Beauty 101: I Tried 5 Different Pimple Patches, These Are The Best

My acne has been on point lately... and obviously not in a good way. I think we can thank masks for that (wear your mask, IDC about your pimples) but also I've been suffering from acne for a little bit. It's nothing outrageous, just a few chin breakouts during that time of the month and some random cheek & forehead breakouts from time to time. 

I never suffered badly from acne as a teenager and I wouldn't say what I have now is bad either, but I still don't like it! I still want it to go away. As a beauty product hoarder, I've tried a lot of different items to get rid of these pimples: some work and some don't. I'm also a sucker for innovation -- I think when companies start new trends and release different products we've never seen before is insanely cool. I'm truly a marketer's dream.

A new beauty product that has recently been making waves are pimple patches. It might've been last year that I saw the first kinds and mostly from Asian beauty brands (they are the trendsetters, always) and I thought the idea was interesting: a clear sticker that is infused with ingredients to attack a pimple on sight, even before it comes to a head. You could wear it during the day, it wasn't messy like a cream and it was as targeted as you could possibly get.

Over the course of the past 10 months, I've tested a handful of different brands patches -- some I bought and some were sent to me. I have my favorites and the ones I repurchased, and I have ones that are just ok. 

I will say that I do not have before & after photos -- I might eventually update this post with them but right now I don't because I'm just not comfortable with my acne face. Also, this sounds super gross but I need to get it out of the way: pimple patches are so satisfying. I do NOT like watching pimple popping videos, I don't understand how people pop other people's pimples and I get squeamish watching others pick their face. However, I love popping my own pimples, and seeing all the gunk come out of your face on the other side of an acne patch is truly satisfying.... gross but satisfying. 

Let's get into the patches! 

*For reference, I have dry, very sensitive skin and none of these patches truly irritated my skin. 

The Best Acne Patches on the Market

Peach Slices Acne Dots

We're going to start off on a high note. The Peach Slices Acne Spot Dots are great patches and a great price (under $5 on Ulta's website).  I picked them up on a whim after feeling hopeless that nothing was working. I have heard of the brand Peach Slices before (it's a subset of Peach & Lily) so I was intrigued. Also, since K-beauty started the acne patch trend, I trusted that these were a good choice. When I applied these patches at night and woke up in the morning, I was shocked. My breakout was significantly smaller and the patch showed that impurities and bacteria were pulled out of the blemish. Like most of the other patches on this list, this pack comes in three different sizes which are perfect. 

After one use, my blemish was smaller, less red, and just in better overall condition. These are definitely my favorite patches and I actually just purchased my 2nd pack.

Cos Rx Acne Pimple Master Patch 

I received these Cos Rx patches in PR and truly fell in love with them. I appreciate that they come in different sizes so I can target bigger and smaller breakouts more easily. These are waterproof, encourage skin's hydration while you sleep, and protect blemishes from bacteria. In my opinion, that is all true! These patches get the job done though not as fast as the Peach Slices one. However, I do alternate between the two on most weeks. 

Skyn Iceland Blemish Dots

Skyn Iceland has been a favorite brand of mine for years and their blemish dots were the first pimple patches I used. At the time, I loved them; they weren't super strong and after a few days of using them, they got the job done. It did take at least 4 days for me to notice a difference I liked them at the time but there are others on this list that I prefer. They also are the most expensive on the list ($22)so it's probably ok to skip these! 

Hero Cosmetics Mighty Patch

Hero Cosmetics is becoming one of my favorite brands in terms of branding. They've positioned themselves as acne experts and I love that. They've pivoted their product assortment and language to discuss maskne and even put together maskne kits. I received their Mighty Patch stickers in PR and was very excited to try them out. I think these are my 2nd favorites behind Peach Slices. 

They work FAST, like within hours my pimple is significantly smaller and less red. These patches also pull so much out of a blemish. TMI but I was picking my face to the point where it was bleeding and this patch actually pulled out blood and scabbiness from my face. It was magical and horrible at the same time. 

However, I think you can overdo it with these -- they are stronger than the others and at some point, I think they can do more harm than good. After 2-3 days of using this, I didn't notice much difference because my skin almost got used to them. Going forward, I'm only going to use these for the most stubborn and gross breakouts. These are the big guns! 

Zitsticka Killa Patches

I think Zitsticka is probably the most well-known acne patch brand because it's literally in their name -- zit stickers. However, I hated these. I'm sorry. I try not to be overly negative when it comes to products but these didn't work for me and I almost feel like they made my acne worse. They stung my skin when I applied them and just did nothing. I went through an entire box and my pimples were still there. Skip this and purchase something else. 

In conclusion, my top three, in order are: Peach Slices, Hero Cosmetics, and then Cos Rx. 

Have you tried any of these acne patches?

xoxo
B