As the gel creates a barrier to protect your acne, the product needs to be spread evenly and thinly before any base makeup is applied to the skin. Thankfully, it is easy to apply! Just a small droplet is enough to treat the area just like using an ointment and then, wait for it to dry completely before applying your usual makeup routine.

The drying time is around a minute but could take longer if you have applied too much by accident. Once it is dried, you can see that it creates a shiny “film” over your skin which is quite firm and sealed quite well to the skin. Although the packaging says to wash it off with warm water, many people and PR images show them doing that gross-but-satisfying pinching and pulling at the edges to take it off like flaky

dead skin. Disgustingly… good!

It is because of the film’s sensitivity to water that there are some caution steps you will need to remember when doing your makeup:

• You can’t use a damp beauty blender directly as it will break the film so fingers or cushion air puff application is best.
• Applying a very watery type foundation will also pose a challenge. Try to work thinly and build up to make sure it doesn’t break the seal.
• Do not rub the seal.

Left Side: Shiny appearance due to the larger area being covered on the cheek and forehead. | Right Side: Spot coverage on smaller problem areas near the lip and forehead.

My acne spot after applying one layer of light-medium foundation.

Aside from providing a barrier to block bacteria and other stuff that might make your acne worse from applying makeup over it, Recover Clear Patch has malic acid and citric acid which have exfoliating and skin tone improvement properties. Having said that, the packaging does warn to avoid areas with abnormal skin such as scars, swelling, eczema, and rashes.

My thoughts about the skin benefits of this product are that it is only suitable to treat

very mild environment-causing acne. It gives the wearer peace of mind that there’s something to make it more beneficial to your skin but is it really strong enough during the hours you spend wearing makeup to see any real effects? I’m skeptical about that and still think it’s better to create a good skincare routine with more concentrated ingredients to cure your acne rather than to simply cover it for cosmetic reasons.

After making many exaggerated funny faces to see if the patch would lift off, I was happy to find that it still remained on the skin with no breaks. Having said that though, your face makeup will wrinkle in that kind of cling wrap scrunchy way when you laugh, smile, and so on. It is because the seal doesn’t absorb the product like your skin does but stops the absorption with its coating. Over time, these wrinkles will definitely deteriorate the seal but it was nice to know it wasn’t in an instant.

Ironically, however, the one thing that I was not expecting was how fragile this patch seal was when pressed with the slightest bit of pressure!

While I was seeing if the makeup would come off from simple rubbing, I was surprised that the seal on the side came off so easily without applying much pressure at all. I don’t think it would last very long outside and during daily use when it would be only natural to touch your face occasionally by instinct.

Another thing I noticed was how the area I applied spot treatments of the patch gel created a crust halo with the foundation around the edges giving the appearance of flaky skin. Definitely not an attractive look and this would make anyone want to take it off immediately.

Creasing from the patch seal.

Left side: Peeling because I rubbed my cheek slightly | Right side: Flake patches under foundation makeup

There’s not too much to rave about the design of COGIT’s Recover Clear Patch’s packaging since it’s very basic but there is something to “rant” about ever so slightly as it crosses my mind. Isn’t this Recover Clear Patch packaging a copy of NOT4U’s?

Let’s break it down:

• They both have a green and white packaging colour scheme and both come in a tube form. The green and white are slightly brighter on Recover Clear Patch’s than NOT4U’s.
• They both have a green coloured “bar” around the tube.

• They both have a medical-looking “+” sign in their name although in different colours (NOT4U is red or grey and Recover Clear Patch is green).

Given that their package appearances overall uses simplified designs it’s quite easy to spot the similarities. Also since Cojit started selling on Amazon in March 2018 and NOT4U in May 2017 I’m inclined to believe that NOT4U had the design originally. Personally, I like NOT4U’s packaging more because it looks more polished and designed with a brand image in mind while Recover Clear Patch’s packaging looks very generic and standard.

Left Side: NOT4U Real Skin Patch | Right Side: COGIT Recover Clear Patch

Retailing at ¥1,296 the Recover Clear Patch isn’t going to break the bank but for an item that has more cons than pros, it’s money better spent elsewhere in my opinion.

For the same amount of money, you can also get pimple patches that work better in my opinion.