I have acne. Like, I have a lot of acne. I’ve been valiantly battling terrible hormonal acne since I was 22, so this isn’t a comment on someone who gets annual breakouts.
This is a comment from someone who has two month-old cysts on either side of her chin, just like Urusula and her eel friend in The Little Mermaid. (Even shooting the dermatologist couldn’t kill them.)
My acne journey is a long story that I won’t bore you with here, but the CliffsNotes say that my treatment options, including actively trying to get pregnant, were extremely limited, leaving me battling almost permanent acne on my chin. It
s sucks, but the upside is that I actually know a lot about acne treatments.
I love the idea of acne patches. They’re so cute and fun and silly that they actually make you laugh when you break out in a rash, which can be a good thing if you’ve been crying about your skin for days.
However, they aren’t particularly effective for my particular type of acne, which is usually pretty stubborn, deep-rooted cysts and pustules. I’ve tried every topical product, serum, spot treatment, and pretty much anything else I could find on Google, so Kiehl’s True Targeted Acne Clearance Solution ($30) is definitely my favorite product — adding yet another viral hit to TikTok that quickly shot to the top of my list. The name intrigued me, and the brand
advertised them as liquid acne patches, which felt a bit like a buzzy marketing statement, but Kiehl’s has long been one of the most popular and trusted skincare brands on the market, so I watched it all
With this new introduction, acne is gone.
Product: The True Targeted Acne Solution isn’t an acne patch in the traditional sense. It’s not in the shape of a cloud, star, or invisible sticker. The brand calls it “liquid patch technology” that creates a “breathable seal” that you can apply under sunscreen or makeup; in short, it’s more like a serum than a spot treatment or acne patch.
With a whopping 2% salicylic acid, the product shrinks pimples, soothes redness, and helps fade acne marks once the breakout has subsided. Kiehl’s also adds 4% niacinamide to visibly brighten and balance skin, and 0.2% licorice root to relieve stress acne.
The product is claimed to visibly lighten the color of pimples in two hours, reduce the size of pimples in 24 hours, and reduce the appearance of blemishes in four weeks. Sounds good, right? I put it to the test during a severe mid-term breakout to see if it could stand up to prescription medications. My review: Use is as easy as a topical treatment or acne patch. Kiehl’s recommends putting a drop of the product on your fingertips and applying directly to affected pimples, or applying a thin layer as the last step of your skincare routine. (But don’t rub too much!) Since I have a lot of active acne on my chin right now, I do two things: I apply it directly to some particularly bad pustules and apply a thin layer to my cysts. Apply it thinly. I now know that I can’t expect magical results from anything I do with my acne; I use a few prescription products to tide me over until I can resume my tried-and-true anti-acne regimen, and rarely try other products. When I tested this product, I was in the middle of my period, so the lower half of my face was very uncomfortable. I applied the liquid directly to several inflamed areas on my face, including a pimple on my upper lip and a subcutaneous cyst on my chin. Yes, these before-and-after photos still look pretty intense in terms of color, but one thing I was particularly impressed with was the acne-clearing solution. After a few nights of use, two huge, stubborn cysts that wouldn’t go away even after injections at the dermatologist looked and felt a lot smaller, as did the rest of my acne-prone lower face. They were much easier to cover up with concealer. I may not have experienced a miraculous acne transformation where all my acne disappeared overnight, but I wasn’t expecting a miracle; I just wanted to see what this little bottle could do for my big zits. Very impressed.
