All About Pimple Patches & How to Use Them

Hi Beauties! 💜

Let’s face it – acne, pimples and breakouts are NOT a good time, but it’s still a part of life for just about everyone on the planet (yup, probably even Beyoncé). Luckily, the genius K-beauty skincare developers have heard our cries, and they’ve come through to quite literally patch up all our problems!

Pimple patches are yet another one of the more innovative products to have come out of K-beauty. They have been highly praised and loved for their user-friendliness, practicality, and most importantly, effectiveness. They’re a great spot treatment alternative, and have been one of the top cult-favourite K-beauty products for over 10 years.

Intrigued? Keep reading!!

WAIT, WAIT - FIRST OF ALL, WHAT ARE THEY?!

Pimple patches are made of hydrocolloid, which is a transparent gel-like material that has the ability to attract moisture and draw out all the impurities from your pimple. It is then able to trap those impurities in its material away from your skin, which you will be able to physically see in the form of a white pod on your patch after a few hours (it can be either gross or satisfying, depending on the type of person you are 😂). Hydrocolloid dressings were originally, and are typically, used for medical purposes to treat wounds. Since an open pimple is essentially a tiny wound, it makes perfect sense to slap a patch over it! The impurities are extracted without any trauma (e.g. squeezing with fingers) and are able to heal faster as a result.

THAT SOUNDS AMAZING 😍! HOW AND WHEN SHOULD I USE THEM?

The most common and effective way to use a pimple patch Is to wait until your pimple becomes “ripe” and is at a head on the surface. After cleansing, apply it on your clean and dry face, so that it’s able to adhere well to your face, and then continue on with the rest of your skincare. Some people find that the pimple needs to be popped with a small opening first, which you can carefully do with a needle, while others find that it works just as fine without having to do so. 

You want to replace them with new ones after keeping them on for no longer than 12 hours, and repeating until it starts to heal, which can take a few days. The patch helps it to heal much faster by keeping it in a moist environment, as well as creating a protective barrier from dirt, chemicals, pollution and fingers. Every time you take off the patch, you’ll notice that the blemish is noticeably flatter and calmer. 

However, science and technology never stops! The pimple patch has been further developed, and there are now more types of patches available to match specific needs. There are now patches that are infused with ingredients such as salicylic acid, tea tree oil or centella to further fight the acne or calm it down. “Micro-dart /micro-needle” patches have also entered the chat, which feature active ingredient-infused micro-darts that deliver the benefits deeper into the skin. For this purpose, micro-dart patches are most recommended to treat pimples that are also deeper within the skin, such as cystic or hormonal acne.

OMG I NEED IT 😱! HOW CAN I GET IT?

At HIKOCO, we currently offer three types of acne patches from COSRX and one from Some By Mi for you to try out 💕.

The Acne Pimple Master Patch is one of the OG pimple patches. It is also one of COSRX’s top-selling products of all time! It comes with three different sizes, and is best to use overnight.

The Clear Fit Master Patch features a thinner outer edge and a matte finish, which makes it almost invisible and much more unnoticeable on the skin. It’s perfect for day-time use under makeup!

The AC Collection Acne Patch is the most recent release from COSRX, and is infused with centella asiatica extract to help calm and heal the blemish faster. It comes in three different oval-shaped sizes.

And the latest addition to HIKOCO is the Some by Mi 30 Days Miracle Clear Spot Patch! This one's uniquely infused with Salicylic Acid, Tea Tree Oil and other key ingredients to help treat and soothe the spot at the same time.

That’s it! Pimples can be stressful, but I hope this helped you understand how these genius products work better, so that they can be vanished out of existence faster. 

Thanks for reading, Beauties!