Frownies is a brand that calls their product the “Original Wrinkle Patch” and makes “facial smoothing patches” that attach to the face with adhesives and are used to reduce the appearance of wrinkles. The brand also sells cosmetic products like serums and eye cream.
But can a patch stuck to the face really reduce the appearance of wrinkles? What materials are used in Frownies to make them effective? What was our Product Tester's honest experience trying Frownies for a month? And why was the company's owner convicted in 2017?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we review research studies on adhesive patches for wrinkles to give our take on whether or not Frownies is likely to be effective.
We'll also feature our Product Tester's experience trying Frownies for a month (with before-and-after images), explain why the company's owner was jailed, and compare Frownies to other popular anti-aging products like Omnilux to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- It's unclear how Frownies are supposed to work
- Our Product Tester liked the short-term effects
- We do not currently recommend Frownies
How Do Frownies Work?
We don’t understand the mechanism of action of Frownies, or how it’s even supposed to be effective.
Frownies doesn’t seem to link to any clinical studies anywhere on their site proving how their products work, and we fail to see how sticking adhesive patches to the face would cause a reduction in lines or wrinkles.
If the wrinkle patches contain effective skincare ingredients, then they could theoretically reduce wrinkles, but that would make the adhesive patch pointless.
If the only benefit comes from the ingredients topically applied to the face, those same ingredients could be applied in a more standard and convenient cosmetic format like a serum.
A clinical trial published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology tested the effects of adhesive pads on wrinkles.
The study authors concluded that the pads were only effective immediately after use, and didn’t provide any long-term benefit.
We do not believe that Frownies facial patches are likely to be effective because we cannot locate any clinical studies suggesting that facial patches can reduce wrinkles.
We Tested Frownies
One of our product testers named Hannah Westerman tried Wrinkles Schminkles for two weeks. Here's her experience:
The packaging was fine and easy to use. I like that it comes in such a small box.
My skin felt tight and looked really nice after using. I don’t currently have many wrinkles, so I didn’t see dramatic effects, but I could see how this could really help someone who is starting to get wrinkles.
Here's my before image:
And here's my after image:
My skin felt nice to the touch after use, and I did not experience any side effects.
I appreciate that the brand uses recycled materials.
It smells pretty weird. My fiancé did not like the way it smelled and that took some time getting used to.
Overall, I'd rate this product 9/10 and I would purchase it again.
Frownies Owner Convicted Of Tax Fraud
In 2017, the principal owner of Frownies, a man by the name of James L. Wright, was convicted of tax fraud according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The above-linked DOJ press release details that Wright was diverting money from the holding company behind Frownies, called B&P Company Inc., to use for personal purposes, including expenses like rent and automobile expenses.
While this doesn’t necessarily have any effect on Frownies as a product, we consider this an ethical red flag about the brand that consumers should be aware of.
What Are Frownies Made Of?
At the time of initially writing this article, Frownies failed to publish an ingredient list, and instead published the statement below:
“The adhesive is synthetic which means it is made in a lab out of raw materials. There are no raw materials left in the adhesive. Because of the proprietary nature of our adhesives our customer service associates do not have an exact ingredient list for the adhesive. The ingredients would not make any sense to the average non chemist individual.”
We found this statement to be disrespectful to the intelligence of their customers.
Since, and potentially due to our review which received significant exposure, Frownies has published an ingredient list, shown below:
image source: https://www.frownies.com/
We dislike the use of vague terminology like "adhesive" because it fails to document the specific materials used.
The previous ingredient list on Frownies website, shown below, was more specific:
image source: https://www.frownies.com/
Kraft is a type of paper. We don't believe that applying paper to the face will reduce wrinkles.
Nulomoline is derived from sugar cane. We cannot find any clinical studies suggesting that this ingredient reduces wrinkles. It's typically used in baking products.
Dextrin is a processed carbohydrate. We cannot find any evidence that it's effective for treating wrinkles.
Methyl salicylate is a chemical compound derived from the wintergreen plant. We cannot locate any medical studies proving it reduces wrinkles, and we recommend avoiding this ingredient.
A medical review published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine documented the following: "Serious toxicity can result from exposure to small amounts of methyl salicylate."
We urge Frownies to clarify if they removed methyl salicylate from their formulations, or if this ingredient is still included in the (now broadly-described) "adhesive."
We do not currently recommend Frownies because of the inclusion of methyl salicylate, and also because we're unable to identify any ingredients that reduce wrinkles long-term.
How To Apply Frownies
Since Frownies are a somewhat unusual product, consumers are often curious about how to properly use them.
A video on the official Frownies YouTube page is under four minutes long and provides instructions:
Frownies vs. Popular Anti-Aging Devices
Here's how Frownies compares to other popular anti-aging devices in terms of formulation quality, in our opinion:
Wrinkles Schminkles
This is a very similar value proposition to Frownies; a facial patch advertised to reduce wrinkles.
We don't consider either product likely to be effective long-term, but Wrinkles Schminkles is made from silicone, which is non-toxic and clinically shown to have short-term positive effects.
We consider Wrinkles Schminkles to be the winner from a safety perspective.
Winner: Wrinkles Schminkles
Omnilux
Omnilux is a red light therapy mask.
Red light therapy has significant documented positive effects on skin health, including wrinkle reduction and skin rejuvenation, as we documented in our Omnilux review article.
Omnilux is the winner from a potential efficacy perspective.
Winner: Omnilux
My Derma Dream
This brand sells a 4-in-1 cosmetic device, and one of the included technologies is red light therapy.
We don't consider the other three technologies to be effective, but as documented above, we consider red light therapy likely to be effective.
My Derma Dream has the advantage from a potential efficacy perspective.
Winner: My Derma Dream
Rose Water Hydrator Spray Review
The ingredients in Frownies Rose Water Hydrator Spray are shown below:
image source: https://www.frownies.com/
This product is used to improve skin quality and also to "activate" the Frownies patches (we're unsure what the brand means by this).
Sodium hyaluronate is one of the most well-studied and effective anti-aging ingredients.
As we detailed in our Bio Oil reviews article, it has been proven in numerous clinical trials to reduce wrinkles and improve skin elasticity.
Aloe vera was described in a medical review as having “excellent efficacy” for treating “skin related disorders.” It also has hydrating properties.
The brand recently updated and improved the healthiness of this formulation, removing sodium benzoate, which is a synthetic preservative with skin-sensitizing properties.
We consider Frownies Rose Water Hydrator Spray likely to be effective for reducing wrinkles due to the inclusion of sodium hyaluronate.
We consider the potential efficacy of this product to be far greater than that of the actual Frownies patches, and we currently recommend this product from a formulation perspective.
Our Clean Anti-Aging Pick
MindBodyGreen Best Skin+ is our top anti-aging skin supplement.
It contains orange extract which is clinically shown to increase skin moisturization, skin elasticity and skin radiance.
This supplement also contains astaxanthin which is clinically shown to cause "wrinkle formation reduction."
This supplement is free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Frownies Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Non-invasive
- Unlikely to cause side effects
- May have short-term anti-wrinkle effect
- Rose Water Hydrator Spray should have anti-aging effect
- Brand removed synthetic preservative from hydrating spray
- Our Product Tester claims a positive short-term effect on skin quality
- Company provides clear use instructions
Cons:
- Unclear what ingredients constitute the "adhesive"
- Doesn't appear to be clinically tested
- We can't find clinical evidence suggesting this will have any lasting effect
- Owner convicted of tax fraud
- Our Product Tester disliked the scent
- Less effectively-formulated than some competitor products
