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!

Make Up Remover Face Off: Who Will Win Against The Smoky Eye?

Make up remover is a product that does not always get a lot of love, but you sure do know when you get a bad one. Right now in my bathroom I have three bottles, so I thought I would undertake some scientific experimentation and analysis so next time you are roaming the aisles of your drugstore you might not make the same mistakes I have!

The three products I have are Rimmel Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover ($7.29 / 4.2oz), L'Oreal Refreshing Eye Make-Up Remover ($6.99 / 4oz), and Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover ($5.99 / 3.8oz). The Rimmel one I picked up about a year ago, and the L'Oreal and the Neutrogena I bought based on recommendations from the blogosphere.

I decided first to test their removal strength by pitting them against 3 different black eyeliners: MAC Penultimate, MAC Feline, and Stila Smudge Pot in Black. I actually forgot to take pictures of the whole experiment here, but all 3 performed about the same. The L'Oreal was a bit watery and felt like I was moving the makeup around rather than really cleaning it, but overall, performance was good from all three. Penultimate was the easiest to remove, then Feline, and finally Stila Smudge Pot.

So, if they all do their job, what's the differentiation? Well, first the bottles. The Rimmel is taller and you get the most product. More importantly for me, the top has a hole in it rather than opening fully. I like this because it means that you can just get a cotton bud dipped in remover for quick clean-ups. The Neutrogena is tall as well, and has a opening that is about half an inch wide. Too big for cotton buds, although I could easily fit one all the way into the bottle (okay until you have used up most of the bottle), but easy for cotton wool pads. You do get least product with the Neutrogena.  The L'Oreal bottle is shorter and much wider. The opening for me is a particularly annoying as it is too wide even for a cotton ball, so every time I use it  end up wasting a lot of product.

Winner so far: Rimmel, with L'Oreal is last position.

What about how they feel? Well, the Rimmel is watery, and can sometimes feel a little harsh on the skin - like I have to rub it to really remove the last specks of eyeliner. The Neutrogena, although it is oil-free, leaves behind a bit of a film, and this takes about 10 minutes to wear off. The L'Oreal stings my eyes so much for some reason, so I almost never put it near my eyes anymore, and just use it for swatch removal. Things that are meant to be used around the eyes should not bring out this problem, so I have no idea why I am so sensitive to this product.

Winner: Neutogena, with L'Oreal again in last position.

Overall, I think I prefer the Rimmel by a nose, but the Neutrogena is perfectly good as well. As you can probably tell by now, the L'Oreal product really do not work with my eyes or my requirements, so will definitely not be bought again. However, none of them really blew me away, so if there are any other removers that you guys really like, I'd love to hear about them.

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Korres Cleansing Wipes Are A Sweet Sweet End To The Day

I scored the Limited Edition Korres Prep, Prime, Perfect kit ($39.50) from Sephora the other day. If you see one in your local store, I would highly recommend snagging one, as it is showing as out of stock online. I've been intrigued by Korres for a couple of years, but for some reason, never actually got around to trying their products. I know that they are Greek, and are homeopathic based products. Although they are not organic, they are natural enough that Whole Foods  sells them in their body shops. There are no parabens, mineral oils, or propylene glycol. So, the bottom line is that they are on the more "natural" side of the scale. I need to think of a better word than that, and I would also like to point out that natural does not necessarily mean good, but that's a debate for another time.

The kit has Wild Rose Cream, which Korres are famous fore, Wild Rose Serum, Pomegranate Wipes, a Primer, Foundation, Mascara, and Lip Butter.

So far, I have only tried out the wipes. I have never actually used facial wipes before, because I thought that the whole wipe concept was firstly expensive, and secondly wasteful. My parents have always been big into the concept of waste, and therefore I've never really been allowed "disposal" products. We didn't drink bottled water, but had refillable bottles everywhere; we always bought our fruit and veg from the loose produce section, that kind of thing. Therefore something that I used and threw away every day was always an alien concept to me. But that's not to say that I'm not a lazy so-and-so, and there have definitely been times when I have been too tired and lazy to take off my make up last thing at night. Oh no, I can hear the sharp intake of breathes across the nation as person writing about beauty commits cardinal sin. No one's perfect, okay?!

When I opened these, I was greeted with the most delicious, fresh, sweet scent of pomegranate. It was really amazing and fabulous. Pomegranate is rich in anti-oxidants, tightens pores, and tones and refreshes skin, or says the back of the packet. I definitely felt all of the above. They did feel gorgeous and fresh and my skin felt clean afterwards. I could see plenty of make up residue that they had lifted off (definitely a benefit of wipes which I like!) I used them at night though, and the next morning some more mascara had smudged under my eyes, so I don't think that they are the best at removing all make-up, and would definitely struggle with waterproof mascara.

25 wipes retails for $12, which I think is rather pricey, even with that gorgeous yummy scent and the gorgeous clean feeling afterwards. I don't know if I'd buy these again, unless I felt like a yummy treat last thing at night. Is there really such a thing as special occasion cleanser?