Moisturisers claiming to be ‘better than Botox’ frequently take over my email subject lines. It's one of my biggest pet peeves – usually met with an audible groan, followed by a speedy click of the ‘delete’ button.
No skincare product that you slather onto the surface layer of your face can ever truthfully act like Botox, or compete with how it makes your forehead look smoother than an ice skating rink.
After all, Botox (a portmanteau of botulinum toxin) is injected into wrinkles to restrict muscle movement for between 3-6 months – a ‘freezing’ effect no amount of moisturiser (nope, not even the super expensive ones) can ever achieve.
That's not to say that there aren't some great beauty products out there to help you cheat your way to similar results, though. Some treatments, such as Noble Panacea's The Exceptional Eye Lift Concentrate, contain peptides to soften muscle contractions and temporarily reduce the appearance of expression lines.
Microcurrent devices including NuFace can make facial contours look more lifted for 12 hours, while new at-home laser Nira promises to soften the look of fine lines.
But as someone who is dithering about starting on the Botox merry-go-round, I've recently found myself adding 111Skin's Wrinkle Erasing Retinol Patches into my routine and I've noticed both instant and long-term smoothing. Here's everything you need to know…
111Skin Wrinkle Erasing Retinol Patches: First impressions
When I peeled the patches away from the backing, I was immediately reminded of just how different they are to regular sheet and eye masks.
For starters, the Wrinkle Erasing Retinol Patches aren't slippy to the touch like a hydrogel mask. Rather, each pack contains dry-to-the-touch silicone patches shaped to the face zone it is targeting: two semi-circles for crow's feet or nose-to-mouth folds; two strips for forehead creases and one triangular-shaped patch to target the frown lines between the brows.
You can also immediately see the tiny, needle-like structures (known as microcones), which release retinol, vitamin C, hyaluronic acid and peptides deep into the skin before self-dissolving.
My user experience
111Skin is the first non-medical brand to use microcones – a Korean technology said to double the absorption of skincare ingredients compared to topical application. Given that I'm a big fan of Korean formulations – and retinol, vitamin C and hyaluronic acid are all science-backed ingredients I regularly seek out in my skincare – I was intrigued.
I patted the clear patches onto clean, dry skin. Unlike sheet masks, which you can move around until you find a comfortable sweet spot, you need to apply them with laser-like precision as the microcones grip onto the skin. They look virtually invisible once on as you can see in the picture below.
There is a stinging sensation and a feeling of tightness when they anchor to the skin but both are short-lived and you soon forget that you have anything stuck to your face.
I saw the biggest difference when I wore the patches overnight but I would caveat this by saying that, if you're a poor sleeper, you will find these patches a distraction – so I'd stick to wearing them during the day.
Another thing I learnt the hard way is not to use these patches if you've got self-tan on your face. The one (and only!) time I did this, it lifted off the tan at the site of the microcones and I was left with little criss-crossed tracks on the skin.
111Skin Wrinkle Erasing Retinol Patches: Did they work?
I have to admit, the 111Skin Wrinkle Erasing Retinol Patches were met with an eye roll when they first landed on my desk last year, especially when I saw the words “wrinkle erasing” on the packaging.
That first impression wasn't helped by the fact that I used them for the first time when I was on the tail end of a cold, which meant I found them quite uncomfortable, especially on my forehead.
It's not often that I give a beauty product a second chance. But, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention – and I had run out of my regular serum-soaked eye masks so I decided to give the Retinol Patches a whirl a few hours before an important work event (side note: according to the brand they need at least two hours to get to work).
As a cynical beauty editor, I was actually dumbstruck by just how well the patches worked. They come closer to that Botox-like effect than anything else I've ever tried, as well as making your makeup sing the next day.
Despite having tiny needles, they're also more pleasant to use than microneedling, which I've done both in clinic and at home. The Wrinkle Erasing Retinol Patches work on the same premise but without the gnarly side effects or pain and I actually found the results more impactful.
The ‘elevens’ between my brows looked fainter and the skin around my eyes a lot brighter and smoother after just one use.
While these dramatic effects are temporary, regularly using the patches will improve the texture of the skin long-term because they are powered by retinol – the silver bullet dermatologists wax lyrical about for bringing fresh cells to the skin's surface and ramping up collagen production.
For this reason, you will also need to wear SPF the next day as retinol can make the skin more sensitive to sunlight.
Which brings us onto how often you should use the Wrinkle Erasing Retinol Patches. 111Skin recommends using them three times a week but at £140 per treatment, they're not cheap, so the answer really depends on your budget.
Personally, my budget doesn't stretch to weekly use so I lean on them for special occasions such as weddings and parties. Other than that, I'll save them for the odd day when my skin needs more of a brightening and smoothing boost than skincare alone can achieve. But, for now, my Botox appointment is on hold.
For more from Fiona Embleton, GLAMOUR's Associate Beauty Director, follow her on @fiembleton.
