Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase through one of these links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. I personally use the Hooga ULTRA line, and I only recommend products I believe are worth considering.
Men spend an incredible amount of time worrying about things they cannot easily change.
Their height. Their jawline. Their hairline. Whether they are naturally photogenic. Whether they look as good as the other men they are competing with on dating apps.
Meanwhile, a lot of men completely ignore something women are looking directly at every time they see their face:
Their skin.
You do not need perfect skin.
You do not need a twelve step skincare routine.
And you definitely do not need to transform your bathroom into the men's section of Sephora.
But healthy looking, well cared for skin can make a surprisingly large difference in your overall appearance.
It can make you look healthier, fresher, more rested, better groomed, and younger.
And when you are competing on dating apps, where women are making decisions based on a handful of photographs, seemingly small improvements in your appearance can have a much bigger impact than you think.
That brings me to something more men are starting to hear about:
Red light therapy.
Is it legitimate?
Is it another expensive wellness trend?
Can it actually improve the way your skin looks?
And is it worth spending money on a red light panel?
The answer is more interesting than you might think.
What Exactly Is Red Light Therapy?
Red light therapy falls under the broader category of photobiomodulation, often abbreviated as PBM.
It uses specific wavelengths of visible red light and, in many devices, near infrared light.
Photobiomodulation has been studied for a wide range of applications involving skin, muscles, exercise recovery, tissue repair, and pain. The results depend heavily on factors such as wavelength, dose, treatment time, distance, and the particular condition being studied.
This is not a tanning bed.
Red light therapy does not work by exposing your skin to ultraviolet light or by giving you a tan.
Instead, the body is exposed to specific wavelengths of red and near infrared light for controlled periods of time.
And some of the research on skin is genuinely interesting.
Can Red Light Therapy Actually Make Your Skin Look Better?
There is legitimate clinical research behind red light therapy for skin rejuvenation.
In one randomized controlled trial, treatment with 660 nm red light significantly reduced wrinkle volume around the eyes after a series of treatments.
A 2025 randomized, sham controlled clinical trial using 660 nm LED light also found improvements in certain measurements of facial wrinkles compared with a sham treatment.
Another 2025 study evaluated a home device combining 630 nm red light with 850 nm near infrared light and reported improvements in measures of skin rejuvenation, with the treatment described as well tolerated in the study population.
Does this mean you sit in front of a red light for a few days and wake up looking ten years younger?
No.
If someone promises you that, they are overselling it.
But there is enough actual research behind photobiomodulation and skin appearance that I think it deserves more attention than a lot of the ridiculous things people spend money on trying to look better.
Why Should Men Care About Their Skin When It Comes to Dating?
Because attraction is not determined by one feature.
Women are taking in your entire presentation.
Your haircut.
Your facial hair.
Your teeth.
Your clothes.
Your posture.
Your expression.
Your scent.
Your grooming.
Your skin.
How healthy you look.
How well you appear to take care of yourself.
A man can have naturally attractive facial features and still make himself considerably less attractive through poor grooming and presentation.
The opposite is also true.
A man does not have to look like a model to dramatically improve the way he presents himself.
That is what I mean when I talk about a male glow up.
It is not about turning yourself into somebody else.
It is about taking what you already have and presenting it at its absolute best.
Your skin is part of that.
Dating Apps Make Your Appearance Even More Important
In real life, a woman gets a tremendous amount of information about you.
She hears your voice.
She sees the way you move.
She experiences your personality.
She notices your confidence, humor, body language, energy, and the way you interact with other people.
On a dating app, she does not have any of that yet.
She has photographs.
That means your appearance and presentation have to do an enormous amount of work before your personality ever gets a chance.
A better haircut can matter.
A properly groomed beard can matter.
Better fitting clothes can matter.
Good lighting can matter.
A genuine smile can matter.
And yes, healthier looking skin can matter.
If your photos make you look exhausted, poorly groomed, considerably older than you really are, or as though you simply do not take care of yourself, a woman cannot know that the reality is different.
She can only evaluate what you showed her.
Before You Buy a Red Light Panel, Fix the Basics
I want to make one thing very clear.
If you wash your face with whatever bar of soap happens to be sitting in the shower, never moisturize, and spend hours in direct sun with no sunscreen, buying an expensive red light panel is not where I would start.
Take care of the basics first.
You do not need seventeen products.
For most men, simply developing a basic skincare routine is already an improvement.
Morning
Gentle facial cleanser
Moisturizer
Broad spectrum SPF 30 or higher
Evening
Gentle facial cleanser
Moisturizer
Simple.
Something you will actually continue doing is far better than a complicated routine you abandon four days later.
Once you have the basics covered, then adding something like red light therapy becomes much more interesting.
And Here Is Why I Prefer a Panel
A red light panel is not something you can only use on your face.
That is one of the reasons I personally find panels more appealing than buying a device that has one tiny cosmetic purpose.
You may originally become interested because you want your skin to look better.
But red and near infrared photobiomodulation have also been studied for muscle soreness, exercise recovery, physical performance, tissue repair, and some forms of musculoskeletal pain.
So suddenly you have something that can potentially fit into your grooming routine and your fitness and recovery routine.
That is a much more useful purchase to me.
Which Hooga ULTRA Should You Buy?
This depends on how you plan to use it.
You do not necessarily need to buy the biggest panel available.
But I would think beyond your face when choosing a size.
Hooga ULTRA360
The ULTRA360 is the compact, targeted panel in the line.
Hooga currently lists it with 72 quad chip LEDs and all four ULTRA wavelengths, 630, 660, 810, and 850 nm. It has a built in tabletop stand, making it particularly convenient for your face, neck, shoulders, joints, or other targeted areas.
If you mainly want red light for your face and a few targeted areas of your body, this is where I would start in the ULTRA line.
Hooga ULTRA750
If you want more coverage without jumping all the way to a large panel, the ULTRA750 gives you a larger treatment area while retaining the ULTRA series' four wavelength design.
For someone who wants to use red light on his skin but also regularly target shoulders, back, legs, or larger muscle groups, having more panel area can be extremely convenient.
Hooga ULTRA1500
This is where the setup starts making a lot more sense for someone who knows he wants substantial body coverage.
The ULTRA1500 is considerably taller than the smaller panels, which makes it more practical if you are regularly using red and near infrared light on larger areas rather than only your face.
If you are serious about using it for both appearance and a broader workout or recovery routine, this is one I would seriously consider.
Hooga ULTRA4500
And then there is the large full body option.
If you want maximum coverage and have the room and budget for a much larger setup, the ULTRA4500 is Hooga's full body panel in the current ULTRA lineup.
Hooga's current comparison chart lists ULTRA models ranging from the compact 360 through the 750 and 1500 to the 4500, with progressively greater panel dimensions and coverage.
Not Sure Which Size?
If you are mainly interested in your face and targeted areas, look at the ULTRA360.
If you want more convenient coverage of larger muscle groups, look at the ULTRA750.
If you want significant body coverage and expect to use it regularly for both appearance and recovery, look at the ULTRA1500.
If you want a large full body setup, look at the ULTRA4500.
COMPARE ALL HOOGA ULTRA PANELS →
Why I Like the Four Wavelength Setup
Different wavelengths penetrate tissue differently, which is one reason red light devices often combine visible red light with near infrared light.
The ULTRA line combines 630 and 660 nm red wavelengths with 810 and 850 nm near infrared wavelengths rather than limiting the panel to only one red and one near infrared wavelength.
For somebody buying one panel for multiple purposes, I like having that flexibility.
You can use the same panel as part of your skincare routine and then turn around and position it toward your shoulders, legs, back, or another area after training.
That versatility is what makes a good panel attractive to me.
Do Not Assume More Is Better
This is important.
If ten minutes is useful, that does not automatically mean thirty minutes must be three times as useful.
Photobiomodulation depends on the wavelength, power, dose, distance, treatment duration, and the tissue being targeted.
Follow the manufacturer's directions for the specific panel you purchase.
Hooga's current ULTRA360 guidance, for example, recommends using the device from 6 to 18 inches away with sessions ranging from 2 to 15 minutes depending on distance and intended use.
Do not invent an extreme protocol because someone on social media told you more light must always be better.
Red Light Therapy Will Not Fix Everything Else You Are Doing Wrong
I would not buy an expensive red light panel and then completely ignore the rest of your appearance.
If you want to look better, start with the things you can control.
Get a haircut that suits your face.
Keep your facial hair intentional.
Take care of your teeth.
Keep your nails clean.
Use deodorant.
Do not drown yourself in cologne but wear it.
Wear clothes that fit properly.
Take care of your skin.
Exercise.
Sleep.
And take better photographs.
Then start adding things such as red light therapy.
A premium red light panel cannot rescue a dating profile filled with terrible bathroom selfies.
The Part Men Often Miss
Taking care of your appearance is not shallow.
It is presentation.
You already understand this everywhere else in life.
You would not show up to an important job interview looking like you slept in your clothes and then complain that the employer should have focused entirely on your personality.
You would not put a house on the market without cleaning it and expect buyers to ignore the presentation because the plumbing is excellent.
Dating is not magically exempt from human behavior.
Before a woman knows that you are funny, loyal, intelligent, generous, successful, interesting, emotionally stable, or amazing in a relationship, she sees you.
And on a dating app, she sees a photograph of you.
Your grooming, skin, hair, clothes, expression, and photographs are already communicating something before you ever get the chance to say hello.
You cannot control every woman's type.
You cannot force attraction.
You cannot make every woman want you.
But you absolutely can control whether she is seeing the best version of you.
That is the entire point of a glow up.
So, Is Red Light Therapy Worth It?
If you are doing absolutely nothing to take care of yourself right now, I would start with the obvious things first.
Buy a decent cleanser.
Use moisturizer.
Wear sunscreen.
Get a good haircut.
Clean up your facial hair.
Take better photographs.
Those changes come first.
But if you already take reasonable care of yourself and you want to take your appearance another step further, red light therapy is one of the more interesting additions because there is genuine research behind photobiomodulation and skin rejuvenation.
And unlike a product that only has one cosmetic purpose, a good panel can also become part of your routine for the gym, muscle soreness, exercise recovery, and targeted body areas.
That versatility is a large part of why I personally use Hooga's ULTRA line.
If I am going to spend the money and make something part of my routine, I want something I can use for more than one reason.
Your Glow Up Is Bigger Than Skincare
Here is the last thing I want men to understand.
If you are barely getting matches, getting matches but not dates, or wondering why your dating profile is not getting the reaction you expected, the problem may have absolutely nothing to do with whether you are attractive enough.
Sometimes it is your pictures.
Sometimes it is your grooming.
Sometimes it is your clothes.
Sometimes it is your profile.
Sometimes it is the way you message women.
Sometimes it is the type of women you are approaching.
And sometimes you are unknowingly presenting yourself completely differently than you think you are.
You look at your dating profile through a man's eyes.
I look at it through a woman's.
And sometimes that is exactly the perspective you have been missing.
Not getting the results you want with women?
Tell me what is happening.
In a private 15 minute Clarity Call, I can help you identify what is going wrong and tell you what I would change.
15 Minutes. $37. Private and Judgment Free.