COSRX for acne review

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Ah, the beloved pimple. Who doesn’t love to wake up to a shiny, red target on their face?

As someone who has dealt with acne off and on for over 15 years, I can relate. In fact, it wasn’t until the last 2 years or so that I feel like I have some kind of handle on my combination, acne-prone skin. So when I learned there were patches you could use to treat a spot (possibly overnight…?), I was intrigued. 

Doubtful, but intrigued.

How do pimple patches work?

Hydrocolloid patches work by protecting the area and creating a moist environment. The patch absorbs any oil /pus/fluids, speeding up healing time and preventing any bacteria from spreading to surrounding areas.

Pimple patches also have a few bonus benefits: they prevent further picking, and they can also help cover the red area. But more on wearing them out in public later (yes, I am encouraging this—because YOLO).

COSRX pimple patches

After scanning the internet for some time and looking at several brands, I landed on COSRX.

Yes, there are cheaper alternatives. But I’m always a bit wary if something is a lot cheaper—not all brands list active ingredients or materials used in beauty products, and with how sensitive my skin is, the last thing I want to do is slap a cheap sticker on my face that will further clog my pores or irritate my skin. 

Source: COSRX

With nearly 20,000 reviews on Amazon, I had some data to go off of in deciding on COSRX as my pimple patch provider (say that 5x fast).

The majority of those reviews are 5 stars, and after verifying the authenticity of those reviews using ReviewMeta, they average 4.2 stars. Not bad.

Some excerpts of said reviews:

“I wouldn’t say these solve everything overnight, but they certainly brought quite a bit down to a night, and my cystic acne was actually gone in 3-4 days – instead of 3-4 weeks.”

“Sometimes it takes a couple of applications to work on the deep ones- but I would say it solves 90%.”

“These work best when there is a teeny tiny pierce/puncture (not ‘popped’) in the pimple so the gunk has a way to get sucked out. I put one on at bed and when I woke up, the little patch turned white from all the gunk drained.”

COSRX patches are also hypoallergenic, dermatologist tested, cruelty-free, paraben-free, sulfate-free, and phthalate-free (all things we love to hear).

Fully convinced and hopeful these patches would become a holy grail in my bad, I ordered the 3-pack for $13. It came with 3 sizes (large, medium, and small) for a total of 96 patches (psssst—it’s lasted me months).

Tips for using pimple patches correctly

• Make sure your skin is clean and dry before applying—including your fingertips. Any oil, water, or products will stick to the patch and increase the likelihood of it falling off, or unwanted bacteria getting stuck under the patch (we don’t need those spots to get more inflamed, thanks!).
  
• Wear them during the day! Seriously. Both the clear and neutral-toned patches are difficult to see unless close-up. Plus, I firmly believe we all benefit by normalizing wearing pimple patches during in public. Will make all of our lives so much easier.
  
• Don’t expect miracles. There are certain spots these patches may not won’t work on, but there are times where you’ll stare at that white dot in the center of the patch in gross disbelief, thanking the heavens you had a patch on hand to flatten the pesky bugger.

Source: COSRX

So… do pimple patches work?

TLDR: Yes, they work; but they work best in certain scenarios only:

• If a spot is coming to a head (aka you can see white), a patch can help draw the gunk out and flatten.

• If you recently popped a spot, it’ll help absorb any remaining or leaky fluid.

•If it’s a larger/deeper spot that is not coming to a head, a patch can prevent picking or for any more oil/bacteria from further inflaming the area.

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