No one’s skin is actually perfect, but K-beauty—which has become synonymous with ultra-clear “glass skin”—has given many hope that near-perfect complexions might just be a snail’s mucin trail away. And now, a new Korean trend is on the rise: It’s not a layering routine that you do at home, or anything that you do at home. Instead, it’s a professional treatment—performed at dermatologists’ and plastic surgeon’s offices—with the very futuristic sounding name of laser stacking.
If this is the first you’re hearing of laser stacking (congratulations for not spending time on TikTok!) it’s pretty much what it sounds like: “a strategy where multiple lasers are done in one session to address various skin concerns, such as pigmentation, texture, and laxity,” says Y. Claire Chang, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City.
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What is laser stacking?
The idea is that different lasers use different wavelengths to achieve different effects on the skin, explains Jennifer Levine, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York City who often travels to Korea. So by combining two or more lasers, you can address multiple issues (sun spots, crepiness, wrinkles) all at once. (Just keep in mind most lasers require multiple sessions, spaced weeks apart, so we’re not talking about one-and-done results here.)
Still, it sure sounds efficient. And most people do not have just one thing about their skin that bugs them or just one sign of aging, and laser stacking is meant to address that very fact—with a treatment protocol that’s deeply rooted in Korean culture, explains Dr. Chang, who visits Korea several times a year. In a lot of ways, laser stacking is the in-office equivalent of the 10-step skin care layering routines that K-Beauty has become so famous for. Just like fine-tuning your lineup of toners, serums, and moisturizers to achieve different skin goals with different ingredients, laser stacking helps address multiple concerns—and patients in Korea might book laser stacking appointments for preventative benefits, as well. “Clear, glowy skin is a goal among most Koreans, and Korean skin-care and treatments combine advanced technology with a focus on maintaining healthy, youthful skin,” says Dr. Chang.
Laser stacking is getting buzz in Korea and, increasingly, the US, but it is by no means a revolutionary approach in aesthetics—“I have been combining lasers and energy-based devices in a single patient visit for many years [as a way to] approach all the different layers of tissue, from deep layers to the more superficial,” says Dr. Levine. But the laser stacking trend, she says, is giving a name to it.
“Laser stacking makes a lot of sense to me—you can get more results and more kinds of results in a single session, with fewer trips into the [doctor’s] office, fewer days off of work, and fewer overall days spent blotchy or bruised or a little swollen,” says Laurel Naversen Geraghty, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Medford, Oregon. As for the price tag, “the overall cost of a combo treatment is going to be higher, because it involves more time and technologies,” she says, but you might get a little bit of a combo deal—“there is typically a lower overall cost than if you do those same two treatments on two separate dates.” (You can read more about pricing below.)
How do you know if laser stacking is right for you?
Treating rough and dull skin as well as fine lines and wrinkles are two arenas where laser stacking excels, says Anetta Rezko, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Rye and New York City and a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Rezko has been mixing and matching lasers for patients “for years,” she says, noting laser stacking is also called combination laser therapy or multimodal laser therapy (MLT). She likes combining fractional lasers (like Clear + Brilliant or Fraxel) with Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) to resurface the skin and target dark spots, for example, “leaving skin smoother, brighter, and more radiant,” she says.
