Review | Cleansing in 1-2-3 with Clarisonic
Every once in awhile a package gets dropped on my doorstep that is so exciting, yet truly scary to try at the same time. I’ve wanted to try the Clarisonic Mia 2 for such a long time since pretty much every YouTube blogger was raving about it. BUT I’ve also heard about situations where it went horribly wrong. With my sensitive acne-prone skin I felt I had to be careful not to agitate my skin and cause irritations. To be sure, I tested this for a little over 4 months before bringing you my review today and here are my findings..
But first things first; what exactly is the Clarisonic Mia 2? Clarisonic Mia 2 is a revolutionary cleansing brush that makes 300 oscillating (left & right) micromovements per second. This frequency of 300 strokes per second cleans and softens, without affecting the elasticity of the skin. The sonic technology is complemented by carefully selected bristles with perfectly rounded tops so as not to damage the skin. There is a choice of four different brush heads for the face, for every skin type and every level of sensitivity (extremely sensitive, sensitive, normal, large pores), each with a precisely metered diameter, density and length.
In short, the Clarisonic Mia 2 promises to do 3 things:
- Perfect clean skin in 1 minute: the oscillating technology is said to be 6 times more effective than cleansing by hand
- Visibly clearer skin: refinement of the pores and improvement in brightness. The test panel claimed to have better skin texture and that the skin felt softer and smoother
- Skin more receptive to the active ingredients in products
First of all I’d like to point out I don’t use the Mia 2 as frequently as the package describes, because I find that unnecessary. I use it once a week (twice tops) in combination with the Philosophy Purity Made Simple one-step facial cleanser. The other days I just use a muslin cloth with the same cleanser. I start with making my face just a little moist with some lukewarm water and add a lot of cleanser. Then, all it takes is a simple push of a button to get the Mia 2 to work its magic. You can adjust the speed with the button on top, but I don’t touch it. The tool buzzes as I make round movements across my forehead. After 20 seconds, a short pause in the buzzing accompanied by a little beep indicates it’s time to move to the lower area (around the nose, mouth and chin) where I do the same for 20 seconds. Then it’s time to do the cheeks, each for 10 seconds. After the minute is up, the Mia will have finished and will stop buzzing. Then it’s time to rinse the residue off and continue with my regular skin care routine.
The bristles of the sensitive skin brush don’t feel irritating, even if I don’t use a lot of product, but just for comfort I like to use quite a bit. Unlike what I would expect, my face doesn’t look like a lobster, nor does it feel irritated. It feels super clean and soft. After a few weeks I started to feel that the surface felt smoother and that my skin started to look better. Not so much because of the Mia2 on its own, but because of the entire skin care routine. My products seem to be more effective. And the spontaneous breakouts I was so worried about? I haven’t had a single one (other than the usual monthly one). This proves I’ve found a way to integrate this special brush into my routine without upsetting my skin and help my products do their job better. Even with these results, I don’t plan on using it more frequently. Less is more.
For me this is a quick and easy way to help me get rid of all of my make-up (don’t forget to wash your face afterwards before applying any products though). The only thing that bugs me is the price of the brushes (€ 25), which need to be replaced after 3 months (if you use them every day). That might be something that might me back and that also might be a reason why I don’t even want to use it more often.
Have you tried the Clarisonic Mia 2? What do you think?
The Clarisonic Mia 2 is now exclusively available at Ici Paris XL (BE&NL) for € 149.*
The Philosophy Purity Made Simple cleanser (240 ml) is exclusively available at Ici Paris XL (BE&NL) for € 19,25.
