When I went home to the States this past June, my mom hooked me up with a Clarisonic Mia in the lovely Jaguar pattern. I’d been resisting this particular temptation for some time, despite reading so many glowing reviews about the Clarisonic online (tbh, I started wondering if there wasn’t some sort of skincare cult thing going on).
I was skeptical because my usual beauty routine was tried and tested and worked pretty well for me, and no way was some 120 quid vibrating facebrush going to do measurably better. Also, given my ongoing battles with adult hormonal acne, I am leery of shaking things up too much for fear of pissing off my sensitive skin.
It was when I was in Mississippi and my sister-in-law showed us HER jaguar Mia that both my mom and I went “Ooh, I need that.” “Try it,” SIL said, “I love mine! My mom loves hers!” Next thing I knew, we’d ordered two from Sephora. Oh dear.
The thing with me and my skin is that I am totally OCD about it and when I break out I want to pick everything into oblivion. I just want SMOOTH skin. No clogged pores. No zits. Not a grease slick. My greatest beauty desire is just good smooth clear skin, so that I can just slap concealer under my eyes and look fab. You know the kind of skin you get on holiday when you spend a lot of time in salt water? Like that.
I spend far too much time sighing over the state of my pores and I am constantly exfoliating, both mechanically and with glycolic acid. So the first time I tried my Clarisonic and it buffed my skin into a satiny smoothness, I knew we’d be good friends. So I tried it again. And again. And we were in love.
But then I flew back to London and my skin *freaked* *out* and broke out terribly. I was so sad, because I loved the smooth feeling that the Clarisonic gave my skin and didn’t want to stop using it. I was addicted! I relegated it to use for every other day instead of daily, and then treated my acne until the breakout stopped. After doing a LOT of googling about Clarisonic “purging”, where one’s skin breaks out in the first couple of weeks of use, I am convinced that I was just using it too much, and that your skin does need some time to adjust if it is sensitive like mine. This is pretty common, it turns out. Be forewarned.
The Clarisonic packaging recommends use twice daily. Friends, this is too much. Don’t do this unless you have skin as tough as hide. Even starting out doing it once a day was too much for my poor face. I don’t actually blame the Clarisonic entirely for breaking me out, because flying also does that, and stress does that, but the three together was a perfect acne storm, boo.
However, now it is a month later from all that horribleness, and me and my Clarisonic are having a second honeymoon. The breakouts did clear up (but only once I cut back! Don’t keep scrubbing your skin and expect it to calm down!) and now I use it once almost every night, but with a night or two off a week. I commented to M last night about how good my skin was getting (the marks are still fading) and how I had practically no spots at all at present. Also: I didn’t have a PMS breakout like I usually do. Amaze.
Seriously, right now my skin feels like my washed silk sheets, just smooth and lovely. My pores are clearer and possibly smaller. We’re talking porcelain! I think I have finally got a skincare regimen that will really work with me to keep my face clear and calm and glowing. Lovely.
Used properly, as in not too often and not pressing down on it, the brush is quite gentle. The brushhead vibrates but doesn’t spin, so it isn’t actually scraping over your skin that much. I know it sounds silly, but using it is the best part about getting ready for bed: there are few things in this world as satisfying as the feeling of getting all the makeup off your face with a Clarisonic.
It’s still early days, but after the rough start, I think me and my Mia are going to have a long and happy relationship together, and I have now officially joined the Clarisonic cult. I’ve already got one of my BFFs to get one, and I was singing its praises this weekend to my other friends.
I look at it this way: a good facial is quite expensive, esp. if you are hardcore and want extractions like me. You could easily cover the price of a Clarisonic Mia with just 2-3 facials, and having a Clarisonic is like getting a mini-facial every time you use it. From this perspective, the Clarisonic is actually a screaming bargain.
Pros:
* Clears the crap off your face and gets those pores clean, helps fade acne marks
* Helps clear up blackheads (like on my nose) and may help prevent breakouts (fingers crossed!)
* Smooth, satiny, glowing skin
* Easy to use, turns off automatically after your 1 minute scrub cycle is up
* Clever charger, one charge lasts a good while
* Can use your choice of cleanser as long as it is non-abrasive
* Replaceable brush heads
* Easy to wash and care for
Cons:
* Purging: It could break you out bad if you aren’t careful and gentle
* Expensive, and brush heads aren’t massively cheap, either
* No travel lock, so be careful when packing it so that nothing presses the button to turn it on in your bag
* The 24 hour initial charge before using the first time feels like forever!
Tips:
* Don’t press down hard. Let the brush do the work for you. Just glide it over your face.
* Don’t overuse! Especially at first! Try every other night usage to see how your skin reacts before going daily.
* A good cleanser can make all the difference. I like creamy cleansers, not foamy ones because they strip my face. I am currently using Clarins Comfort Cleanser, but will probably buy Alpha-H’s Balancing Cleanser next because that works really well for me (judging from a sample). A good creamy cleanser lubricates the bristles to help your skin from getting irritated, and prevents the exfoliation from drying you out too much. Cetaphil works well, also.
* Some people complain about mold growing under the removable brush head. This is easily prevented by giving your Clarisonic a good shake out over the sink after washing it. I wash mine (bristles and all) with a good handsoap after every use, shake the water out, then dry it off thoroughly with a towel and leave it to dry. I don’t ever cap it unless travelling.
As recommended by:
* A Model Recommends
* Goop
* Oprah
* Galadarling
* Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo
* …and pretty much everyone, really. Peer pressure!
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Hi there, in my desperate attempts to find out how long the clarisonic purging period lasts on average, I came across your post! So far, I’m experiencing whatever you have described in your post.. To the very T! I used it for about 6 days, once a day… Skin was lovely then… But after the 6th day, my cheeks and jaw line broke out with many cystic pimples… At one point, it was 18 pimples!! I panicked and figured perhaps the combination of clarisonic at night + Paula’s choice 8% AHA was too much for my skin to take… So I have since put aside the AHA, but have continued using the clarisonic daily ( still once a day)… I know I should be cutting down on the usage like what you did, but I have to put on a thick layer of make up to work each day just to conceal the marks left behind by the cystic pimples… And if I don’t use the clarisonic to do a thorough cleaning, I’m afraid I’d just be clogging up more pores more.. Also, I had a long haul flight during the first 6 days of usage, similar to your experience…. That explains the perfect recipe for major break outs… Since you’re having a second honeymoon with clarisonic, did you use any serum/night treatment after clarisonic to manage the break outs? I’m not acne prone at all before using clarisonic. Just a little oily and like you, I have an OCD with the tiniest bit of imperfection on my face… I ENVY my friends who don’t do shit to their skincare routine but still have the perfect skin!!! Thanks a lot for sharing and I hope my second honeymoon with clarisonic comes soon!! It’s really quite depressing!!
Hi Vera,
I’m sorry to hear that you have had similar growing pains with your Clarisonic. I found that the only thing that really broke the cycle was to stop using it so much and let my skin adjust. I really didn’t get things to calm down until I used it only every 3 days or so and gradually built up from there. It’s been nearly a year and now I use mine almost every day, religiously, along with loads of acids (I mix some glycolic acid and salicylic acid in with my moisturiser), so I am still a huge fan. That said, I still get the occasional really horrible breakout (just had one last month) but those are hormonal and nothing to do with the Clarisonic. I completely understand the not-feeling-clean without using the Clarisonic feeling, esp. with the makeup involved, but what I would do is 2-step cleansing without the Clarisonic for about a week: basically cleanse your face twice, the first time to get the makeup off, the second to get the residue off. Nothing abrasive, and it will start healing. Once it calms down, try the Clarisonic every 3 days or so and build up.
Hi Candace,
It’s good to hear that you’re still loving your Mia after more than a year!! That certainly motivates me to put up with the purging and hope it will end soon.. I have been double cleansing already- first with an oil cleanser and then later on with Mia + clarisonic… Thankfully I’m already past the cystic pimple purge stage, and am now only left to deal with the scars and also whitehead kinda pimples.. For the latter, I saw in your previous post that you use Quinoderm to keep it under control? I have a BP 10% cream at the moment but its so strong I only use it for spot treatment on those hormonal pimples that surface once a month.. Would you advise getting the 5% quinoderm wih moisturiser every night after clarisonic? It’s more for maintenance control I guess.. Thanks a lot Candace, your post has inspired me to pull through this dark period!!! Never had such an awful outbreak before, not even during those years of puberty!
What I do with the 10% Quinoderm is mix a little dab of it with my moisturiser and apply as needed. Depending on how much you mix you can vary the strength from 0-10%, so half moisturiser and half Quinoderm = 5%. I use it all over my face at about 2-3% when things are really bad. I guess I like mixing it like this because it gives me more options (either spot treatment or all over) and saves me money by not having to buy two different things. I do similarly with my glycolic 50% and salicylic 10% acid solutions. Good luck!
You’re a gem, Candace! Will try your method above and pray that the purging is almost complete.. Fingers crossed that I’m gonna end up liking Mia eventually