Ever get a blemish? It will look so cute and pretty with a panda stuck on top of it!
I bought these Take Care Beauty French Studio Design hydrocolloid blemish patches in Paris last February. They are effective, very cute, and came from my new Favourite Paris Pharmacy: Pharmacie Carré Opéra.
I have worn them for 8 hours straight with no ill effects, and they had a noticeably calming and healing effect on the spots I was treating.
I would not hesitate to slap one of these onto the consenting visage of anyone suffering from an annoying blemish – I think they’re an easy and effective (and very charming) way to keep spots hygienically under control and to guard against the urge to pick, poke or pop a blemish that isn’t ready to subside.
The ones I bought are Kawaii in style but Take Care French Studio Design hold several different licences including Hello Kitty & Friends.
Hello Kitty has one friend that I am mildly obsessed by: Bad Badtz-Maru.
I am always on the lookout for Bad Badtz-Maru, in any shape or form, but I have been horribly teased recently by Sanrio packaging that promises Badtz but does not deliver.
Imagine my joy then, and the capers I cut, when I recently spotted the little packet pictured below.
Observant readers will notice that there is no manufacturer’s name on this packet. The Sanrio corporation appear to have not been informed of its production. And it doesn’t claim to be Bad Badtz-Maru. Perhaps it’s simply a co-incidental penguin who possibly has seven points of separation or whatever is required these days to avoid being done for copyright infringement?
No.
It is, without doubt, a knock-off.
A Bent Badtz-Maru, one could say.
I won’t tell you where I picked it up from, as I am not a grass.
Ordinarily, I swerve any kind of beauty product that I think might not be legitimate on the grounds that a) my precious skin is far too precious to expose to potentially shonky formulae and b) I do not wish my Intellectual Property to be nicked and used without me getting a cut, and so it would be hypocritical in the extreme for me to embrace ‘Dupe Culture’
But in this instance? I threw caution (and morals) to the wind and ripped that packet open because I am Badtz-starved!
Sanrio rarely make Bad Badtz-Maru available, and if he is available, he’s often not affordable. Give the people what they want Sanrio, or capitalism dictates that others will fill the grumpy little penguin shaped gap!
The Acne Patch is said to be made with ‘Tee’ Tree Oil. This is not an ingredient that fills me with confidence. I will re-purpose these little stickers to decorate my planner, because luckily for me, I already own blemish patches that I have more faith in.
My conscience would pain me if I were to recommend this particular Acne Patch for any purpose other than decorating stationary.
I recommend legitimate hydrocolloid blemish patches because
- the cute ones are fun, and the clear ones make spots pretty much undetectable
- They also alleviate the discomfort – both physical and psychological – that comes with having a painful and/or unsightly blemish
- In my experience they clear blemishes up quickly and efficiently.
Hydrocolloid patches seem space-age to me compared to the spot treatment protocol of my youth – a thick orange coloured ointment called Clearasil that you dabbed on each blemish in the forlorn hope that it would heal it. Clearasil seemed to me to be more of a penance than a treatment: a visible signal to let the world know that you knew that you had spots and were trying to do something to make them go away.
I think it is a very good aspect of modern life that that people can now sport their spots with pride and style.
I bought my Take Care French Studio Design 20 Patch Anti Blemish Patches from Pharmacie Carré Opéra but I can’t see them online
The Hello Kitty & Friends Anti-Blemish Patches by Take Care have an RRP of £7.00 according to online retailers Junior Edition, and at the time of writing are reduced by 50% to £3.50. They are available here
Find out more about Take Care Beauty here
Pure Seoul is one of my favourite K-Beauty retailers and I usually buy the clear ‘grown up’ type of hydrocolloid patch from them. They have a whole bunch of hydrocolloid patches to choose from here
Ethical Stuff
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This post is not sponsored or paid for, and nor was it expected or the content directed by Take Care Beauty, Sanrio, Pharmacie Carré Opéra, Junior Edition, or Pure Seoul.
