Beauty And The Blog

Image copyright Clarisonic

OK, so I have been bad.  I said I would be posting soon. Soon turned into months, but I never forgot about this new thing I wanted to tell you about. Something new I was trying, and loving, and making a part of my daily regimen

OK, ’nuff said.

It’s called the Clarisonic. It’s a little bundle of facial cleansing joy. No, really.

I can hear you now, “…great another gadget.  Just what I need, something else that plugs in sitting on my bathroom counter.”

Just. What. I. Need.

But seriously you do. As did I. If you have only one gadget sitting on your bathroom counter (well other than an electric toothbrush, and maybe a hair dryer…) this is the thing to have. Seriously.

If you get the impression that I am recommending it, spoiler alert: I am!

I have been using it myself since last December. I love it. I had read about, I had heard from customers about it. And I had been thinking of buying one. But so many expensive gadgets make all these empty promises and end up gathering dust with the Flowbee at the back of your bathroom cabinet. And the cost of some products, including the Clarisonic… well I stayed on the fence. Funny thing happened though. I won a sales contest at work and won one. So yes I use it daily, but it was a freebie.

Now that I have used it I see why it is so popular. And why dermatologists and estheticians are recommending it for home care. It works. Your skin is so clean is glows.

I started using the Clarisonic last Winter. I wasn’t unhappy with my skin, I like the products I was (and still am) using.  But what the heck, I had it, so I used it. Not that I wanted to add work load to my skin care routine, but I’d always cleansed my skin morning and evening without fail anyway. For maybe like fifteen seconds, manually. So now its sonic vibration (oddly familiar buzzing noise, hmm…)  oh yeah, for one minute of cleansing. A whole forty five seconds longer than usual.

Clarisonic claims to “cleanse your skin via a patented sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second.” Gently, so gently, it almost tickles. While your hand is guiding it’s little dance on your face, it is also “removing  twice as much dirt and oil plus six times more makeup as compared to manual cleansing.”

When your skin is that clean, believe me, it will glow.  But that’s not the only benefit. All those creams, lotions and potions we use to fight fine lines and wrinkles, you know the ones, I bet you’ve got a cabinet full, they will work better. Efficacy increases when there isn’t a mother lode of dirt, oil and leftover makeup sitting on the surface of your skin. As we all know, well cleansed and exfoliated skin is much more receptive to skin care treatment products.

I could go into the Clarisonic sales pitch but they aren’t paying me nor did they give me one in expectation of a good review. I wanted one, I got lucky and got a freebie. So no sales pitch, but here it is, the reality.

I use it twice a day. One minute each time. 20 seconds on the forehead, 20 seconds on the nose, upper lip and chin, 10 seconds on each cheek. It pauses when it’s time to move to the next area. Nice touch when you are still half asleep in the morning.

I have less break outs. I don’t usually get many. Now I get less. My skin feels smoother to the touch.  It looks smoother too. Fine lines seem diminished. My complexion looks healthier than ever.  That’s enough for me, I like it. I like it a lot.

Is the sonic vibration enough to stimulate an increase in collagen as Clarisonic suggests? I don’t know. I am more familiar with ingredients that penetrate the skin, such as peptides that stimulate the fibroblasts to imitate a younger skin and produce more collagen. Having said that, using the Clarisonic will allow peptide containing products to do a superior job for you. Remember, super clean exfoliated skin is more receptive to anti-aging ingredients.

Does my face look fuller, more collagen rich due to the use of the Clarisonic? I can’t tell. I’d like to think so, but probably not.

If you are wondering about any special cleansers you should use with a Clarisonic. No. And yes. Of course the company would love to see you use the cleanser they make. But they come right out and say it works with any skin care system.  So use what you like.

My Bottom line recommendation: get one of these, Now.