Ju Rhyu Wants to Share Her Acne Secrets With the World


When you have adult acne, it’s easy to feel alone, as if you’re the only one getting breakouts past the age of 18. However, anywhere between 12% and 22% of women ages 26 through 44 experience acne, and that number is increasing by the day (on the other hand, only around 3% of adult men experience the condition). In our new series Acne Diaries, we’re asking influential women who happen to have acne about their relationship to their skin, and the products they rely on to keep it happy. Next up: Hero Cosmetics cofounder and CEO Ju Rhyu.

Ju Rhyu can’t even remember when she started breaking out. The cofounder of Hero Cosmetics—a line of acne-specific products including the cult favorite Mighty Patches—has always suffered from what she calls moderate but persistent acne that seemed to show up in the worst places at all the worst times. 

“It was always those few pimples that were in the wrong places,” she tells Glamour. “Like the middle of my eyes, or I remember I had one on the tip of my nose. Starting in high school, I was breaking out, and I definitely remember moments in college where I had those really embarrassing ones where I was afraid to show my face.”

If there’s one word to describe how Rhyu felt during this time, it would be desperate. She recalls trying every tip she could find in magazines, from over-the-counter products chock-full of benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid to home remedies like toothpaste and mixing baking soda with lemon. She visited the dermatologist for a cortisone shot after a breakout between her eyes on the day of her brother’s wedding. “I think a lot of people who break out understand the kind of desperation that you have to find a solution, because you just want it to go away,” she says. “I’ve tried everything.”

It was only after college, when she moved to Korea, that she found a solution. “I was breaking out more there, and it could have been because of the changing environment, the poor air quality, or the diet,” she says. “Again, I was in that sort of desperation to find a solution and wanting to find something that would work, which is when I stumbled upon hydrocolloid acne patches. It was the first time I had ever learned about them. I saw people walking around with these patches on their faces and asked someone just to figure out what they were.”

Rhyu purchased some of the patches and was amazed at how well they worked. “I loved that I got the immediate feedback because that was one thing I didn’t always have with traditional acne products,” she says. “You put it on, and then it takes days and then it gets dry. But with the patches, I loved that I could see the gunk on the patch and then immediately the pimple area was flattened.

“For me, it was the best thing since sliced bread,” she continues. “I felt like I had discovered this amazing product that really worked, that had the visual cue, and then it also prevented me from touching and picking.” Rhyu credits this discovery as the inspiration to eventually launch Hero Cosmetics with the Mighty Patch product in 2017. Now the brand is stocked at both Ulta and Target and has a full range of acne-friendly products, like a sheer SPF, a dark-spot brightening wand, and a jelly cleanser. “I wanted to share this sort of secret with people,” she says when asked why she started the brand. “Something that had worked so well for me, I wanted other people to know about it.”



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