and that young people will be shielded from treatments that can go badly wrong,” Ms Smyth said.

“We want to drive cosmetic cowboys out of the market and raise standards across the board, giving reputable businesses a fair chance to thrive by helping people identify safe, qualified providers they can trust.”

The plan is subject to a consultation and the regulations are set to undergo scrutiny in Parliament in spring next year.