Over the past two years, many of us have been staring at screens more regularly than usual as we have worked and socialised at home more often, which has led to concerns that our amount of screen time is affecting our skin.
This concern is such that streaming personality Valkyrae has launched a skincare range that claims to use an antioxidant ingredient to protect from “blue light pollution” that it claims affects healthy skin.
However, the range has received considerable criticism within both the skincare and video game communities for being misleading in its advertising and greatly overstating the effects of blue light exposure on the skin.
Blue light, a type of colour on the visible light spectrum, is associated with eye strain and disruptions to our body clocks, however, the effects on the body are often vastly overstated.
According to information from the American Association of Opthalamy, artificial blue light can cause temporary digital eye strain although there is little evidence that it can cause permanent eye damage, it can affect our sleep cycle, which in turn can affect our skin, but does it directly caused damage?
No is the answer, according to evidence published by skincare manufacturer Beiersdorf, which found that an entire week spent in front of a monitor would be the same as a minute spent outside on a sunny day in terms of blue light exposure.
According to Dot Esports, whilst Valkyrae received positive attention for the launch of RFLCT, others were harshly critical of the streamer and the claims made by the products, causing her to post a voice message saying she would address the concerns on a YouTube stream.
A fellow streamer, 39Daph, pointed out that the products would be fine regardless since they contain glycolic acid and other products that are good for skin and only the blue light claims need to be fixed.
Part of the concern comes from the misleading nature of the advertising, especially given the young age of Valkyrae’s fanbase, with some going as far as to call it a scam.
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