Review: COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch

Identifying Information Product name: COSRX Clinical Skin Care Acne Pimple Master Patch, 24 patches/pack Price: PhP 150.00 + shipping fee Description: "Protects wounded or troubled area from getting worse and maintains humidity of skin for faster recovery. It's a patch minimizing inflammation and caring damaged skins. Hydrocolloid type. Quasi-drugs." (Taken from COSRX official website) Product Origin: Korea Where I bought it: www.theskincarecurator.com (not an affiliate link or anything) History: I got these patches more than a week ago and I've been using them since then. I had a few little pimples and 2 huge ones to test these patches on.
Physical Examination:

Product Insert. The characters above the horizontal line just say CosRX Acne Pimple Master Patch. The ones below the line say A,D,F Hydrocolloid Dressing Patch. Umm, yeah that's all I can read and understand. :)))))

Left: 3M Nexcare, Right: COSRX

Sorry for the poor photo quality! The patch blends well on my skin. The white stuff in the middle is the absorbed exudate.

Salient Features Positives:

• Great packaging!
• It comes in a ziplock-type pack which means once opened it can be resealed keeping it fresh and clean. The pack is also sealed well so it can't be opened before you do!
• The patches are thin and transparent (with a hint of yellow) so they're not as obvious on the face compared to the 3M Nexcare acne patches.
• The patches are made of hydrocolloid so they are able to effectively absorb exudates from pustular acne. If the pimple has come to a head, this will easily absorb the pus and flatten it overnight. On other types of acne though it's not as miraculous. (same goes for my Holy Grail [HG]!)
• Cover the blemish and protect it from manipulation, pollution and secondary infection
• These have not caused me to have any negative skin reaction.
• Adhere well on the skin and do not move around during my sleep
• Not painful to remove
• No sticky residue is left on the skin
• The outer surface of the patch is not sticky at all! The 3M Nexcare ones are a bit sticky so I have to make sure the stickiness is gone before I sleep or else they could get removed prematurely. This is not an issue with these COSRX patches!

Negatives:

• This can only be purchased online so the price includes shipping fee. If you're badly in need of a pimple patch, you'd have to wait for a day or two before it can be shipped to you.
• The product insert it comes with is in Korean/Hangul. An English translation of the product insert would be much appreciated. :)

Impression/Rating: 3.75/4

Discussion: I love acne patches. They are my favorite emergency management for pimples. I blogged about my holy grail acne patch last month and in that post I discussed the science behind these magical little circles. If you want to know more about hydrocolloid acne patches, please click here to be directed to my blog post.

In doing research for the 3M Nexcare acne patches, I stumbled upon these hydrocolloid acne patches from a Korean brand called COSRX. That was the first time I saw this kind of acne patch from a Korean brand. Most of the Korean acne patches that I know (and have used) were made of a thin sheet of plastic with ingredients like salicylic acid and tea tree oil. Anyway, long story short, I bought them from a new online shop (www.theskincarecurator.com) to compare them to my holy grail 3M Nexcare acne patches. Mercury Drug doesn't always have stocks of my HG so it's nice to have an alternative because I do not want to be without my acne patches!

How do these COSRX acne patches compare to the ones from 3M? Both are made of hydrocolloid and are able to absorb exudates effectively! I've noticed that the 3M ones have a little bit more absorptive power though, but then again the difference could be because of the pimples. I mean, I used both patches on different pustular pimples so difference in absorption could be because of the difference in the quality of my pimples. :))) This one from COSRX looks better and less obvious on the skin because it's thinner than 3M's and is more transparent. I like the packaging of COSRX more because it's resealable. That means there's less chances of the patches getting contaminated even after opening. I keep the 3M ones inside their original box but you know, dust can still get inside the box so yeah, the resealable packaging is really great!

I'm using a new matrix for rating products that I review. Because I have to factor in the price and availability/accessibility, I can't give these patches a perfect score. Being sold only online has its pros and cons. If I only had enough money for 1 pack of acne patches, buying online would be too expensive. Anyway, I'm really ecstatic that COSRX is now being sold here in the country with good pricing! The Skincare Curator is doing a wonderful job with their online shop! Their website looks so clean and professional. The sales invoice is sent via email as a PDF file and I appreciate that! :D

Prognosis: This is an excellent hydrocolloid acne patch. Because of its thinness and color it looks better on my skin! Does it dethrone my beloved 3M Nexcare from being my HG? No, it doesn't. INSTEAD it is now considered as my holy grail acne patch for daytime use! Will I repurchase it? YES! OF COURSE! For nighttime use, I'll stick with 3M. (So I'd have more of the COSRX to use during the day hahaha) ;) I LOVE HYDROCOLLOID PATCHES!!!

I'm excited to finish up my current skincare products so I can buy and use COSRX ones because they are so raved about in the Asian Beauty subreddit! Aaahhh! Of course when I get them I'll definitely talk about them here in my blog because Figi + Korean products = happiness! *slathers face with more emulsion and cream*