Starface Hydro-Stars + Salicylic Acid Are Worth Adding To Your Acne Fighting Routine

Is there a bigger bummer than discovering you have a pimple at an inopportune time? They seem to pop up right before big events or when you just don’t want to handle one. more. thing. Starface is the skincare brand that’s here to make pimples tolerable if not… maybe, kind of cool. The concept is simple: pimple patches that are not pretending they are not there. Instead, Starface’s signature product, the Hydro-Star is a hydrocolloid pimple patch in the shape of a bright yellow star, making it more of a skincare accessory.

Pimple patches have been around for a while (they were popular in K-Beauty before they made it stateside), and many have loved them, but since their conception, they were mostly something you did not want to be seen wearing. As we’ve entered a time of lowering the formality bar on what we’ll wear outside, with matching sweatsuit sets and athleisure being the norm for the past couple of years, there’s never been a better time to take your pimple patches out for a spin around the block. Makeup-free selfies haven’t been the same since.

Starface first launched in 2019 with their original yellow patches, and has expanded the Hydro-Star family to include multicolored stars, extra large ones, and even collaborations with iconic characters like Hello Kitty and, most recently, the Sesame Street crew. Their latest innovation, however, is an even stronger acne fighting patch — the Hydro-Star + Salicylic Acid. A potent acne treating ingredient found in many spot treatments, salicylic acid helps unclog pores to get at deeper, more stubborn acne.

Our hard-working editors have put them to the test, and it seems that to know these patches is to love them. See what we had to say about Starface Hydro-Stars + Salicylic Acid, below.

Starface Hydro-Star + Salicylic Acid Reviews

“Every once in a while, I’ll make the grave error of falling asleep before washing my face and wake up to find that my pores have retaliated with an enormous pimple. Starface came through in my time of crisis. The patch quickly flattened out my zit and the addition of mild salicylic acid means my pores are in good hands. The baby blue hue is so precious, I’m excited to have another great (and very cute) tool in my anti-acne crusade!” — Layla Halabian, culture editor

“Acne has never made me feel cuter! I had two volcanic breakouts erupt — the 3D kind — and these babies flattened them out in just a few hours without the dark spots most acne patches leave behind. Starface lives up to its hype!” — Kelly Reed, social media strategist

“I've always struggled with acne and hyperpigmentation, and I've tried countless products, but I've never used anything like Starface before. I was skeptical that these cute little stars actually worked, but I was so surprised to see my breakouts gone by the next morning.” — India Roby, fashion writer

“I had a MASSIVE pimple on my chin, so it was the perfect opportunity to try out Starface. I'm one of those people who loves to pick at my skin when I have acne flare ups, so having the sticker to stop me from picking was the best first step. I put it on in the evening a couple of hours before bed, and when I woke up in the morning, it was practically flat. I was shocked!” — Alexa Pipia, social media manager

“I can always rely on my forehead to pop up with a few hormonal zits every month, and now I can react quickly with Starface. I placed these cute blue stars on a pair of twinning pimples to wear all day (Zoom meetings included), and then replaced them with fresh ones before I went to bed. By the morning, they both shrunk in size and were nearly invisible.” — Maria Bobila, fashion editor

“Out of sight, out of mind is a really helpful philosophy when it comes to my pimples, covering them with Starface so they can heal without my picking or prodding is a game changer. I love these sal acid ones because they have a little extra oomph to help get at those zits you kind of feel coming on before they really make an appearance. I’m always at the ready with my patches. And they’re so cute, I can even pop on some blue eyeliner to match.” — Sam Neibart, beauty editor