The Solawave, also called the Solawave Wand, is a handheld anti-aging device that uses red wavelengths of light. The device combines four different technologies, and the brand claims that their product can reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, acne and dark circles.

But can a handheld red light device actually reduce visible signs of skin aging? Is there medical research backing the technologies used? Is the brand's Face Mask effective? And is Solawave better or worse than NuFace?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, by reviewing the four Solawave technologies to give our take on their potential effectiveness: microcurrent, red light therapy, facial massage, and therapeutic warmth.

At the end of each section, we'll share our opinion on whether or not the technology is likely to have an anti-aging effect.

We'll also review the Solawave Face Mask, and compare the brand to another popular anti-aging brand called NuFace to pick our winner.

Key takeaways:

• We can only find research backing for one of the four treatments
• We consider Solawave to be superior to NuFace
• We do not currently recommend Solawave

Tech #1 — Microcurrent

Microcurrent is a term for a technology which applies electrical currents to the skin, and is used in other cosmetic devices like NuFace.

We cannot find any convincing clinical evidence showing that microcurrent technology improves skin quality or has an anti-aging effect.

Solawave cites one clinical trial as proof that this technology is effective. It appears to be a very low-quality study in a very low-quality journal.

Even the title of the article is written in broken English: "Consider of Micro-Current's effect to variation of Facial Wrinkle trend."

Here is the first sentence of the trial: "Beauty is one of the important today’s people concerns; the facial wrinkles are including problems of beauty."

We have never come across a clinical trial that's written so poorly as to be almost illegible, and for this reason we disregard the results of this study.  

Verdict: We do not consider this technology likely to be effective.

Tech #2 — Red Light Therapy

There is legitimate clinical research backing the efficacy of red light therapy for skin aging, and Solawave links to it on their website.

A clinical trial published in the Photomedicine and Laser Surgery journal found that red light therapy improved skin complexion, skin roughness and collagen density in trial participants when compared with a control group.

The wavelength of the red light used in Solawave, 630 nanometers (nm) is similar to the range of wavelengths used in the above-linked trial (611 - 650 nm).

Another clinical trial which used the exact same wavelength of red light as that in Solawave found that the treatment significantly improved wrinkles around the eyes.

A 2021 medical review on red light therapy analyzed the results from many clinical trials and concluded that the treatment is a “safe and effective method of skin rejuvenation,” as well as treatment of acne.

The study authors stressed that more research is needed to determine the optimal power and wavelength of light used.

Verdict: We consider this technology likely to be effective.

Tech #3 — Facial Massage

Solawave claims that facial massage can make the face appear slimmer, and “drain toxicity from the face’s lymphatic system.” Their device apparently has a massage function.

The brand links to a 2017 clinical trial to back up these claims.

The above-linked study found that facial massage from a hardware device may provide an anti-wrinkle and anti-aging effect due to increased expression of certain proteins in the skin.

L’Oréal, a major skincare brand, funded the study, and every study author is an employee of L’Oréal. This leads to a significant bias in our opinion, and we suggest that consumers disregard the results for that reason.

The clinical trial described the optimal frequency of a facial massage device to be 75 hertz (Hz), while we cannot identify the frequency used in the Solawave Wand.

Verdict: We do not consider this technology likely to be effective.

Tech #4 — Therapeutic Warmth

Solawave’s fourth claim is that applying heat directly to the skin, via their device, induces “therapeutic warmth” which can reduce the appearance of dark circles under the eye.

The brand fails to cite any clinical studies to support this claim, and instead cited an article in Vogue India when we initially published this article. Since we called out that questionable citation, the brand seems to have removed that citation from its website.

We can’t identify any clinical trials showing that warm temperatures from a medical device reduce the appearance of dark circles under the eye.

Just like there is no documented medical or cosmetic benefit to holding your face near a closed oven, we don’t believe there will be any benefit to the “therapeutic warmth” provided by Solawave.

Verdict: We do not consider this technology likely to be effective.

Solawave Face Mask Review

Solawave sells a red light therapy face mask, called Wrinkle Retreat Pro Face Mask, shown below:

image source: solawave.co

This mask uses red light at various wavelengths to support wrinkle reduction.

We consider this mask more likely to be effective for anti-aging than the Wand, because it utilizes various research-backed wavelengths of light (and contains more diodes).

The Wand only uses a 630 nm wavelength, whereas one of the wavelengths used in the Mask (830 nm) is also clinically shown to reduce wrinkle depth.

Solawave vs. NuFace

NuFace is another popular cosmetic device that uses microcurrent technology.

Consumers are often curious about which device is more likely to be effective, given that these are arguably the two market leaders.

In our opinion, Solawave is more likely to be effective than NuFace given that Solawave incorporates red light therapy, which has significant clinical backing.

NuFace only includes microcurrent technology, which we do not consider likely to have any aesthetic effects.

Red light therapy has other benefits outside of anti-aging, including a medically documented anti-inflammatory effect. For this reason, we also consider Solawave to be healthier and to have more potential secondary benefits than NuFace.

Our Clean Skincare Pick

MindBodyGreen Best Skin+ is our top anti-aging skin supplement.

It contains orange extract which is clinically shown to increase skin moisturization, skin elasticity and skin radiance.

This supplement also contains astaxanthin which is clinically shown to cause "wrinkle formation reduction."

This supplement is free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.

Solawave Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Non-invasive
• Unlikely to cause side effects
• Sleek branding and packaging
• Red light therapy can have anti-aging effects
• Much cheaper than traditional skincare on a per-use basis
  
• Better tech than NuFace

Cons:

• Doesn't appear to be clinically tested
• We're unconvinced that microcurrent tech will be effective
• We're unconvinced that facial massage will be effective
• We're unconvinced that "therapeutic warmth" will be effective

Conclusion

Solawave is a novel device, and it has two core benefits in our opinion.

First, it's non-invasive and seems unlikely to cause side effects. While we would prefer it to have been studied in a clinical trial published in a peer-reviewed journal, it seems unlikely that this device will harm the skin given the relatively low power levels used.

Second, the device uses red light therapy which is clinically shown to have an anti-aging effect.

We're unconvinced about the potential efficacy of three of the four technologies used by Solawave (microcurrent, facial massage, therapeutic warmth).

NuFace is another popular handheld device used for anti-aging, and we consider Solawave more likely to be effective after evaluating the technology used by both companies.

We consider Solawave's Face Mask likely to be effective for anti-aging, and to be a more potent option than the Wand.