These Microneedle Patches Give Me Plumper, Softer, and More Hydrated Skin Overnight
They're just $15.
Welcome to Game-Changers, a weekly series in which we reveal the holy grail beauty products we’re loving now—the ones that saved our hair, cleared our skin, and, in some way, changed our lives.
I don’t get professional beauty treatments often, and although I’m well aware of the anti-aging benefits of microneedling, I don’t know that there’s any lifetime I would willingly have someone roll a dozen tiny needles onto my face. Admittedly, I spend a lot of time looking at before and after photos of microneedling and wish I had the guts to do it myself, so when I caught wind of a new skincare product that offers an alternative to the celeb-backed beauty treatment (and it’s drugstore-priced), I was all ears.
Cue the Pacifica Wake Up Beautiful Microneedling Patches. They come in a pack of four tiny, self-dissolving micro-needles made from vegan glycerin, granactive retinoid, and hyaluronic acid. Though the patches aren’t a substitute for an in-office microneedling treatment, they’re a quick-acting alternative that make the skin appear plumper in just two hours when placed between brows, over crow’s feet, or smile lines.
Skepticism is my middle name, but my pandemic skin needs all the TLC it can get and Pacifica is one of my favorite affordable skincare brands (seriously, try its Underarm Deodorant Wipes if you haven’t already), so I decided to try them. After cleansing and drying my skin, I placed one of the nickel-sized patches under my eye, one on my forehead, and two on my crow’s feet. Then, per the directions, I gently pushed the patch into my skin for three seconds after application. I immediately felt a prickle (not pain), which meant the mini, dissolvable needles were inserting in my skin.
I left the patches on overnight, and the next morning the patches were still tightly secured on my skin despite me being a tosser and turner type of sleeper. When I removed them, my fine lines were admittedly still there, but my skin was way plumper, softer, and more hydrated on the areas that I applied the patches. Additionally, despite having sensitive skin, I didn’t experience sensitivity, which is likely thanks to the fact that the patches are made with granactive retinoid, a petroleum-free retinoid that’s been found to be less harsh than traditional retinol.
I would have preferred for them to be shaped linear (versus round) for a more targeted application for fine lines, and the brand recommends using all four patches immediately after opening so the active ingredients are at their most potent—this means there could be waste if your skin only needs one patch that day. However, the Pacifica Wake Up Beautiful Microneedling Patches were a quick and easy way to reap the skin-plumping benefits of microneedling without breaking the bank (and clenching your fists in the process).
