Starface Pimple Patches Are Finally Launching in Canada

Bringing acne positivity north of the border

As a beauty editor at Elle in New York City, Julie Schott had a front-row seat to the industry. She got to try nondescript lab samples months before they’d go on to be bestsellers and witnessed firsthand all the innovation happening in hair, makeup and skin. But one space seemed to always lag behind: acne.

“There was so much happening in all these different arenas, but acne, even though it affects 95 per cent of people, remained clinical, sterile and often negative,” says Schott. “It was like ‘You need to fix yourself, you need to fight this thing.’”

That’s definitely how Schott viewed her own breakouts in her 20s. She’d cover them up with heavy makeup, which only made things worse, and would hit up a derm’s office for cortisone shots on her lunch break. “I started to get indents on my face because cortisone shots are not always suitable for everyone. They’re a bit controversial as a treatment method, and I was definitely overdoing it in the hopes of clearing a pimple.” 

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Starface“There’s no reason to feel ashamed around having acne,” says Starface co-founder Julie Schott. “Why should you? Only because you’ve been told to feel shameful about it for so long.”

Acne can take a toll on anyone’s self-esteem, but when your job is to dole out beauty tips, it can be especially rough. “People ask for your advice all the time. You might be speaking as an expert, and if you have a breakout you feel really self-conscious because why are none of these things you’re suggesting working for you?”

Schott got to a point where she was tired of feeling ashamed of her skin. She began imagining what a new kind of acne line would look like, one that would hopefully change the conversation around breakouts. That’s how she got the idea for star-shaped patches that would not only treat pimples, but also look really cute.

“Throughout my career, I spent a lot of time internalizing messages that only this specific look is attractive, and often those ideals were just unattainable for a majority of people,” she explains. “The goal was to encourage self-acceptance and to make taking care of yourself something that you can enjoy rather than feeling like a punishment for having acne.”

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StarfaceStarface Hydro-Stars Hydrocolloid Pimple Patches, $27 (for 32), starface.world

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She left her job at Elle and threw herself into making her dream a reality. It wasn’t easy. “A lot of people passed; they just couldn’t imagine people wanting to decorate their face.” But she persisted, found a business partner who shared her vision and launched Starface in September of last year.

Turns out people do want to adorn their face with stickers, especially when said stickers make their zits shrink by sunrise. The magic lies in the hydrocolloid, the patches’ sole ingredient and one proven to draw out fluid and flatten pimples overnight. The fun star shape also plays a part, gripping onto skin and staying put, even as you toss and turn.

 

With more than 90,000 followers on Instagram and tons of glowing reviews, it wasn’t long before Starface started getting requests from north of the border. It took nearly a year, but today is the day. “Our Canadian audience has been really persistent, so we’re excited to tell them that we’re finally there,” says Schott. 

Canadians can also get their hands on Starface’s second product, Space Wash, a cleanser that deletes dirt and makeup, fights acne-causing bacteria and also speeds up healing. “It’s our answer to that classic drugstore face wash that many dermatologists would recommend,” says Schott. “We wanted to reimagine it, like how would you reverse engineer that in 2020? You would do it with clean ingredients, you would make it unscented and as gentle as possible.” Space Wash checks all those boxes, much to the delight of users.

starface canada
StarfaceStarface Space Wash Foaming Facial Cleanser, $22, starface.world

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As Schott recounts some of the positive feedback she’s received, her voice begins to crack and I see those huge jade eyes of hers turn glassy on the screen. “I feel so emotional because I spent so much time as a young person just wanting to change everything about myself, just feeling so inadequate all the time. So to see young people feeling good exactly as they are, taking pride in who they are, that’s the goal. To encourage that and hopefully move on from the trend that was this effortless, cool-girl bullshit that is not attainable for most people. If we can put forth an ideal that’s not that, then I’m happy.” 

 

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