Why we ran this test
Lanveza has become the name most people land on first. The mask carries 2,346 reviews, the brand says it has served more than 450,000 customers, and the spec sheet is loud: 944 LEDs, nine wavelengths, three intensity levels. Prices run from £159.95 for the face mask to £249.95 for the face and neck kit. For a lot of buyers, that is where the search ends.
Then a facialist I trust mentioned the LumaWave by BondedBlush. It starts at £119 for the face mask, down from £179, runs seven colour modes across 288 medical-grade LEDs, covers face and neck for £159, and ships with a £30 mystery gift and a £50 gift card. I wanted to know whether the cheaper mask was a compromise, or whether the extra hardware on the Lanveza was buying anything my skin would actually notice.
So I ran both for eight weeks. Sessions logged, photos taken in the same light every Sunday, and a note each night on how the thing actually felt to wear. Here is what I found.
At a glance: LumaWave vs. Lanveza
The numbers side by side before I get into what it is like to live with them.
| Spec | LumaWave | Lanveza |
|---|---|---|
| Price (face) | £119, down from £179 | £159.95 for the face mask |
| Price (face + neck) | £159 for the face and neck version | £249.95 for the face and neck kit |
| LED Count | 288 medical-grade LEDs | 944 LEDs |
| Light Modes | 7 colour modes | 9 published wavelengths |
| Intensity Control | Single fixed level | 3 adjustable levels |
| Session Length | 10 to 15 minutes | 10 minutes, 3 to 5 times a week |
| Fit | Soft silicone, adjustable strap, built-in eye shields | Best-fit liquid silicone shell |
| Controls | One button and an auto-timer | Separate LED screen controller |
| In the Box | Mask, £30 mystery gift, £50 gift card | Mask and controller |
| Returns | 30 days from delivery | 90-day guarantee |
| Track Record | FDA-cleared, dermatologist-approved | 2,346 reviews, 450,000+ customers |
Green marks the better pick in each row. Lanveza takes the spec sheet. Where that does and does not matter is the rest of this piece.
Light coverage and wavelengths
This is the part that decides everything else. An LED mask is a light source strapped to your face, so the number of diodes, the wavelengths they emit, and how evenly they land are the whole product. Here is what each one is working with.
- Seven colour modes on 288 medical-grade LEDs: red 630nm, blue 460nm, green 520nm, yellow, purple, cyan and white full spectrum
- Red at 630nm is the mode doing the work on firmness and fine lines, and it is the one I reached for most nights
- Blue handled the occasional hormonal breakout, cyan was the one I used when my skin was reacting to cold weather
- One fixed intensity, which means nothing to configure and no way to talk yourself into overdoing it
- The £119 mask covers face and jawline; the £159 version extends the coverage down the neck
- Ten to fifteen minutes a session, short enough that I actually kept it up on tired nights
- 944 LEDs, more than three times the LumaWave count, spread across nine wavelengths
- Wavelengths are published in nanometres: red and near-infrared 630 to 1200, blue and purple 400 to 420, yellow and orange 590 to 595, green and cyan 490 to 530
- Three intensity levels, so you can start low if your skin is reactive and work up
- Deep near-infrared is the one thing here that the LumaWave has no equivalent for
- Ten-minute sessions, three to five times a week, with rest days built into the guidance
- Neck coverage needs the £249.95 face and neck kit, not the standard mask
Lanveza wins this round and it is not close on paper. Nearly a thousand diodes, nine wavelengths with the nanometre ranges published, and three intensity levels is simply more hardware than 288 LEDs across seven modes. What I could not detect after eight weeks was a difference in my skin that matched the difference in the spec sheet. Both masks put red and near-infrared on my face for ten minutes, and by week six my Sunday photos looked much the same either way. If you want the most light for your money, buy the Lanveza. If you want the light you will actually use, keep reading.
Fit, comfort and build
Both masks are silicone rather than the hard plastic shells that put people off LED therapy in the first place. The splits show up in how each one is controlled and how it sits once you are lying down.
- Soft flexible silicone that folds flat and sits close to the face without pressure points
- One button and an auto-timer, so a session is press it and forget it
- Adjustable strap kept it in place while I moved around the flat rather than lying still
- Built-in eye shields, which mattered more than I expected on the brighter modes
- Light enough that I twice forgot I had it on and nearly answered the door in it
- No screen and no menus, so there was nothing to learn on the first night
- Best-fit liquid silicone shell that moulds closely, and the fit is genuinely very good
- Separate LED screen controller with a timer and a charging indicator
- Three intensity levels give you real control if you want it, at the cost of one more decision a night
- The controller is another object to hold, put down, and eventually lose down the side of the sofa
- Lanveza asks for a 24-hour sensitivity test before first use, so night one is a patch test rather than a session
- The face and neck version arrives as a two-piece kit rather than a single mask
Both masks are comfortable, and anyone moving over from a rigid plastic shell will be happy with either. Lanveza's moulded fit is the better piece of engineering, and the intensity levels are a genuine feature if you have reactive skin and want to ease in. The LumaWave wins on friction. One button, a timer that runs itself, and eye shields already built in meant I put it on without thinking. Over eight weeks that is what decided how often each mask got used, and the simpler one got used more.
What a session actually feels like
A mask you dread putting on gets used twice and then lives in a drawer. I logged how each session felt: the weight, the heat, the brightness through closed eyes, and whether I could do anything else while wearing it.
- No warmth beyond a faint one after about eight minutes, and no stinging on any mode
- The eye shields block enough that the brighter modes never became uncomfortable
- Light enough on the face that I could read or scroll through the whole session
- The timer cuts out on its own, so I never had to watch the clock
- Ten minutes is short enough to slot in while the kettle boils, which is why it stuck
- Also no heat, and the moulded shell sits closer to the skin than the LumaWave does
- On the lowest of the three intensity levels it is very gentle, which is a real option to have
- On the highest level the light is noticeably brighter through closed lids than anything on the LumaWave
- The controller cable means you are a bit more tethered, so it is a lie-down session rather than a walk-around one
- Picking a wavelength and an intensity each time is a small thing that added up over eight weeks
Neither mask is unpleasant to wear, and neither one gets hot. The difference is what the session asks of you. The Lanveza gives you more control and rewards you for using it, which suits someone who likes the ritual. The LumaWave asks for one button press and then leaves you alone, and I could wear it while doing something else. My session count over eight weeks came out at 34 for the LumaWave and 26 for the Lanveza, and that gap was not deliberate.
Charging, cleaning and upkeep
Neither mask has a consumable, which already puts them ahead of most beauty devices. What is left is wiping silicone, keeping something charged, and storing a thing that does not fold like a flannel.
- A wipe with a damp cloth after each session is the whole cleaning routine
- Silicone folds flat, so it lives in a drawer rather than on a shelf
- Nothing to replace and nothing to reorder, so the £119 is the entire spend
- One button means there is no menu to reset and nothing to reconfigure between users
- The strap is the one part that will wear first, and it is the part you can adjust rather than replace
- Eight weeks in, the silicone showed no marking or discolouration from nightly use
- Same wipe-down routine, and the moulded silicone cleans just as easily
- The charging indicator on the controller is genuinely useful, and the LumaWave has no equivalent
- No consumables here either, so this is a one-time purchase as well
- The two-piece face and neck kit means two things to charge and store instead of one
- The controller is the part most likely to go missing, and it is not optional to operate the mask
- The shell holds its shape rather than folding, so it needs a bit more shelf space
This round is close to a draw, and that is worth saying plainly: neither mask has filters, cartridges, gels or refills, so what you pay on day one is what you pay in year five. Lanveza takes a small point for the charging indicator. LumaWave takes one back for folding flat and having one fewer object to keep track of. If you are used to devices that quietly bill you every month, both of these will be a relief.
Safety and what each brand can prove
Both brands lean on clinical language. We looked at what each one actually puts on the page behind it, and what they tell you not to do.
- Low-level LED light rather than heat or lasers, so there is no downtime after a session
- Described as FDA-cleared and dermatologist-approved on the product page
- BondedBlush is upfront that results are gradual, quoting 3 to 4 weeks of consistent use before firmness changes show
- The brand tells you to check with a doctor first if you use prescription retinoids, are photosensitive, or have a diagnosed skin condition
- The single fixed intensity removes the main way people irritate their skin with these devices, which is going too hard too early
- What is missing is any published percentage or study of its own, so you are taking the wavelength science on trust
- Publishes actual figures: 96% reported smoother lines and wrinkles, 95% reported firmer and smoother skin
- Quotes a study group of 25, with 24 of 25 reporting softer, smoother skin after 3 sessions a week for 4 weeks
- A group of 25 is a small sample, and the results are self-reported rather than clinician-assessed
- Also described as FDA-cleared and dermatologist-recommended, with the wavelength ranges published in nanometres
- Clear contraindications listed: not for use during pregnancy, when planning pregnancy, or while breastfeeding
- Asks for a 24-hour sensitivity test before the first session, which is the more cautious instruction of the two
Lanveza is the more transparent of the two and takes this round. It publishes its wavelength ranges, its percentages, its sample size, and its contraindications, and it asks you to patch test first. Read the small print though: 24 of 25 people is a small, self-reported group, not a clinical trial, and a headline of 96% resting on 25 participants is a thinner number than it looks. LumaWave publishes less, which is its own kind of problem, but it also makes fewer specific promises. If published numbers are what decide it for you, Lanveza gives you more to read.
Guarantee and returns
A return window is the cheapest signal you get about how confident a company is. On a device that takes weeks to show results, it also decides whether you can actually test the claim.
- Returns accepted within 30 days of delivery if you are not satisfied or the mask arrives damaged
- Every order ships with a £30 mystery gift and a £50 gift card, which you keep
- The policy is written plainly, with no separate claim process to work through
- Thirty days is tight against the brand’s own 3 to 4 week timeline for visible change, which is the real catch here
- 90-day guarantee, three times the LumaWave window and the better one by a wide margin
- Ninety days covers the full 4 to 6 week build-up the brand recommends, with room to decide afterwards
- Free express UK delivery in 2 to 3 days, so the clock starts quickly
- The two-piece face and neck kit means more to pack up if you do send it back
Lanveza wins this one outright and it is the strongest argument in its favour. Ninety days is long enough to run the full protocol, see whether your skin responds, and still send it back. LumaWave’s 30 days sits awkwardly against its own advice that firmness takes 3 to 4 weeks, so you are deciding at roughly the moment results are meant to start. If you are unsure whether LED therapy works for you at all, the longer window is worth real money.
What each mask actually costs you
Neither of these masks has a consumable, so this is the rare beauty-device comparison where the sticker price is the whole story. Below is like-for-like: the face and neck configuration from each brand, plotted across five years.
Flat lines, on purpose. There are no filters, cartridges or gels on either mask, so what you pay on day one is what you pay in year five. Matched on coverage, the LumaWave face and neck version is £159 and the Lanveza face and neck kit is £249.95, a gap of £90.95. On the face-only versions it is £119 against £159.95, a gap of £40.95. Lanveza has the bigger spec sheet. It also asks you for between 34% and 57% more money, depending on which pair you compare.
Price and what you get in the box
Here is what actually lands on your doorstep for the money, ticks and crosses assigned honestly on both sides.
- ✅ 288 medical-grade LEDs across 7 colour modes, from red at 630nm to white full spectrum
- ✅ Soft flexible silicone with built-in eye shields and an adjustable strap
- ✅ One button and an auto-timer, with nothing to set up on the first night
- ✅ Face version £119, face and neck version £159
- ✅ Ten to fifteen minute sessions with no heat and no downtime
- ✅ A £30 mystery gift and a £50 gift card included with every order
- ✅ No filters, refills or replacement parts to buy, ever
- ✅ 1200mAh battery giving 3 to 4 hours of wireless use per charge
- ❌ No published study data or percentages of its own
- ❌ Single fixed intensity, so no way to dial the light up or down
- ❌ 30-day returns, which is tight against its own 3 to 4 week results timeline
- ✅ 944 LEDs across 9 published wavelengths, the deepest spec sheet here
- ✅ Three adjustable intensity levels, useful if your skin is reactive
- ✅ 90-day guarantee, long enough to run the full 4 to 6 week protocol
- ✅ Best-fit liquid silicone shell that moulds closely to the face
- ✅ Publishes its wavelength ranges in nanometres and its own study figures
- ✅ LED screen controller with a timer and a charging indicator
- ✅ Free express UK delivery in 2 to 3 days
- ✅ 2,346 reviews and a claimed 450,000+ customers behind it
- ❌ Nothing included beyond the mask and its controller
- ❌ A 24-hour patch test is required before the first session
- ❌ £159.95 to £249.95, the more expensive mask at every configuration
Count the ticks and it is closer than the price gap suggests. Lanveza gives you more hardware, more data and a far better guarantee. LumaWave gives you the same nightly ten minutes for £40.95 to £90.95 less, with £80 of extras in the box and nothing to learn. Buy on the guarantee if you are not sure LED therapy suits you. Buy on the price if you already know it does.