Pimple Problems? Have You Tried Using Brian Armstrong's Face?

For years—technically, forever—human beings have lacked a means to suck pimple fluid and other unwanted oils from their face while simultaneously expressing support for a prominent crypto executive. 

Today, that paradigm shifts. 

As a component of Base’s “On-Chain Summer” campaign, the rising Ethereum layer-2 network has teamed up with on-chain beauty company KIKI World to create NFT-linked pimple patches adorned with the CryptoPunk-ified face of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. 

The NFTs, dubbed “BASE FACE,” entitle minters to redeem a physical pack of 40 pimple patches—20 Armstrong faces of varying sizes, and 20 Base network logos. Each NFT costs .0035 ETH to mint, or about $12 at writing.

Jana Bobosikova, KIKI World’s co-founder, believes that Armstrong’s many faces won’t only help drain pores and remove acne—the patches, so she says, can also be worn purely as fashion statements.

“We strongly believe that this partnership can be a fun and very real way to… well, wear BASE on your FACE!” Bobosikova told Decrypt over email.

How did this happen? Bobosikova wanted to choose a more unisex option for the collaboration, and landed on pimple patches, a product KIKI World had already launched on-chain. It was the Base team, she said, that opted for Armstrong’s head as the lead design. 

Decrypt reached out to Base regarding the aesthetic strategy behind that decision, but did not immediately receive a response. 

BASE FACE purchasers who link their NFTs to on-chain KIKI World accounts will also be able to have a say in future products and designs released by the beauty brand. 

In April, KIKI announced a $7 million funding round, led by crypto giant Andreessen Horowitz and the incubation venture fund of Estée Lauder, the multinational cosmetics manufacturer.

Edited by Andrew Hayward