I’m a smoker, I’m 43 years old and I tried viral patches that ‘erase forehead wrinkles’ – my boyfriend said I looked like an accident victim

AS A smoker of 43 years, my forehead wrinkles are pronounced and abundant. I’ve tried dermal fillers, with good results, but I can’t afford to pay for decent injectables.

So my ears prick up when I hear this Puckers – skin patches that smooth wrinkles overnight – are now cited as a natural and cheaper alternative to Botox. But do they really work?

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Scrolling through Amazon reviews, you might think so – returning customers give five-star reviews in numbers.

“I can’t believe they actually work,” writes one user, and another user responds: “Surprisingly good.”

So when they arrived, I opened the package excitedly.

The packaging does not disappoint – all immaculate and pastel pink and small enough to travel.

APPLICATION

That night, I tried them for the first time as part of my seven-day experiment to see if they could change the stubborn lines on my forehead.

I had to spend 15 minutes online first to figure out how to apply them correctly. It looked like I really needed training – complete with ‘instructional videos’ on the site – just to use them.

The entire application took about 20 minutes.

You massage the frown lines on your forehead so they flatten, then spray a small square plaster included in the kit with the rosewater moisturizer. It smells like roses and I didn’t find it unpleasant.

Nextyou smooth the patch over the wrinkles, I used about five patches per application.

As I walk into the bedroom to get ready for the night, my boyfriend laughs, “Were you in a car accident?” He jokes when he sees my forehead covered in plaster.

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I can’t help but agree that they look ridiculous and feel uncomfortable. On the plus side, they don’t irritate my sensitive skin or cause breakouts.

You leave the patches on for a minimum of 3 hours, but I slept with them on overnight as recommended on the Frownies website and packaging.

The next day, I washed the stains with warm water. It’s like taking off a plaster cast – there’s a slight feeling of a wax strip.

STAY ON LINE

I was pleasantly surprised to see that my forehead midline improved overnight and my forehead looks smooth and shiny as you would expect from Botox.

Then disaster strikes. That day, at 4pm, when I’m in the bathroom, I look in the mirror and see that the results from the morning have markedly disappeared and my wrinkles have returned.

If I had done some proper research on treating wrinkles on skin blemishes, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Scientists wrote a paper on skin tags to treat crow’s feet, and in one clinical trial, found that the patches have instant results that disappear after just an hour.

On the fourth morning of the same long routine, I meet skin and aesthetics expert, Nina Prisk, from Harley Street Clinic Update aesthetics.

Prisk says: “The patches are claimed to help retrain facial muscles to prevent wrinkles from forming.

“As far as I know, they do not contain any active ingredients and are simply plaster-like devices that stretch the skin.”

“While this may seem like a good idea and a cheaper alternative to injectable treatments such as Botox and fillers, science suggests that although there may be initial improvement after the patches are removed, any wrinkles will quickly reappear.” Prisk adds.

THE FINAL LINE

At the end of the fifth night, I ripped out my puckers at 2am in the middle of my sleep because they felt uncomfortable. They hurt when I pulled them out without water, but I was half asleep.

(I) was a little disappointed that friends didn’t comment on how young I looked

Erica Crompton

I was starting to get frustrated with how long it took to apply and remove them each morning. I’m a wash-and-go kind of girl.

I went camping that night, just for one night, and was a little disappointed that friends didn’t comment on how young I looked. I invested time and discomfort into the large smooth surface of my forehead. Why haven’t I looked 35 again yet?

Earlier that evening, while we were camping, we took some photos of each other in the daylight. When I saw my photo I was shocked, I looked as wrinkled as ever – did those instant results in the early hours of my first nights in Frownies leave me delulu? Didn’t I look younger?

Broken dreams, I had no doubt that my seventh night sleeping with these patches would be my last.

At £48.90 for a starter kit of 144 forehead patches and a moisturizing rosewater spray, they are by no means the cheapest product on the market.

And I prefer to sleep through the night with a night cream or vitamin C-rich moisturizer that smells wonderful and feels luxurious. Something that might even help induce a restful night’s sleep, rather than getting in the way of it like these Frownies do.

As my wrinkles grew, so did I. At 43, I’m less likely to tolerate silly beauty regimes and fad diets to “look better or younger.”

When I look in the mirror again one night after a week of frowning, my crease between my eyebrows looks a little softer.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Was a week of sleeping with these patches only worth £50 and do I make the effort to use them? I’m not sure.

One plus is that my skin stays clear—blemishes haven’t caused any blemishes or dry patches to appear, as some stronger, more acidic anti-wrinkle creams have done in the past.

The biggest redeeming feature for Frownies is the temporary fix for a few hours after use.

This can work for a special occasion like a wedding or Christmas party by simply using the stickers a few hours before the event.

The results may not last into the wee hours as expected, but most people will have their beer glasses on by the end of the night.

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