As someone with acne, you’re obviously going to be trying everything you can to rid yourself of the problem. There are a number of products on the market that will help you in this regard, with overnight spot patches being very popular with the public. However, they do need to be used in the right way to get the best out of them. 

You see, not everyone completely understands what these nifty hydrocolloid patches are and why they work. This leads to many being used incorrectly – something we’re looking to address in this article, so let’s examine how to and how NOT to use them. 

The Right Things to Do When Using Overnight Spot Patches

Ok, so as you’ll see by looking at the instructions on the label, you need to prepare your skin before applying your spot patches. This is because you need to rid the skin’s surface of excess oil, built-up dirt and dead skin cells. You can do this with a non-comedogenic cleanser. 

After washing and rinsing your skin thoroughly, you need to dry it. This should be done with a soft towel in a dabbing motion. It’s a very simple process and one that allows your broken pimples to heal as the patches draw out the impurities in and around the wound. 

What NOT to Do When Using Spot Patches 

The first common mistake people make when using overnight spot patches is not to carry out the pre-application cleansing properly. If you don’t carry out this step properly, you’re only going to trap the dirt and grime under the patch. Then, you’re only going to get limited results…if any. 

Other things you should absolutely avoid doing include:

• Applying your spot patches with dirty or oily fingers. There’s no point cleaning your face thoroughly if you don’t also clean your hands, as it will simply transfer the bacteria back to the area you’re trying to treat. 
• Using them on spots that aren’t ready. For your spot patches to work, the spot in question needs to have broken through the skin. If you use them on pustules or papules that are deep under the skin, not much is going to happen. 
• Using spot patches as a long-term solution. Spot patches are great for dealing with one-off spots that arise while you’re attacking the problem in other ways. However, they’re not a long-term solution on their own, as you’re only treating the symptoms, not the cause. 

Overnight Spot Patches – Read The Instructions, Always 

If there’s one piece of advice that you should take onboard from reading this article is that spot patches need to be used a certain way. The good news is that the precise way to use them is written in black and white on the side of the packaging. That means all you have to do is read and follow them.

Money’s tight for everyone right now, so you don’t want to be needlessly wasting cosmetic products, and spot patches are no different.