I was really surprised when I saw the two photos side by side – while the results were obvious to me (the nasty pressure from the pimple was completely gone), I didn’t expect to see such a huge difference on camera! Subjects were advised to use their usual cosmetics and not to change any cosmetics during the study period. But unlike dermarollers and dermastampers, there’s no concerns about sterilising equipment or spreading infections. The patches are single use and stay in the one place on your skin. Foreman,J.; Xie,J.; Keel,S.; vanWijngaarden,P.; Taylor,H.R.; Dirani,M. Sci.Rep. 2017, 7, 8757. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-09421-9

Jeong,H.-R.; Lee,H.-S.; Choi,I.-J.; Park,J.-H. J.DrugTargeting 2017, 25, 29–40. doi:10.1080/1061186x.2016.1200589 Chiang,B.; Venugopal,N.; Edelhauser,H.F.; Prausnitz,M.R. Exp.EyeRes. 2016, 153, 101–109. doi:10.1016/j.exer.2016.10.011

Yadav,V.; Sharma,P.K.; Murty,U.S.; Mohan,N.H.; Thomas,R.; Dwivedy,S.K.; Banerjee,S. Int.J.Pharm. 2021, 605, 120815. doi:10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.120815 Tarbox,T.N.; Watts,A.B.; Cui,Z.; Williams,R.O.,III. DrugDeliveryTransl.Res. 2018, 8, 1828–1843. doi:10.1007/s13346-017-0466-4 Kim,J.D.; Kim,M.; Yang,H.; Lee,K.; Jung,H. J.ControlledRelease 2013, 170, 430–436. doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2013.05.026

Hi, these sound so cool! But reading these breakthroughs always gives me mild anxiety about my current skincare regimen. Krieger,K.J.; Bertollo,N.; Dangol,M.; Sheridan,J.T.; Lowery,M.M.; O’Cearbhaill,E.D. Microsyst.Nanoeng. 2019, 5, 42. doi:10.1038/s41378-019-0088-8 Haj-Ahmad,R.; Khan,H.; Arshad,M.S.; Rasekh,M.; Hussain,A.; Walsh,S.; Li,X.; Chang,M.-W.; Ahmad,Z. Pharmaceutics 2015, 7, 486–502. doi:10.3390/pharmaceutics7040486cruelty free Created with Sketch. no oil Created with Sketch. water Created with Sketch. vegan Created with Sketch. derm Created with Sketch. bunny Created with Sketch. Methods of drug-loading depend on the type and construction of the manufactured microneedles, as well as the applied material. The properties of the drug must be carefully taken into consideration, as some active ingredients may decompose at higher temperatures or upon irradiation. In the case of solid microneedles prepared with the use of porous ceramic materials, the pores in the carrier material can be filled with the active ingredient in liquid or solid form. In the first case, the drug diffuses from the solution in the microneedle pores upon application. In the other case, the drug solution is loaded to the microneedles and in the next step the formulation is dried and the drug precipitates inside the pores. Upon application, the drug dissolves in a physiological fluid and, in this form, can permeate to the deeper tissues [161]. In the techniques involving polymers applied to obtain solid microneedles, the drug may be dissolved [162,163] or suspended [164] in the polymer or monomer solution. In the manufacturing of more complex systems, with the active ingredient incorporated in a specific compartment of a microneedle, more complex procedures involving both drug-loaded and drug-free solutions may be employed [165]. Hollow microneedles containing an empty canal inside are usually filled with active ingredient solution, either passively or with the use of pressure-driven methods [161]. In the systems using passive diffusion, the drug solution can be loaded to the canals inside the microneedles [141] or to an external compartment [166]. In pressure-driven systems, a reservoir with different pumping mechanisms is attached to the microneedle systems. Usually, manually operated syringes are reported [167,168], as well as micropumps [169] or actuator-equipped devices designed for self-injection [170]. Microneedles are extremely small, micro-sized needles designed to penetrate the outer layer of the skin. It is a common cosmetic procedure used to help improve skin imperfections such as wrinkles and acne scarring or just to rejuvenate the skin.

Some skincare ingredients with the right properties can penetrate through our skin barrier, but many of them can’t get in. That’s why lots of products are formulated with penetration enhancers to help them get into the skin.drug containing tip after optimization was delivered to the mouse cornea and efficiently reduced progression of keratitis As a continuation of the previous studies the authors created stimuli-sensitive bifunctional hydrogel microneedle arrays. In the first stage, after placing the patch on the eyeballs and piercing the membrane, the needles swelled and, as a result, wedged. Then, after the drug was released, the patch had to be irradiated by UV light (365 nm, 10 mW/m 2) for 14 min with an OmniCure S2000 Spot Curing System (Excelitas Technologies, Waltham, MA) to cause the needles to shrink by about 20%, so they could be easily removed without the risk of damaging the eye. The MN matrix contained a mixture of PVA and spiropyran-conjugated N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPPAM) [179]. Choi SY, Kwon HJ, Ahn GR et al., Hyaluronic acid microneedle patch for the improvement of crow’s feet wrinkles, Dermatologic Therapy 2017, e12546. DOI: 10.1111/dth.12546 Wong M. Dissolving Microneedle Patches: Science and Review (Vice Reversa). Lab Muffin Beauty Science. June 8, 2019. Accessed October 31, 2023.

I am 43 years old and not very fond of injectables like fillers. These patches worked wonders and I can’t believe I’m seeing results straight from the first day! I’m excited to use them consistently to see better results!"Kang G , Tu TN, Kim Set al., Adenosine‐loaded dissolving microneedle patches to improve skin wrinkles, dermal density, elasticity and hydration, Int J Cosmet Sci 2018, 40: 199–206. DOI: 10.1111/ics.12453 Waghule,T.; Singhvi,G.; Dubey,S.K.; Pandey,M.M.; Gupta,G.; Singh,M.; Dua,K. Biomed.Pharmacother. 2019, 109, 1249–1258. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2018.10.078