I’ve been seeing the viral Frownies facial patches all over my social media feeds the past few months. I’m almost in my mid-30’s and yeah, I do have wrinkles. Botox isn’t my thing, though.
So the allure of a magical patch I stick on my face could get rid of my forehead wrinkles as I sleep was too tempting to miss. I bought a pack, used them for a month and… didn’t notice anything different. If you’re thinking of buying these patches, read this post first.
Let’s dig into this in my honest Frownies review.
Frownies Are Branded As Non-Invasive Alternative To Injectables, Which Is Great If You Hate Botox
Frownies Original Facial Patches are branded as a “non-invasive alternative to injectables” and I’m all for that. As I mentioned above, botox isn’t my thing (I’ve seen it go wrong too many times to want to attempt it!)
And in theory, using Frownies should be an easy way to smooth out facial wrinkles, smile lines and fine lines while you sleep. I just didn’t see any results. But before we dive into that, let’s talk about how these patches even work.
Frownies Uses A Special Rose Water Hydrator To Apply Patches For Overnight Sleeping
When you purchase your Frownies, you’ll be prompted to buy a Rose Water Hydrator Spray, too. To apply the wrinkle patches, you spritz the back of the unbleached kraft paper patch with the rose water to activate the adhesive.
According to their website, “Frownies Facial Patches act as a splint or cast allow the skin to lay flat thereby smoothing fine lines and wrinkles caused by repeated facial expressions.”
The term cast is really accurate here. The skin patch will dry out and tighten during this process, thus pulling your skin tight and firm, eventually making a facial cast. They turn rock hard once they’re dried out and make it difficult to move your facial muscles so I recommend you apply them after you’ve brushed your teeth for the night.
How To Apply Frownies The Right Way
- Break ‘Em Apart: First things first, those little patches come in sheets. Just snap off the sizes you need. I recommend mixing and matching sizes to fit your face and areas that need attention. I usually end up using a few small triangles for each corner of my mouth, eyes and forehead.
- Get ‘Em Sticky: Now, here’s the magic trick: wet the shiny side! You can use their Rose Water Hydrator (which smells amazing, by the way) or just plain warm water if you ran out. Let ’em sit for a minute or so, until they get a little tacky and start to curl up. That’s how you know they’re ready.
- Give Your Skin a Little Love: Before you stick ’em on, give your face a quick massage. Like, ten seconds, nothing fancy. Just get the blood flowing in the area. It makes a difference, trust me.
- Smooth & Stick: While you’re holding your skin smooth with one hand, slap those sticky patches on with the other. Overlap them a bit, especially on your forehead, to cover the whole area you’re targeting.
- Beauty Sleep Time: Head to bed, just make sure you don’t fall asleep before the patches had a chance to harden or they will fall off.
- Take Patches Off: To remove Frownies patches, just soak a washcloth in warm water. They’ll eventually slide off, though I found they leave residue and had the most success when I took them off in the shower and could blast wash my face after.
Do Frownies Work? Well, It Takes Time To Reduce Wrinkles. So Be Patient
According to their website, they “recommend everyone start by wearing Frownies Facial Patches for 30 consecutive nights while you sleep. Consistent use leads to longer-lasting results.”
That’s why I picked 30 days as my test window, since it was advertised on their website as being enough time to start to see results, though obviously the longer you use them, the better results you supposedly will receive.
You have to keep in mind that your body doesn’t change overnight. Skincell turnover takes at least 28 days, and while this product isn’t designed to speed up Skincell turnover like a retinol serum is, the patches are meant to reduce fine lines and and facial creases which involve the skin changing.
Basically, expect a minimum of 28 days to notice any changes. Be patient!
Frownies Patches Leave A Weird, Sticky Residue On Your Skin That Itches
Something I really didn’t like about Frownies patches on my skin was the adhesive residue that was left on my face after removing the patches. Think Elmer’s glue from childhood, but all over your face. Sticky and hard to remove, plus it ithced like hell.
I have sensitive skin already and always have to be careful about what skin care products I put on my face and was disappointed this glue left a little rash on my face. I stuck it out all 30 days for this review, but the sticky residue was enough for me to not want to keep using these after 30 days.
I found it extremely hard to wash off and I ended up over-washing my face and irritating my skin from just trying to remove the patch adhesive.
Some People Are Allergic To Frownies, So Patch Test First
I have sensitive skin and Frownies left a mild rash on my face after using these, but some people have much stronger reactions. According to a review on Trustpilot, someone said “First night I used frownies for my lip lines, I woke up at 5am with very swollen, tight lips. Fortunately, I had antihistamine tablets. I’m obviously allergic to something in them.”
If you’re testing them out, I recommend patch testing first and applying just a small piece of a Frownies patch to your skin for a night or two before going all in on your face.
Are Frownies Worth It? Honest Frownies Review For 30 Days Of Use
I used Frownies for a month and didn’t see any results. For the price point the patches are at, ($68.85 for a starter kit) they are considerably cheaper than botox but also expensive enough I would want to see something changing on my face to justify continuing to use them. Smooth skin texture or something, at the bare minimum.
Especially since the patches irritate sensitive skin and disrupt my skincare routine. I liked how easy the patches are to apply and how they come in many shapes and sizes to fit over any area of your face, from mouth lines to crows feet, even to your neck. Which I have a large, deep wrinkle from looking down at my phone all the time.
What I didn’t like about Frownies was the itchy feeling they gave me and the stick residue left on my skin, which gave me a mild rash. It was hard for me to keep using these after 30 days, which maybe could have resulted in smoother wrinkles, since I hated the feeling of them so much.
So, do they work? Not for me.
I Didn’t See Any Wrinkle Reduction From Using Frownies, But Other Customer Reviews Have Them Highly Rated
Look, maybe the time window of use wasn’t enough to see results. I used the patches around my mouth, eyes and forehead but didn’t see any difference but this is something that does take time and perhaps I just need to keep with it for more than a month.
I’ve read a lot of customer reviews and content online about them, and there are really people who left reviews on Trustpilot saying the patches worked to smooth our facial wrinkles, and the website has a lot of Frownies Reviews Before And After photos that look like they worked for those people.
‘I bailed after 30 days since I did not like the process, but if you are willing to stick it out for 60, 90 or even 180 days you could possibly see results. If you’ve tried Frownies for longer than a couple months, I would love to hear your honest review or key takeaways in the comments below so everyone can see them.
Frequently Asked Questions About Frownies
Are Frownies Reusable? No, Frownies are a single use skincare patch that you can’t reuse.
Can You Return Frownies? Frownies can be returned within 30 days, but they need to be returned with their original packaging and you will not be refunded for shipping costs. You also will not be supplied with a return label. If you only ordered a single pack of patches which is around $21, it may not be worth it to return the patches as you wouldn’t save much money after paying for shipping.
How Long Does It Take For Frownies To Work?
According to their website, Frownies takes at least 30 days of nightly use to start seeing results. I personally didn’t see skin results after 30 days.
How Do Frownies Actually Work? I used Frownies for a month and didn’t notice any difference in my forehead wrinkles or fine lines around my face. Many customer reviews say the patches do work for them, though. So they are worth testing out if you are curious.
What Are Frownies Ingredients: This is a little hard to find as they only say “starch based adhesive”. I had to dig deeper to figure out what that meant, and I discovered the adhesive is made from Dextrin. According to their website, “Dextrin is made by drying vegetable starch with certain enzymes such as amylase to produce a thick, sticky paste.”
It’s used to help to moisturize and soften the skin and is commonly found in many beauty and skincare products.
Frownies Rosewater is made from:
- Aqua
- Organic Rose Hydrosol (Rose flower Extract)
- Organic Aloe Barbardensis (Aloe Vera)
- Sodium Hyaluronate
- Populus Tremuloises (Aspen Bark),
- Aniba Rosaeodora (Rose Wood) Oil
- Symphytum Officinalis (Comfrey)
Who Are Frownies Best For? Frownies are best for people who want to reduce neck wrinkles and creases, fine lines around the mouth, crows feet around the eyes and forehead wrinkles, along with general smoother skin texture and younger looking skin. There is not specific age. I’m 33 and tried Frownies.
Frownies Review For Forehead Wrinkles: One of the main reasons I tried Frownies was to counteract the deep forehead wrinkles developing on my face. I’m a former theater kid, I can’t help but be expressive! I didn’t find them to work on my forehead wrinkles, though.
I’m not the only one who wasn’t thrilled by the patches. Business Insider did a Frownies review for wrinkles and didn’t see any results.
Do You Have To Wear Frownies Every Night To Work? Yes, you need to wear these wrinkle patches nightly in order to see results. It’s ok to skip a night here and there but you need to wear them regularly.
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Have you tried Frownies? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
