I Tried the Original Mighty Patch for Two Weeks, and My Skin Looks Clearer Already

Despite the sensation around Dr. Pimple Popper (a professional dermatologist, mind you), we’ve all been told not to pop or mess with our pimples. Lucky for us, there’s an acne solution that prevents you from touching your zit and helps it heal quickly in the process. With viral fame on TikTok and accolades from beauty celebrities like Mikayla Nogueira, the Original Mighty Patch is known for reducing inflammation and sucking out all the bad stuff from your acne for a quicker healing time.

As someone who's dealt with acne since early adolescence, I’ve tried just about every acne product out there. Thankfully, with the help of several dermatologists and serious acne medication in my youth (hello, Accutane!), my acne is no longer as much of a problem. That being said, I still get occasional flare-ups and am a huge fan of quick remedies — enter the Original Mighty Patch. 

With more than 103,000 5-star ratings on Amazon, this tiny but mighty (pun intended) patch works quickly using hydrocolloid — an adhesive gel that absorbs excess fluid from the skin — to remove oils, pus, and sebum from acne spots.

To learn more about this miracle acne solution, PEOPLE reached out to Hero Cosmetics co-founder and CEO Ju Rhyu. “I had grown up battling mild to moderate acne and never found a good solution for my sensitive, breakout-prone skin,” she says. “There was a two-year period where I was living and working in Seoul and going through a bout of adult acne. Someone told me about hydrocolloid acne patches that were fairly commonly used in Seoul at the time. When I tried one, I was blown away by how effective it was — it absorbed all my pimple gunk, flattened my blemish, and prevented me from touching and picking at my pimples,” she says.

Rhyu was amazed at how effective these patches were. “It was a far superior solution than anything I had ever used and I immediately started asking why this amazing product wasn't more known in the US,” she says. “I saw a real opportunity and need for this type of solution in the acne care category — a category that hadn't seen much innovation in a very long time. I then started sourcing manufacturing partners and worked with them on a product (now the Mighty Patch) that was the ideal hydrocolloid acne patch out there.”

Buy it! Hero Cosmetics Original Mighty Patch, $10.77; amazon.com

Number of Patches: 36 or 72, depending on box size | Skin Type: All skin types (including sensitive skin!) | Duration: Results in six to eight hours | Safety: Gentle, non-irritating, chemical-free, and allergy-tested

Who It’s Good For: The Original Mighty Patch is an ideal solution for those with occasional acne flare-ups that need to treat individual spots in a quick time frame.

Who It’s Not Good For: These patches might not be as effective for those with chronic acne spread over large sections of the face or body. Usually, this type of acne has to be treated with medication.

How We Tested the Original Mighty Patch

Hero Cosmetics sent me a sample of the 36-pack of patches to test out this popular acne solution. I set out to use these patches over two weeks since my acne loves to surprise me at random intervals.

For best results, I found that you should use the patch after thoroughly washing the affected area first. I tend to get acne on my face, neck, and occasionally my shoulders, so I tried the patches on all of those spots. Any time I spied a pimple forming, I applied these patches — maybe eight or so times throughout the two weeks.

I would wash my face and neck thoroughly and then apply the patch directly on top of the pimples. The patches are semi-translucent so you should be able to see the bump through the patch. Since the process takes six to eight hours to work, you can just wear it overnight without any extra effort or worrying about timing it. Upon waking up, I checked for sebaceous material on the patch (in the form of white dots and discoloration) and for any changes in the breakout (less redness, flatness, and the absence of a whitehead had there been one). If the pimple had been minimized significantly, then I just left it alone, but if I still saw redness or any traces of a whitehead, I applied another patch. You just want to be careful if you have sensitive or dry skin because wearing too many of these patches can dry it out.

The adhesive binds the patch to your skin to absorb gunk, meaning should you choose to wear it during the day, it’s not at risk of falling off. For my neck, I attempted a daytime patch a few times and would just place the patch on the breakout after I showered. I didn’t strictly keep track of the amount of time I wore the patch, but I would estimate it was somewhere around eight hours. I looked at the same factors as the pimple on my face to decide if it worked — redness, elevation of the bump, and how much material it removed.

The Results

As mentioned, I tried these patches several times over two weeks, and each time, the results varied slightly but were consistent overall. The results are going to depend on your skin type. For instance, I have naturally oily skin, so almost every time I used them, I noticed that the patches had soaked up quite a bit of sebum.

With some acne, it only takes one patch to see a big difference, but with more stubborn breakouts, you might consider using two or even three patches. In the mornings after use, I removed the patches and could see one or several white circles where it had pulled sebaceous material from the pimple. Generally, the acne would be visibly flatter and only slightly pink after one use. The whiteheads were usually transferred from the bump to the patch, with a few exceptions (and in those cases, I just used another patch). As you can see above, in the far left photo, I have a pretty sizable breakout; in the middle, I'm wearing the patch (it's pretty discreet, isn't it?); and in the far right photo, you can see a noticeable decrease in the overall size of my pimple.

On my shoulders, I tend to have more cystic acne (red bumps where the infection lies under the skin) and with these, I noticed that several uses of the Mighty Patch were necessary to see noticeable changes in redness and elevation. Overall, I think these worked well at calming and decreasing the appearance of my acne.

What to Look For When Using the Original Mighty Patch

Redness Reduction

There are several factors you should look for when evaluating the efficacy of the Original Mighty Patch — the first is redness reduction. In general, hydrocolloid is known for reducing inflammation and pigmentation, so after using one of these patches, you should check the color of your pimple and the surrounding skin. These patches should reduce some of that color, perhaps from red to pink after one use. If you notice a change in pigmentation around your zit, that means this little patch is working!

Elevation

The anti-inflammatory effect applies to the elevation of your pimple, too. A lot of issues with inflammatory acne (like cystic acne) occur under the skin, and this can cause these flare-ups which make angry bumps protrude. Per the Cleveland Clinic, inflammatory acne is caused when your pores or hair follicles get clogged with sebum (natural oils), dead skin cells, excess oils, product buildup from makeup, etc. Mighty Patch should absorb the material that’s closest to the surface of your skin, so with inflammatory acne, you might have to use more than one patch to get all that gunk out.

Sebum Extraction

Sebum is essentially the natural oils of your skin (made up of fats and sugars and designed to keep your skin moist). Those with an oily skin type tend to have excess sebum, which can lead to buildup under the skin, and thus, acne. The Mighty Patches are great at absorbing this sebum, and when you peel them off, you should be able to see this in the form of white spots and opaqueness on the patch.

Other Acne & Spot Patches to Consider

While the Original Mighty Patch is great for overnight wear, these patches may not be perfect for every situation. For instance, if you want to wear makeup while you wear one of these patches, you might consider the Mighty Patch Invisible+ Patch instead which is so translucent that it seamlessly blends into the rest of your skin. Alternatively, to stop acne before it fully forms, try the Micropoint for Blemishes Early-Stage Acne Patch for those bumps that are just beginning to show. And might you have a cluster of bumps that need treating rather than an individual spot — give the Mighty Patch Surface Patch a try.

Regardless of what kind of acne or spot situation you have, Hero Cosmetics offers a large variety of products that can help address these problem areas. Some other examples include:

• Mighty Patch Nose Patch, $17.99; herocosmetics.com
• Mighty Patch Face Patch, $19.99; herocosmetics.com
• Mighty Patch Variety Pack, $13.99; herocosmetics.com
• Micropoint for Dark Spots, $12.99; herocosmetics.com

Is the Original Mighty Patch Worth It?

Considering its efficacy, reasonable price, and wide availability, I believe the Original Mighty Patch is worth it. This acne solution is ideal for rapidly reducing the appearance of pimples and is super effective for surface-level zits. If you’re willing to use a few patches and have an extra day to spare, these patches also work for deeper inflammatory acne.