As a beauty journalist, I have endless skincare buzzwords and wellness conspiracy theories competing for space in my brain. When I noticed “blue light” cropping up in skincare discourse years ago, I was sceptical. The notion that light from our phones and laptops was seeping into our skin had a ring of marketing hype.

Our screen-heavy lifestyles are blamed for everything from dehydrated skin and dark circles, to neck sagging and crinkling from poor posture. But according to experts, screen time may cause more than dry skin. Blue light may not cause cancer, but it can change your skin.

Credit: iStock Do we need a digital detox or is blue light a beauty industry bogeyman? What is blue light? Sydney dermatologist Dr John Sullivan says that while blue light won’t cause cancer, it’s no friend to our skin either, having been linked to pigmentation, wrinkles and skin laxity. “While blue light has shorter wavelengths, the photons in blue light have higher energy, so it has the potential to do more damage in the upper layers of the skin,” he says. The strongest source of blue light is the sun, but blue light also emanates from phones and laptops, televisions and hideous overhead office lighting.

Blue light can come from phones and laptops. Credit: Getty Why are skin experts concerned? Blue light from screens is less potent than blue light from the sun, but our exposure to this artificial light has dramatically increased..