Cosrx’s original pimple patches have long been my go-to when battling swollen, picked-at, or just generally angry blemishes. I’ve tested and liked brand competitors like Acropass and Mighty Patch, but when it comes down to it, my trusty Cosrx pimple patches are the ones I turn to time and again for quickly and efficiently deflating mean zits.
Until recently, Cosrx only carried one variation on these original pimple patches: a lightweight version called the Clear Fit Master Patch, which they claimed was thin and discreet enough to wear outside the house or under makeup. I liked the idea, but found that the thinness of the hydrocolloid made it less effective at pulling the gunk from my pimples. It wasn’t possible, I decided, for Cosrx to upstage their original; it was just too good.
Then, last month, Cosrx released the AC Collection Acne Patch. And they weren’t just as good as the originals — they were better. What’s especially great about these patches is that while they have strong, super-adhesive centers like the originals, they have newly thinned-out edges which make them easier to apply to curved areas like the jaw or hairline. This was game-changing. When I applied the original patches to a bad jawline zit before bed, I’d often wake up to find that they’d peeled off during the night. When I tried these new patches on a bad hormonal blemish on my jawline last week, it stayed put all night long.
These patches are also gigantic — the smallest size offered is 9 by 13 mm., which is bigger than the original’s largest size. This means you can actually use one patch on two pesky blemishes; it also means that there is literally not a zit in existence that’ll be too big for these guys.
And in case you were thinking, Okay, these are just the regular patches except bigger and stronger and easier to put on: that is not true. Cosrx infused these patches with centella asiatica, a healing herbal ingredient that has quickly become one of my holy grails for combatting acne (I wrote about my new favorite centella-infused cream just last week). What this means is that the patch doesn’t just deflate the pimple, it also soothes it, and majorly reduces its redness. The pimple I used the patch on last week was horribly red and inflamed when I went to bed; when I woke up and peeled off the patch, it hardly needed concealer.
So listen: the original Cosrx pimple patch will always be my first love; there’s nothing that can change that. But I’ll be buying this new and improved version from now on, and suggest you do the same.
The original “holy grail” according to Rio — you can now buy 4 for 12 bucks.
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