When Starface launched in 2019, it was a cultural reset within the acne community not seen since Proactiv enlisted the 00’s hottest young celebs to shill its three-step routine. Ever since, the brand has been synonymous with the skin positivity movement, encouraging users to embrace their breakouts — and snap a selfie while they’re at it — as the star-shaped patches healed them.
Over the past five years, Starface has expanded its product offering to include a comprehensive range of skincare, in addition to patches in a rainbow of colours. They’ve done splashy collabs with Hello Kitty, Spongebob Squarepants, and Sesame Street, and now, they’re releasing perhaps their most unexpected innovation yet: Clear (still star-shaped!) hydrocolloid patches.
Hydro-Star Clear, £10.95
But isn’t Starface’s whole thing making acne stickers that are meant to be…seen? Yes — and they’ve done that brilliantly, I’d argue. Hydro-Star Clear is not meant to replace its iconic yellow sistren, but rather, offer a decidedly more low-key way of healing acne. As a self-professed connoisseur of pimple patches, I knew I had to test them out.
Hydro-Star Clear comes in a refill pack of 32 star-shaped patches in two sizes. (You can, of course, buy one of those adorable mirrored compacts in Big Yellow and Big Blue to house them, should you wish.) Like some of my other favourite acne patches — Hero Cosmetics’ Mighty Patch and The Inkey List’s Hydrocolloid Invisible Pimple Patch — Starface’s new clear patches have rounded, bevelled edges that hug the surface and blend in seamlessly with the skin. The smaller-sized (14mm) patches were ideal for moderate spots on my cheeks or chin, while the larger (18mm) ones fit great on larger acne or body breakouts. As with my other patches, I like to apply these on clean, dry skin, and leave overnight to maximise the amount of time they have to draw out the contents of my breakout.
Even with the fun star shape, these patches really disappeared into my skin — just like magic! And sure enough, they worked like magic, too; after picking at a pesky whitehead (I know, I know), I popped one of these on and went to bed. When I woke up, the patch had become clouded with whitish goo and the area significantly flattened. Honestly, I was impressed, mostly because I found that they performed better than the OG Hydro-Stars. This is my personal opinion, but I think that the contoured edges of the clear patches allowed for better adhesion to the skin, therefore minimizing the chance of the patch falling off before it has time to do its thing. At £10.95 for 32 patches, Hydro-Star Clear are comparably priced to other patches (Mighty Patch Invisible retail for £15 for 39 patches, FYI), and solidly proves that the quirky, galactic shape isn’t for vibes alone; the performance can only be described as out of this world.
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