If you had asked me two years ago what I thought about pimple patches, the answer I would have had for you would be very different from my answer today. Two years ago, I would have said “they’re terribly cost-ineffective, but they work so well.” Today, I’d say “they work so well! And I love the way they’re not packed with carcinogens!” (Source 1, 2, 3.)

If you, too, have read the studies about benzoyl peroxide breaking down into benzene and want to get rid of your benzoyl peroxide products, then this review is for you. (It’s doubly for you if you, like I, don’t find that topical salicylic acid products are as effective as benzoyl peroxide creams.) I’ve looked at a handful of the best (and most popular) blemish patches out there so that you don’t have to test and re-test different brands to find your perfect match. I even had the opportunity to interview an expert at Chinese skincare brand Hanhoo to get the lowdown on pimple patches, so read on to learn everything you need to know about these products.

Mario Badescu Drying Patch

What is a pimple patch?

Unlike traditional creams, liquids, and pastes, pimple patches or blemish patches are a physical barrier that you use overtop blemishes. I really like them. They’re typically thin, clear, and flexible, and they “seal off” your pimple. They help prevent you from picking at pimples and also create a little environment where a small amount of treatment ingredients (like tea tree or salicylic acid) are delivered directly where they’re needed. As a result, I find that they treat as effectively at lower concentrations of product.

I’ve never felt like tea tree or salicylic acid get rid of my pimples as quickly as benzoyl peroxide or sulfur do—until now. For me, pimple patches are a great way to make a pimple come to a head and resolve itself in 1-2 days. They’re more effective, in my experience, than tea tree oil and salicylic acid on their own, while also being less carcinogenic than benzoyl peroxide. (And less thick and stinky than sulfur-based products!)

Dianna Guerra, on Hanhoo’s Product Development team, also points out that blemish patches are a gentler way to treat spots: they don’t need OTC-levels of active ingredients to work, and “can serve as a better alternative for those who find that spot treatments are too harsh or irritate the skin.”

L-R: Mario Badescu Drying Patch, Maskeraide Clear Anti-Blemish Patches Spotted Daytime, Hanhoo Blemish Patch large, Hanhoo Blemish Patch small, Nexcare Acne Cover, Hanhoo Extra Strength Blemish Patch, Hanhoo Dark Spot Brightening Patch, Hanhoo EraseZit Magnesium Microneedle Patch

What’s in a hydrocolloid pimple patch?

Hydrocolloid patches are a type of blemish patch that adsorb oils. They’re often produced without any additional active ingredients. Hydrocolloid patches are a little thicker than non-hydrocolloid pimple patches, and they’re not as clear, but they’re great at essentially sucking the oil out of a pimple. As Dianna points out, hydrocolloid itself “helps draw out pus from pimples, eliminating the urge to pop or pick at blemishes.” In turn, this helps prevent scarring and infection.

I’ve never known exactly what hydrocolloid is, but Hanhoo actually walks you through that in their ingredients lists—a happy, accidental finding when I opened up the products I was offered for this article. On Hanhoo’s site, the brand breaks down hydrocolloid as “Polyurethane, Polyisoprene, Polyisobutylene, Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium, White Mineral Oil.” Hydrocolloid is a non-latex-based material that is thin, flexible, and translucent. (It’s almost-but-not-quite clear!)

Hydrocolloid vs non-hydrocolloid pimple patches

Hydrocolloid and non-hydrocolloid pimple patches are sometimes delineated by their use: Daytime vs nighttime. The thicker, more adsorbent hydrocolloid patches are often preferred for nighttime use, while the thinner non-hydrocolloid patches are easier to wear pseudo-invisibly during the day.

Personally, I separate out my patches by pimple severity. If it’s a basic pimple, it gets a hydrocolloid patch during the nighttime. But if it’s a real rager (you know the type; red, angry, sore, humongous), it gets a treatment patch. Typically, that’s a non-hydrocolloid salicylic acid patch during the daytime and a salicylic hydrocolloid patch during the nighttime. (Mario Badescu and Hanhoo Extra Strength, respectively).

L-R: Mario Badescu Drying Patch, Maskeraide Clear Anti-Blemish Patches Spotted Daytime, *Hanhoo Blemish Patch large, *Hanhoo Blemish Patch small, *Nexcare Acne Cover. Starred products are hydrocolloid pimple patches; unstarred products are acrylates copolymer pimple patches.

My favourite pimple patches

Mario Badescu Drying Patch review

Mario Badescu Drying Patches were the first pimple patches I ever tried. I received an un-finalized press sample ages ago, and god: They were so good. They’d bring my yet-to-come pimples to a head within a day, zapping the swelling out of my skin like a cortisone shot from heaven. And, most importantly, they were matte.

Sadly, the market version of these drying patches is glossy, just like every other brand. They’re a thin, non-hydrocolloid patch, and while pricey, they’re still my favourite pimple patch on the market. They work just as well as they originally did (I think the salicylic acid and tea tree combo really kills it for my skin); it’s just that they’re much easier to see now.

The flexible, soft matte finish of the original patches made them genuinely invisible to the eye at a regular conversational distance. I miss it dearly, and hope desperately that Mario Badescu brings it back.

• 60 patches per pack at $24 CAD
• Non-hydrocolloid: Acrylates copolymer patch
• Active ingredients: Salicylic acid and tea tree extract
• Cruelty-free and vegan

L-R: Mario Badescu Drying Patch, Maskeraide Clear Anti-Blemish Patches Spotted Daytime, Hanhoo Blemish Patch large, Hanhoo Blemish Patch small, Nexcare Acne Cover, Hanhoo Extra Strength Blemish Patch, Hanhoo Dark Spot Brightening Patch, Hanhoo EraseZit Magnesium Microneedle Patch

Maskeraide Clear Anti-Blemish Patches review: Spotted Daytime

Sometimes, you just need a reason not to pick at your pimples every time you look in the mirror. That’s what I love my Maskeraide Clear Anti-Blemish Patches for. These non-hydrocolloid patches are a very good substitute for the Mario Badescu Drying Patches, but they’re a little more affordable. (The brand’s nighttime patch is hydrocolloid.)

I like to use my Maskeraide Daytime patches to cover up oily pimples when I’m out and about. You know how pimples reach a certain stage and get kind of… slippery? And all of your makeup slides off of them the second you graze your hand against the area? These are my path around that.

It’s a simple, three-layered process. A concealer sandwich, if you will. First: A pimple patch. (I’ll often cut these to size). Then: Concealer. Finally: A second pimple patch to lock things in place.

• 60 patches per pack at $18 CAD
• Non-hydrocolloid: Acrylates copolymer patch
• Active ingredients: Salicylic acid and tea tree extract
• Cruelty-free and vegan

Nexcare Acne Cover review

This isn’t a “best pimple patch.” In fact, it’s the opposite. The Nexcare Acne Covers by 3M are, in my experience, the most widely-available hydrocolloid patch in Canada—and they suck. They’re super thick, sticky, and yellow.

Do they work to adsorb oil? Yes, sure, absolutely. But they look so gross while doing it.

• 36 patches per pack at $13.99 CAD: (24) 8mm patches and (12) 12mm patches
• Hydrocolloid
• No active ingredients

Hanhoo Dark Spot Brightening Patches

Hanhoo Blemish Patch Discovery Kit review

I got to try a tonof different pimple patches in this Discovery Kit, so here’s the plan: I’m going to break down the kit for you. Then, below, I’ll review just the standouts. (There’s simply too many to do it any other way!)

One thing that I want to point out about this Discovery Kit is that I’ve seen really mixed reviews for Hanhoo products online. There are reviews of their blemish patches leaving red welts behind, so your mileage may vary. I haven’t experienced anything like that, but you may want to patch test these products first on an arm, leg, etc. Red rashes can be a sign of a polyurethane allergy, and as we know thanks to Hanhoo’s ingredient breakdown, hydrocolloid patches contain polyurethane. (You’ll also find this ingredient in many wood finishes and some non-latex condoms, including Skyn Originals and Trojan Bareskins.)

• 132 patches in total at $35 CAD
• 36 Blemish Patches, 2 Custom Blemish Patches, 36 Extra Strength Blemish Patches, 36 Soothing Blemish Patches, 8 T-Zone Pore Patches, 6 Dark Spot Brightening Patches, and 8 EraZit Magnesium Microneedle Patches
• Hydrocolloid
• Cruelty-free and vegan

Hanhoo Blemish Patch review

These are a super basic, active-ingredient-free patch. For hydrocolloids, they’re very thin and clear (nothing at all like the 3M Nexcare patches that I hate!) Hanhoo’s pimple patches are a phenomenal deal and I love that they come in two different sizes.

By personal preference, I only wear these at night. They can absolutely be worn during the daytime and I see people wearing them all the time; I just don’t like it when everyone else can see how much oil they’ve sucked up! (Honestly, I don’t even like it when I can see how much oil they’ve sucked up—I know everyone else seems to, but I feel like that is None of My Business™.)

• 36 patches per pack at $7 CAD: (18) 10mm and (18) 12mm
• Hydrocolloid
• No active ingredients
• Cruelty-free and vegan

Hanhoo Extra Strength Blemish Patch review

This is the version of the Hanhoo Blemish Patch that contains salicylic acid. I like that these suck up oil, but honestly, I still prefer acrylates copolymer pimple patches with tea tree and salicylic acid. They seem to get rid of my acne more quickly, and these hydrocolloid patches are a little thicker.

Visually, Hanhoo’s Extra Strength patches are no different from their originals.

• 36 patches per pack at $9 CAD: 12mm
• Hydrocolloid
• Active ingredient: Salicylic acid
• Cruelty-free and vegan

Hanhoo EraseZit Magnesium Microneedle Pimple Patches

Hanhoo EraZit Magnesium Microneedle Patch review

These are interesting! I’ve photographed them with the Hanhoo Dark Spot Brightening Patches, which also have a textured underside. Both of these products are designed to deliver active ingredients deeper into the epidermis for faster results. Hanhoo recommends sticking with their flat, unmedicated blemish patches if you have sensitive skin, but I go a step beyond that: I, personally, wouldn’t use these patches. They’re very unique, but the brand wasn’t able to supply me with any research supporting using a microneedling product (a) in the long-term or (b) on acne.

Microneedling can be an effective way to fade scars and discolouration, but it always comes with the risk of causing an infection by introducing bacteria to your skin’s surface. That’s why, in a salon setting, a practitioner will never microneedle an area with an active acne breakout. Doing so can easily spread the acne to surrounding areas. Proper microneedling can also cause swelling for up to five days, and results take months to develop—so eight patches per pack with no specific prep or aftercare for the area suggests to me that the patches will either be ineffective or dangerous to use.

• 8 patches at $14 CAD
• Hydrocolloid
• Active ingredients: Magnesium and magnesium oxide
• Cruelty-free and vegan

The best pimple patch in Canada is…

I really love the Mario Badescu Drying Patch for both daytime and nighttime wear, but Maskeraide’s Daytime Clear Anti-Blemish Patches are a close second. For a hydrocolloid product that’s a serious budget buy, the original Hanhoo Blemish Patches are great.

—

Disclaimer: This post contains products submitted for editorial consideration. (It also contains a bunch of products that I’ve purchased myself, because apparently I simply cannot have enough pimple patches. I’m on my second box of Mario Badescu patches already—they’re that good!) This post also contains affiliate links.