New Skin Time: My Experiences With the Clarisonic

This is the longest I've gone without posting in long time! I've been really missing my little blog as well, but work and social life has been taking over. I had to work until midnight on Tuesday, and then my mum has been staying with me since then. This afternoon is the first chance I've had to catch up, and I've been taking the time to play around with some things, take some photos, and write out a couple of posts.

There are two major things for me to really talk about today. The first is that about 3 weeks ago I purchased a Clarisonic Mia. It was a big investment, but I did manage to find a couple of discount coupons online which brought the price down to $110. Not cheap, but not full price either. As you can imagine, I was really excited about this purchase. Clarisonics receive a lot of coverage in the blogosphere, and at that price tag, you really want to know if something is worth purchasing.

To give you some background, my skin is going through some weird, growing up stages. I'm 28 (there! I said it!), and my skin varies from being dry and rough, to a little bit oily. I rarely get full breakouts, but I'll get the odd white spot about once a month or so. Not PMT related - more likely to be when I'm tired or stressed (okay, if I've been partying a little hard then it shows!). I have enlarged pores on my nose and cheeks, and wrinkles on my forehead (since I was about 15 - it's because of my hooded eyelids more than anything else!). Oh, and some white bumps around my eyes. So that is basically all of my skin complaints in a paragraph. How does the Clarisonic live up to these challenges?

The Clarisonic brush works on the basis on using an extremely fast vibrating brush on the skin. The brush moves so fast it works on the same basis as sonic tooth brushes, literally vibrating the dirt out of the skin, resulting in smoother, more even skin and fewer breakouts. I use the brush about 3 times a week. There is some debate as to how often one is to use the brush - Clarisonic claims that their brush is gentle enough to use twice a day, whereas there are some dermatologists who believe that people should use the brush just 3 times  a week.

On my skin, the brush felt a little rough during the allotted minute, and it felt uncomfortable when using on my nose. The Mia cuts out after 1 minute, but the full sized model actually beeps when you are supposed to move onto a different part of your face. Once I had finished using it, my skin was noticeably smoother and looked better. After consistent use over the last 3 weeks, I have been able to switch from using foundation to tinted moisturizer, and my skin looks more even, smooth, and less prone to breakouts. More interesting for me is the study that skin that has been cleaned with a Clarisonc brush is absorbs 60% more active products. That is, all the good stuff in your moisturizer is more likely to make it into your skin if you apply it after you've used the Clarisonic. I have been using it at night followed by Origins Mimosa Cream, and my skin is smooth and moisturized.

I really love this product, but is it worth the high price tag? For me, it is, mainly because it was actually $110, and it has actually worked consistently with my skin. It is simple to use, and takes very little time (shower safe!), and for those reasons, I think it's a great investment. Because I'm using this, I'm no longer using any other scrubs (though I have a review in the pipeline of one I was using that I just need to type up!) or even any other masks right now, so that's a saving right there.

Sephora and Clarisonic have very generous return policies so I would highly recommend trying out this brush and seeing if it is for you. I am not going to say it changed my life, but it has definitely changed my approach to skincare and my reliance on foundation!