I price shopped and ended up with these!
As a lucky sort who has chronic acne in her thirties, I have spent the last 20 years or so figuring out the best ways to control and heal blemishes. There's no one size fits all approach-- what works for my skin won't necessarily work for someone else, and vice cersa, so everything is a test and see sort of situation. I get all sorts of acne, and have had the chance to try these patches on a variety of blemishes (lucky me!). I've also had a chance to try both these and two other types of hydrocolloid bandages, so I have a thorough comparison of what's best, what's cheapest, and what's worth the money. You're welcome. I've exclusively worn all types in my home, generally overnight. This type of product works best on blemishes that are "open," although I had some middling success applying them to still-closed blemishes. They helped to pull some remaining stuff out of extracted blackheads on occasion, and have done a great job helping open spots not only empty, but heal, without getting dry and flaky. My first venture was another brand of acne patches from NexCare. They were effective in terms of pulling out and absorbing the contents of a spot, but they didn't stick reliably, even to very clean skin. They wouldn't come off overnight, but if I moved my face too much between applying the patch and going to sleep, they'd come unstuck around the edges. They're also fairly thick. Per patch, they cost about 18 cents. Next, I bought the Corsx brand. They stick infinitely better (I've only ever had one that came up around the edges, and only then when I forgot to remove moisturizer from the spot before I applied). They're much thinner and, while I wouldn't wear them out and about, they're far less visible than the Nexcare ones. They at least or more effective than the Nexcare patches, but it's a tough thing to measure. They cost roughtly 25 cents apiece when you buy just one pack, so they're definitely more expensive. Finally, I bought a pack of blister bandages (target brand) and cut of squares and strips from them to use. Making some assumptions about how many patches one could get out of a bandage, this is by FAR the most economical option at less than 5 cents per patch. Whether or not cutting up the bandages yourself into custom sizes is a negative or a positive will depend on the user (custom sizes are cool, but having to cut one off each time you need a patch, keeping track of falloff for future use, making sure you have scissors handy at all time are all drawbacks, however minimal they may seem). These were not as demonstrably effective as the ones designed for acne: while the other two patches had visibly absorbed the contents of a blemish, these sorta kinda had? You could tell where the blemish had been open under the patch but... did it absorb much of anything, or did it just keep stuff from coming out? Dunno. On top of that, the adhesive on these is much more substantial, so while any and all patches I applied stuck, they stuck a little too well, and peeling them off in some instances was painful. In the end, I'm all about doing what is best for my face, even if it hurts my wallet a little more than a less effective alternative. Moreover, I like finding a better deal on what's best for my face when I can. Which is where this multipack deal comes in! For 10 packs of patches the price per patch drops to about ten cents a pop (heh), which for what is in my opinion a better product than the 18 cents apiece Nexcare and a MUCH better product than the 5 cents apiece generics. My advice, in the end: Try the Corsx brand and the generic hydrocolloid bandages. If the generics work for you, you'll save quite a bit of money, and you can pick them up at any drugstore. If you prefer the Corsx, buy this multipack and save a bunch and always have them on hand (they don't expire, unlike a lot of skincare items, so stocking up is a no-brainer for people with chronic recurring blemishes). Read more