Meg: Clarisonic Review
Without sounding too much like an infomercial, I’d really like to rave a little bit about my new Clarisonic brush. I had really never heard of these brushes until an aesthetician at my work recommended I try one to help with my problematic T-Zone. After glancing at the price tag I laughed in my head and told her I’d think about it. As any skeptical consumer should, I looked up reviews of the product to see what all the fuss was about. After reading an entire page, I was sold. Not only do people share their before and after photos of their faces, they all had extremely positive things to say. So, what is a Clarisonic brush?
Left: Clarisonic Pro (the exact one I have!) Right: Clarisonic Mia 2
The Clarisonic Pro is a full sized facial cleansing brush, and the Mia is a smaller version (great for traveling I’d assume).The brushes are designed to get deeper into pores than you ever would be able to get with a topical cleanser. Some verbiage straight from the Clarisonic website:
“Sonic cleansing is the essential first step in a healthy skin care ritual. Gently gliding across skin while cleansing thoroughly, the sonic micro-massage loosens and removes dirt, oil and makeup from pores.”
Sounds fancy, right? Well, it is. I was surprised at how gentle the process is. I used to rigorously exfoliate my face thinking that was the only way it would end up clean. This is definitely not the case with a Clarisonic. Your brush beeps at you to signify the start of your 1 minute cleansing. You begin with your forehead (per the instructions), and after 20 seconds you are signaled with another beep to move to your nose and chin area. After another 20 seconds, you hear a beep signaling you to move on to one cheek, and after 10 seconds your last beep sends you to the opposite cheek, completing the one minute process. The one minute cleansing is just the factory setting, there are 2 minute options as well.
What my Clarisonic Pro kit came with:
The brush, a charging cradle, three brush heads for different levels of exfoliation, a body brush head, body polishing gel, and facial cleansing gel.
Personal differences I’ve noticed from using my brush once (sometimes twice) a day for a week:
-My skin is softer to the touch
-My pores appear to be clearer
-I feel like my skin is noticeably brighter!
The brush handle/heads are completely water proof, so I often take it into the shower. I plan on researching some other cleansers so I can invest in a full size bottle since the sample bottle unfortunately won’t last forever. In the past I have skipped washing my face or removing my make up due to sheer laziness, but now that it takes me 1 minute to cleanse, I haven’t skipped using it once! I am obnoxiously enthusiastic about this brush, if you couldn’t tell.
Do you Clarisonic? If you have used any superb cleansers, I’d love to hear your suggestions!
Xo-Meg
[Note from Gina: I have a Clarisonic, too, and adore it. You can read my thoughts here]
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I too Clarisonic! I have the Mia and I swear by it. After going off HBC my skin decided to freak out and although my chin area can still be rough some times of the month, I feel like this tool has made my overall skin appearance a thousand times better. I use the Whole Foods 365 brand Cetaphil type cleanser, it’s cheap, lasts forever and is nice and moisturizing to use with the clarisonic brush. I don’t recomend using the brush twice a day as it instructs though, my dermatologist told me that was too harsh and removing too many natural oils, I do it nightly before bed.
Thanks for the tip!!
I first heard about Clarisonic from Gina’s blog a long time ago, and (after eyeing it for wayyy too long) finally got mine back in May. I’m super acne prone and really OCD about washing my face, because I always felt like it was dirty! I love it!!! The only complaint I had was that sometimes it could make my face a little too dry, but I would just scale it back a little bit and that seemed to help! I’ve seen that they have special brushes for sensitive skin or acne so I’m gonna try that too! Loveee it!
I bought the mia 2 for my 30th birthday. I loved the softness of my skin after each wash and the ability to use in the shower, but I noticed my skin went from normal white head pimples to pimples that didn’t seem to surface but were still clogged. I used it for 90 days and decided to return it : ( I never tried a different head though; I know they have one for acne-prone skin. Maybe that was my mistake?
For those who are interested, I have heard QVC is the best place to get these if you want a bunch of brushes and they often have them on their “daily special” or whatever you call it which can include spreading out payments.
I bought the Mia about a year ago and love it. Helped with less breakouts. I also did not have dry skin in winter for the first time. I use it at night to make sure I get off all of my makeup. I keep it in the shower because I usually shower at night.
Love, love my Clarisonic. As a someone stated above, watch for QVC specials. I’ve gotten great deals on brushes. I’ve used a variety of cleansers with the Clarisonic, all with great results. I don’t think it truly matters what you use, as long as it works for you. My favorite that I always return to is Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple. It doesn’t strip my acne/combo skin but removes all makeup. I also only Clarisonic once per day – at night, to remove the day’s gunk 😉
same- i love it at night 🙂
I’ve had my Clarisonic for almost 3 years-I LOVE it! I use it every single night. I use Origins Checks & Balances Cleanser with it-foams up nicely and smells fantastically minty!
Enjoy your Clarisonic-it’s a must-have in my opinion!
Ooh! Must try that cleanser! Love origins.
It’s great! It smells SO good!
I have the berry pink Mia and love it! I use it with Clinique daily gentle cleanser, which is gentle enough to use with the brush heads and you only have to use half a pump because it lathers pretty well.
I have a Mia, but I’ve been lazy lately with using it. This might give me the kick in the pants to use it again. I highly recommend Yes to Carrots daily cream cleanser for people with oily or acne-prone skin with the Clarisonic. I used to use acne cleanser, but it just made things worse., so I just keep going back to the YTC.
(Geez I sound like an infomercial)
I’ve been thinking of investing in one. Definitely putting it on my Christmas wishlist!
you will LOVE it
I have the mia 2 because it is cheaper and does the same thing as the bigger one. Personally I have senstive skin that can break out sometimes therefore if I use it more than 2 or 3 times a week my skin is stripped and more likley to break out. I use it with cetaphil which is super gentel and good for all skin. I also use the brush for acne-prone or sensitive skin. I love how it cleans but if it can strip skin easily if used too much based on your skin type.
I have the Mia and I ADORE it! I just use my normal Cetaphil with it and I have to agree, my skin is brighter and just glows! It helped with milia, too.
Love Clarisonic! I have the pink Mia 2, it was a gift from my mother-in-law and its the best thing ever! I love it, can’t say enough great things about it. I’ve seen such improvement in my pore size and the texture of my skin that its worth the price. Even if it wasn’t a gift I would of purchased it.
Love my Clarisonic Mia!
After a lot of trial and error, I’ve found that my favorite cleaner to use with it is Garnier Moisture Rescue Fresh Foaming. It doesn’t dry me out at all, makes a great lather, and– best of all– it’s really inexpensive!
I love my Mia. I use Philosophy’s Purity, Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleanser, or Garden of Wisdom Mild N’ Clean Castile Cleanser.
These things are worth every penny. Once you start using one, your face just doesn’t feels like its fully clean unless you use it. Love love love!!!
Completely agree!
totally agree- they’re definitely worth it
I just got the Mia a few months ago and love it! My face is so soft and bright. I love that it only takes 1 minute AND feels like a massage on my face
I have been back and forth about buying a Clarisonic for months, but I cannot decide if it is worth the investment. Has anyone compared these with the less expensive versions like Oil of Olay?
‘ve heard they’re very similar but haven’t tried them
I have the one from Olay, and while I still want a Clarisonic, it’s been great! I read that the main difference is that the Olay one doesn’t have the sonic vibrations and is just basically a brush, but both work really well at getting your skin SUPER clean. I feel like my skin is a lot softer and cleaner 🙂
I had the Olay one and didn’t think it did much but I haven’t tried the Clarisonic. It seems like if you just want a spinning brush (w/o sonic) there are cheaper options than the Olay one.
I’d like to try the Clarisonic but I just bought the exfoliating towel that Whitney recommended. : )
I have the Mia and absolutely love it. I’m still looking for a dream cleanser. I’m thinking of trying Dr Bronners baby soap next.
i love the origins creamy face cleanser
Is there a reason you chose to go with the Pro versus the Mia? I think this would be a great gift to myself and both seem to have great reviews.
My reasoning was mainly that the pro kit came with 3 different face brushes. Not sure if the mia has a kit like that or not… But I’ve heard wonderful things about both models, and my pro is amazing.
I love my clarisonic!!! AND I can’t rave about Obagi enough!!!
I’m also in the Clarisonic fan club and love it! I use the sensitive skin brush to avoid overdrying and have seen great improvements in my skin texture and tone. My derm told me to use Oxy Face Wash. It’s not fancy but it works great and is relatively inexpensive. I use mine at night and in the morning I’m loving using Dermalogica’s buffing cloth. Thanks for the great review Meg. I know the price can be hard to swallow but I’ve had mine for over two years with no problems so to me it is very worth it.
I just got my Mia 2 last week. I love love LOOOOOVE it. I’m old (43) and my skin looks youthful and dewy again. It’s amazing. Yesterday I noticed 2 small blemishes on my chin 🙁 but I think that’s common at first. Hope it doesn’t last long.
I think you’ve all convinced me, I’m hesitant about dropping $$$ on a face brush but I really want to try this. My skin is so clog prone but normal exfoliants irritate it. I think I’ll be picking up one of these soon 🙂
I absolutely LOVE my mia. I use CellCeuticals Extremely Gentle Skin Cleanser and it’s pretty good.
I use proactiv and they have a similar brush thats only $20…anyone know if its any good?? I believe that sometimes you pay for the quality, so that’s why I was thinking about getting the clairisonic one. Also, I usually exfoliate with an apricot scrub like every other day or every 2 days, I wouldn’t want to strip my face…does anyone who uses the brush still exfoliate with a scrub?
I use proactiv too. At night, I take my makeup off and use the mia clairisonic with either cetaphil or trader joes tea tree oil face wash, then use proactiv normally. In the morning ill do one or the other. Just fyi you are not supposed to use any exfoliator in conjunction with the clairisonic brushes , it can ruin it.
I’ve also been debating on the Clarisonic for a long time (we’re talking years). I always did the splash water on my face, rub on cleanser, rinse. Did you guys do the same or were you using a face cloth in your pre-clarisonic days? I figure it makes the most sense for me to try diligently using a face cloth before splurging. I’m interested in hearing what guys did prior to the Clarisonic though. Thanks!
Love the clarisonic! I need to pull mine back out! I used to work at a dermatologist office and she would recommend using cetaphil for a cleanser especially if you have a tendency to breakout. Skinceuticals also has some great cleansers.
The Clarisonic is worth every penny! I have oily/acne-prone skin and use basic Cetaphil cleanser with my Clarisonic. It’s cheap and gentle and really cleanses well.
I haven’t tried the Clarisonic because of the price, but I’ve been considering taking the plunge for a awhile now. I *do* have an amazing cleanser though that made a world of difference in my acne prone, super sensitive skin. After a week or two, even my boss stopped me to ask what I was doing to make my skin glow. It’s Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Cleansing gel. It’s all natural and has been amazing for my skin. It’s a bit pricey, but the $35 bottle lasts me 8-9 months and I use it as body wash in the shower as well.
If the clarisonic does what you say it does, I can’t imagine what could happen combining the two!
Interesting – for some reason I always think things like this are a scam, but after reading so many good reviews, I might have to give it a try. Anything that might make my skin feel softer without having to use too much moisturizer as it breaks me out like crazy!
Love my Clairsonic! I use it nightly and it’s made such a difference in the appearance of my skin. I recommend the cleanser from the First Aid line which you can buy at Sephora.
After reading everyone’s positive comments about the Clarisonic, I feel like I need to get one! I’ve heard a lot of people say just to use it at night so it doesn’t dry out your skin, but what do you all wash your face with in the morning? Just the same cleanser with out the brush?
So happy to discover Clarisonic , I use it at night only but has really improved my overall complexion and feel of my skin. I’m based in Melbourne Australia so it took me a while to find as not many shops sell it but I bought it online at http://www.faceache.com.au for quite a good price if anyone here from Oz are trying to find Clarisonic.
In the morning i use Sukin foaming facial cleanser which seems to work well in combination with the Clarisonic brush. Summer is approaching here so will be be interesting to see if I need to change my routine.