Yahoo Lifestyle Scouted: I Tried Bon Charge’s $2,000 Red Light Therapy Blanket—Here Are My Thoughts
Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.
Red light therapy is one of wellness’ trendiest, buzziest modalities at the moment, but unlike a lot of viral products, it’s the furthest thing from a gimmick or flash-in-the-pan trend. In fact, the multi-faceted benefits of red light therapy to humans are supported by decades of scientifically significant research, thanks to early experiments conducted by NASA in the ’80s and ’90s. From accelerated wound healing to reducing fine lines and wrinkles, red light therapy has a lot to offer. Red light therapy face masks have been clinically proven to address a number of skincare issues due to their regenerative and collagen-boosting properties, but what if you could extend those facial benefits to the entire body?
Thanks to Bon Charge, you can. Bon Charge’s Red Light Therapy Blanket is basically like a full-body LED mask. Imagine a fancy sleeping bag lined with 660nm red light and 850nm near-infrared light (NIR) inside. If you’ve ever used an infrared sauna blanket, this is a similar design, but its operation doesn’t employ heat, so you will not be sweating (or, at least, not from any artificial heat sources).
As I’ve enthusiastically told anyone interested, uninterested, or just standing nearby or moving too slow to escape my spiel, some of the myriad benefits of red light therapy include improved recovery post-workout, improved sleep, increased energy production, glowing skin, and even weight management. “For decades, [light] has been researched by scientists who discovered that light in a narrow band of red and near-infrared can safely produce health benefits. The authors of thousands of published peer-reviewed papers believe that this band of light stimulates the mitochondria in your cells to create the energy we need,” Dr. Sarah de la Torre, double board-certified functional medicine practitioner, previously told The Daily Beast. “Light energy is now being used in various health applications—from wrinkle reduction, hair growth, and wound healing to a reduction of pain and inflammation, as well as an improvement in vaginal wellness and perineal recovery after childbirth,” Dr. de la Torre said.
My primary goals in using red light therapy are to improve my skin (lifting redness, softening fine lines, and preventing sagging), reduce inflammation, and accelerate recovery post-workout. Red light therapy sessions in fitness and wellness studios are usually very pricey, and while I love my red light therapy face mask lineup (Omnilux and CurrentBody’s are my current go-to’s), they obviously only offer benefits to the face. So naturally, when I got the opportunity to try a sample of Bon Charge’s Red Light Therapy Blanket, I was and unpacked it before the delivery driver made it back to his truck.
My biohacking tech lineup is growing on the daily—I’ve tried several infrared sauna blankets and domes, along with compression boots and vibration (all of which I love and use at least a few times a week). All that was missing was my championed red light modality. I’ve been using the blanket for over a month, and while it’s certainly a budget killer, spoiler alert, I am obsessed with it. Read below for my full, no details spared, review.
The red light therapy blanket, while admittedly quite heavy and a little unwieldy, requires basically zero installation or setup. It’s on the rigid side of things, so keep that in mind when considering storage options; you won’t fold it up and throw it in your home’s comically full closet or corner of unorganized shame. In terms of using the actual red light tech, it couldn’t be more fool-proof. You can just slide in like you would into a sleeping bag and power it on with the control. But, despite being so user-friendly, it might be truly idiot-proof this is one powerful red light device. I love that this device can be unzipped and used as two separate mats with a partner if you so choose—though I prefer to keep my sessions solo as a self-care, mindfulness, relaxation, and generally vibing ritual.
On my first use, I was extremely sore from an intense leg-day workout. One of the fitness instructors at my gym mentioned that she absolutely swears by red light therapy to accelerate recovery and prevent/reduce post-exercise pains, aches, and soreness. It turned out, she was spot on. After a few hours of lying in the blanket for 20-minute intervals (the manufacturer’s recommended time is between five and 20 minutes), I felt significantly better and was able to make my workout the following day despite severe ‘jelly legs’ when I first laid down.
Now that I’ve been using the blanket consistently for over a month, I’ve noticed how much the quality and duration of my sleep have improved. In fact, I have the Oura Ring and Eight Sleep stats and graphs to prove it. Unsurprisingly, I’ve also noticed my skin looks more even and less flaky. I look forward to seeing an improvement in the discoloration, fine lines, and crepey skin on my neck and decolletage as I continue to use it.
