How does the sauna give you
smoother looking skin?
The study wasn't trying to sell you anything. It was showing what happens when skin gets the same red and near-infrared light — consistently — over time.
If you're looking at red light because you want smoother, healthier-looking skin, there's one study worth knowing about.
It looked at red and near-infrared LED light for skin texture, roughness, and fine lines.[1] The people in the study did not use it once and then judge it from there. They went through a course of treatments, using the same kind of light over time. That's the part that matters if you're thinking about red light for your own routine.
What the study actually found[1]
By the end, about 90% of patients noticed softer skin texture, reduced roughness, and improvement in fine lines. That's not a marginal result. It's the kind of number that makes you pay attention to the mechanism — not just the outcome.
noticed softer skin texture, reduced roughness, and improvement in fine lines — across a course of red & near-infrared light treatments
The three markers measured across the treatment course
The study was not really showing "try red light once and see what happens." It was showing what happened when the skin kept getting the same red and near-infrared light exposure across a treatment course.[1] Consistency is just as important as the light itself.
How red light actually reaches the skin layers
Not all light penetrates the same way. The reason 660nm and 850nm are the wavelengths studied for skin is that they sit in the optical window — the range where light passes through the outer layers and reaches the dermis where collagen is produced.
Illustrative cross-section. Animated rays show relative penetration depth of each wavelength.
Illustrative. Based on published ranges from photobiomodulation research.
Sweat isn't a side effect. It's part of the mechanism.
When you're in a sauna, your skin isn't passive. Sweating opens pores, flushes debris from the follicle, and increases surface blood flow[2] — which means the skin receiving the red light is already in a more receptive, active state than skin at rest.
This is why the sauna environment matters. It's not just delivering light to dry, resting skin. It's delivering light to warm, flushed, open-pored skin — the same conditions that make topical skincare more effective. The heat creates the environment. The light does the work.
"The combination of infrared heat and photobiomodulation creates a synergistic environment — improved circulation delivers the energy substrates that fibroblasts need to synthesize collagen."
Avci et al., Seminars in Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery, 2013.[3]What happens to your skin during a session
Each session creates a sequence. The heat opens the pathway. The light does the cellular work. The cool-down consolidates the response. Repeat that sequence consistently and you're building the same treatment course the study was measuring.
Heat & Sweat
Red Light Penetrates
Collagen Synthesis
Cool-down & Repair
The routine is the result
The study used a course of treatments. Not one session.[1] The skin's collagen response builds with repetition[4] — each session adds to the last. That's what makes a home sauna with built-in red light panels different from a one-off treatment at a clinic.
When it's in your home, it's easy to make it part of your weekly routine — the same way you would with skincare you already use. If it only happens once in a while, the routine falls apart. That makes the way you use red light just as important as the light itself.
Illustrative. Based on published treatment course data from photobiomodulation skin studies.
Red light alone. Sauna alone. Or both.
Most people think of red light and sauna as separate tools. They work through different mechanisms but they reinforce each other — the heat creates the circulatory environment that makes the light more effective, and the light drives the cellular response that the heat alone can't trigger.
Red light alone
Stimulates fibroblasts. Limited by resting circulation — nutrient delivery is baseline.
Sauna heat alone
Opens pores, increases blood flow, flushes skin. No photobiomodulation signal to fibroblasts.
Red light + infrared heat (SaunaBox)
Elevated circulation delivers more energy substrates to fibroblasts receiving the light signal. Both mechanisms active simultaneously.
Collagen synthesis
Fibroblasts in the dermis respond to 660nm and 850nm by increasing collagen and elastin production.
Reduced roughness
Surface texture smooths as cell turnover accelerates and the extracellular matrix reorganizes.
Fine line improvement
Increased collagen density fills the dermis from below, reducing the appearance of fine lines over time.
Pore clarity
Sweat-induced flushing combined with anti-inflammatory light reduces congestion and pore appearance.
The frequency detail that matters most
The study found something specific about frequency.[1] It wasn't just about using red light — it was about how often. The data pointed to a clear dose-response relationship.
That's the part that matters if you're thinking about red light for your own routine. If it only happens once in a while, it's easy for the routine to fall apart. The same way it would with skincare you already use.
That is where SaunaBox Pulse Pro and Solara fit in.
They give you access to red and near-infrared light at home, so you're not trying to build a skin routine around appointments, travel, or someone else's schedule. For smoother texture, roughness, and fine lines, the study points to something simple: consistent exposure to the right wavelengths, in an environment that makes the skin receptive.
That's exactly what a SaunaBox session delivers — every time.
Start Your Red Light Routine At Home
The missing piece for smoother skin
Red light + infrared heat. Consistently. At home.
Shop SaunaBoxThe SaunaBox lineup
Both 660nm red light and 850nm near-infrared. Built in.
Next evolution in portable infrared saunas. 320 total LEDs — 660nm red light and 850nm near-infrared. Infrared heat up to 160°F. The full combination in one session.
View Pulse PRO
Full-spectrum infrared wooden sauna. Medical-grade heat up to 160°F. Traditional Finnish sauna experience at home with full-spectrum infrared panels.
View Solara
Our traditional Finnish dry sauna. Authentic heat experience with modern engineering and premium cedar construction.
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- Wunsch A, Matuschka K. A controlled trial to determine the efficacy of red and near-infrared light treatment in patient satisfaction, reduction of fine lines, wrinkles, skin roughness, and intradermal collagen density increase. Photomedicine and Laser Surgery. 2014;32(2):93–100. PubMed 24286286
- Sato K, et al. Functional and morphological changes in eccrine sweat glands with heat acclimation. Journal of Applied Physiology. 1990;69(1):232–236. PubMed 2394648
- Avci P, et al. Low-level laser (light) therapy (LLLT) in skin: stimulating, healing, restoring. Seminars in Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery. 2013;32(1):41–52. PubMed 24049929
- 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: clinical correlation with a single-blinded randomized controlled trial. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 2009;129(12):2751–2759. PubMed 19536177