TikTok trends have brought us tons of beauty trends, some questionable and some actually pretty helpful, like the hydrocolloid bandages hack for pimples. Placing cut up pieces of hydrocolloid bandages over pimples and leaving them on for a couple hours really seemed to help suck out all the gunk from pimples, leaving behind a less swollen pimple.
While this is a pretty useful hack, there’s a much easier way to use hydrocolloid for acne. Hydrocolloid blemish patches come in optimized sizes to better fit pimples and many now have skincare ingredients to further help treat pimples.
What are hydrocolloid patches and how do they work?
Hydrocolloid is a gel-like material that extracts fluid from wounds while simultaneously creating a moist environment to help the healing process. These characteristics make hydrocolloid the perfect treatment for blemishes. When you apply a hydrocolloid patch to a pimple, it helps draw out pus and sebum from pores and reduces the size of pimples. As the patch extracts fluid from acne, it protects the pimple from outside bacteria, speeding up the healing process.
They also provide the additional benefits of reducing the urge to pick at pimples and prevent sun exposure, which can be extra helpful in protecting against dark spots and acne scars.
How to use hydrocolloid patches
Hydrocolloid patches are pretty easy to use and incorporate into your skincare routine. After cleansing and drying the skin, place the patch on a pimple, then apply moisturizer. It’s important to place a patch on dry skin to let the patch better adhere to the skin. Then, all you have to do is wait, usually 6 to 8 hours. As the patch draws out all the gunk from a pimple, it turns white. Then you can peel it and replace it if your pimple hasn’t fully healed.
And, since they are little adhesive patches they are super easy to leave on all night without worrying about transfer, like from a spot treatment, onto your sheets. You can also use them at night or during the day, which is pretty helpful in preventing outside bacteria from entering the pimple while you’re out and about.
Different kinds of hydrocolloid patches
There are a variety of hydrocolloid patches to help treat different kinds of blemishes. Some hydrocolloid patches are infused with skincare ingredients to better treat different types of acne. Patches made with Salicylic Acid, like our Extra Strength Blemish Patch, exfoliate dead skin and excess oil from pimples to help minimize the size of pimples.
Hydrocolloid patches can also be used to treat popped pimples. Although it is recommended to not pop your pimples, sometimes you can’t help but to pick at a pimple. But, then you’re left with damaged skin exposed to bacteria and possible infection. Patches infused with calming ingredients like Tea Tree Oil can help protect and treat popped pimples while providing instant relief. Our Soothing Blemish Patch includes ingredients like Tea Tree Oil and Madecassic Acid to help heal open wounds, like that of a popped pimple.
Popped pimples can also become acne scars, which left untreated and exposed to the sun can darken in color. For acne scar treatment, there are hydrocolloid patches made with microneedles that help deliver brightening ingredients straight to the affected site to fade scars. Our Dark Spot Brightening Patch has microneedles infused with Niacinamide and Green Tea to help brighten the skin and help fade acne scars. Microneedles help penetrate deep into the skin to ensure that the added ingredients target the spot directly. Although microneedles may sound a bit scary, they are completely painless.
Hydrocolloid patches also come in a bunch of different sizes so you can customize the shape or so you can use on larger areas. Our T-Zone Pore Patch is shaped to fit the nose area perfectly to help extract excess oil, so you don’t have to use a bunch of little round patches all over your nose.
How hydrocolloid patches compare to other acne treatments
A lot of acne treatments focus on drying out the pimple in order to relieve the swelling, but sometimes that can also dry out surrounding skin. As for hydrocolloid patches, you don’t have to deal with the same drying effect as some concentrated spot treatments. Since hydrocolloid patches work by creating a moist environment around the pimple to help speed up wound healing, you don’t have to worry about drying out your skin.
Hydrocolloid patches are also pretty low maintenance, making them a convenient and portable pimple treatment. Whether you want to wear them overnight or wear them while you’re out, hydrocolloid patches can be used pretty much anywhere.
