Clarisonic—you’ve almost definitely heard the name at least once over the past year. It’s been touted as the latest and greatest in skincare innovations and has appeared on just about every beauty guru’s YouTube channel imaginable. With a price point of $139-$225+, we can bet you’re wondering—does the Clarisonic really work?
In this post, I’ll share my thoughts on the Clarisonic cleansing system and give you my advice on the matter. After all, facial cleansers can be expensive enough just on their own!
Clarisonic cleansing systems are designed to pulsate the top of your skin to encourage increased blood flow, exfoliation, and greater cleaning. You focus on four main zones: forehead, cheek, chin, and cheek. In 60 seconds, you’ve washed your face and removed up to 60x more makeup and build-up than washing with your hands. Pretty amazing, right? You do need to be careful, though, as the pulsation may be too intense for those with very delicate, thin, or damaged skin. If you’re prone to bruising or getting broken capillaries, the increased vibration may worsen your condition. If you have normal, healthy skin—or are prone to acne breakouts and are looking for a solution aside from laser resurfacing and other drastic measures—the Clarisonic might be a good idea for you. As with all things, you should check with your dermatologist if you’re unsure.
I have combination skin and picked up the Clarisonic Mia 2 from Sephora last week. It has two pulsation levels—gentle and one that’s a bit stronger, comes with a travel case, gentle cleansing brush, and charger. It also came with a small sample of Clarisonic’s cleansing gel, though I prefer my cleansers from Clarins. I’ve been using the system for 60 seconds in the morning and 60 seconds at night and have loved it thus far. My skin has never felt so clean and has never before absorbed my moisturizer as efficiently. Some reviews say the system dried out the writer’s skin, so I’ve made sure to use ample moisturizer and take extra time massaging in it to avoid any possible dry patches while my skin adjusts to my new routine.
In summary, I’d say the Clarisonic can really work. You need to have the right skin for the system, the right amount of patience, and you need to know the cost, benefits, and possible complications—just like anything else. I’ve been told there can be a possible “purging period” during the first two weeks of use, during which your skin is adjusting to the new routine and the increased exfoliation encourages any blemishes that were hiding to come out to the surface. This has not happened to me yet, but you should know it’s a possibility. It’s kind of like when you go for a facial, there’s the risk that you’ll break out a little more than usual over the next few days following.
