Naturally, I had to start with Starface’s hero product, the Hydro-Stars. I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but if I did? Let’s just say that the bar has been set high. The magnetic compact (with a built-in mirror) is total genius (not to mention practical), and the star-shaped patches aren’t just adorable but also help adhere to the shape of your zit. Compared to other patches I’ve tried (and I’ve tried many), I’d say that these fall somewhere in the middle of the pack. They must be applied on dry, clean skin in order to stay on, and I found that these worked best on breakouts that already were partially extracted (i.e., had an escape hatch to drain the contents of the pimple) rather than ones that had yet to come to a head. However, one of the best things about pimple patches is that they physically prevent the wearer from picking — and the more you can encourage people to wear them (aka, make them cute), the better. For $15, you can get 32 patches plus the refillable case, which I think is pretty well-priced. (Refill packs are $11, so hang onto that compact.)
