It’s been around fifteen years since I experienced my first breakout, and during that time I’ve gone from having mild teen acne, to full-blown hormonal acne, and everything in between. Thankfully now, I’ve figured out exactly what I need to do and use to keep breakouts under control, and while I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll always be blemish-prone, I know which products to use for each type of spots, and so can usually clear a breakout in a couple of days. So for me now, the worst thing about a breakout is the red mark that it leaves behind (often lingering for months).
Acne scarring that presents as tiny red marks (also known as post-inflammatory erythema or PIE) is one of the most common side effects of breakouts. PIE occurs when the blood vessels at the surface of your skin are damaged by things like severe acne, popping spots, or sun exposure on already damaged skin. The good news is that while a mark is red/brown in colour, this indicates that it still has blood flow, and therefore is able to heal. The bad news is, this can take a while…
The new ZitSticka Hyperfade patches are designed to speed up this fading process. Unlike regular spot stickers, they’re specifically designed to deal with the red marks left behind by breakouts (if your breakout is still active, try the regular ZitSticka Killa Kit). Each patch contains tiny microneedles which penetrate the skin in order to dissolve ingredients exactly where they’re needed. These ingredients include niacinamide, kojic acid, vitamin C, arbutin, and TXA – all proven to work in brightening skin and breaking down the dark pigment of the acne scar.
While the ingredients work hard and fast to heal the skin, using the patches is totally effortless. You just stick them onto clean, dry skin, and let them work their magic. The ingredients are fully dissolved within two hours, but it’s a good idea to keep the patch in place throughout the day or overnight to prevent physical aggravation of the skin. The brand recommends using the patches three to four times on one mark for best results – once every three days for two weeks (unless the scar fades sooner).
BEFORE
AFTER
I had two breakouts that both appeared and healed at the same time, so I decided to try Zitsticka on one and compare it to the other, which I let heal naturally. I used the ZitSticka Hyperfade on the lower spot four times over two weeks and it’s almost completely gone (you can only see a faint mark if you’re super close to my face), whereas the upper spot still has quite visible pigmentation. If you’re looking for a quick fix or have stubborn lingering scars that you’re struggling to get rid of then this will 100% speed up the process.
