This New Acne Patch Can Make Breakouts Vanish Overnight
Welcome to the final stretch of summer, when the temperatures are high, the weekends are long, and the season’s early vacation glow has transformed into a continuous sweat. But all that fun in the sun can have a funny way of impacting your skin, clogging pores on the forehead, chin, and nose. While a tried-and-true retinol regimen may work for some to keep blackheads and spots at bay, there’s nothing worse than an uninvited spat of cystic acne, which often require a visit to the dermatologist’s office for an emergency cortisone injection. Or, at least, that’s been the case until now.
Enter Acropass, a new kind of at-home microneedling technology that just arrived stateside from South Korea to treat breakouts. The small, circular strips send tiny dissolvable pressure point “needles,” made with hyaluronic acid and niacinamide, into the skin. And while acne patches have long been available, Acropass’s formula claims to penetrate the surface to infuse faster-working anti-inflammatory agents and dramatically reduce the circumference and life of a spot.
“First, swipe the little pad made with tea tree oil and salicylic acid over the area,” says K-beauty expert and Soko Glam founder Charlotte Cho, who experienced the results of the treatment firsthand on a trip to Korea and sells the product on her site. Then, press the patch into the skin to effectively soothe and hydrate the area.
“It’s hard to find cystic acne treatments that work because most are topical,” Cho explains, who has had her share of painful, perennial spots. “But most of the ones on the market won’t penetrate the skin,” and these pimples sit below the epidermis’s surface. Worn for at least two hours (although, Cho prefers a six-hour wear), they can be slept in or applied during the day without irritation. Rather than largely drying out the spot, like many traditional Western acne ingredients, such as benzoyl peroxide, these cure while creating an optimal environment of balanced moisturization. “In Korea, it’s all about treating skin with hydration,” she explains. “This will calm down any inflammation,” and in turn, result in less acne.
The best part? The film-like patches are completely pain-free and are so thin, you can apply makeup right over them to go almost completely unnoticed—as this Vogue writer can happily attest. Earlier this week, I popped one on at the first sign of an oncoming breakout. Twenty-four hours later? My potentially offensive spot—which arrived just in time for a summer weekend trip to the Catskills—was dramatically, miraculously reduced.
Acropass Trouble Cure, $18, sokoglam.com
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