2011 is the year I take care of my skin, as so far I have been far to focused on other things to remember to remove make up and slap on serums every night.
My skin is certainly looking worse for wear, with dry patches and the first signs of CROWS FEET – HELLO!?!?! So this year, I am going to take that little bit of time to cleanse properly, to moisturise, to use eye cream.
Cleansing is important. I am a lazy cleanser. I miss the days when my mum used to wash my face with a hot flannel ahhh. The benefits of childhood.
Here is the Clarisonic:
Must confess, I have a Clarisonic from a few years ago, the basic model in pink which I ordered in from the USA (before it was released in the UK), and I paid about £140 for.
I was too lazy to use it, and also because it was a US model with a 2 pin I had to use it in the shaver socket on my wall (which does say 11ov) but it made the strangest ringing noise when it was charging…anyway, it died on me.
I was sent this Clarisonic Plus model (has 3 speeds and a body brush function) to try out. Was excited actually, because I am so ready to take care of my skin properly:
They say:
By cleansing daily with Clarisonic, you’ll remove dirt and oil better than with traditional manual washing. Even makeup is removed six times better than standard cleansing. And skin is left so clean it actually absorbs products like serums and moisturisers better.
I know that I totally don’t cleanse well enough because I wear primer, foundation, concealer, powder in the day and I don’t go to bed til late so sometimes I feel like this make up has been living on my skin for ages. Also I have blocked pores…I am SO ready to cleanse those little things out….
How it’s all presented:
I’ve tried other non-branded face brushes before (The Body Shop do one and Shiseido) which you use by hand and to be honest, these are good for a deep cleanse. But they don’t use sonic technology obviously, but if you are on a tight budget, do check them out.
I’ve tried stuff like the Neutrogena Wave too – no, no it doesn’t even compare.
The products you get with it – quite a nice selection but I didn’t use them because my skin is sensitive and I’d rather not throw too many new things at it.
Here is the brush. It is VERY sturdy and well made, no complaints about that (the urge to put diamantes and stickers on it is so great – I can’t leave something plain and white alone).
It’s pretty simple to use – I pressed the main switch after an overnight charge and it was ready to go. It makes this – DO DO DO – sound as it turns on and you get 20 secs for the forehead, 20 for the nose and chin, 10 for each cheek. DONE. Quick and easy.
I say quick and easy but like I said I am really lazy with these things. I HAVE stuck to it though (been using it for 5 days so far) BECAUSE I’ve had really clean pores and now I’m getting obsessed with making sure they are clean every night.
You get a base with it – now, a UK 3 pin plug is actually a bit tricky for a bathroom because most UK bathrooms don’t have a 3 pin plugs in them, right? So you need an adaptor.
I don’t like adaptors, it reminds me of my mums hairdryer which she just had to buy from Asia, and has about 4 adaptors one of top of the other and can never be removed from the socket because she won’t get it back in again.
One thing I worried about was how this brush would be on my sensitive face. It’s gentler than I remember, there’s no reason why you can’t use a gentle touch with this so it’s not exfoliating the skin too much! Soft soft soft!
This is the larger body brush, I think it’s pretty cool you can take it into the shower and use it for dry patches, also good for pre tanning!
Week 1 Verdict:
So far I am sticking to this beauty tool and liking it although, my skin is flaking a lot especially my nose and cheeks. Perhaps the Clarisonic is working away the dead skin but at the moment, I am, as Elvis would say, Flaking all over. Hope this goes next week.
On the plus side – my PORES! Clean clean clean clean. Clean. Clean.
I can tell because when I put make up on the next day, it’s like it has a fresh canvas, I can see my pores are looking better already and actually I don’t feel like putting much make up on top of really fresh clean skin.
No irritations. I think I over did it on a spotty area of my face and it went a bit red…
So that’s all for week one. I’ll get some skin images up for subsequent weeks, sorry, but been very busy this week sorting things out. 
P.S. To follow my Clarisonic Diary, use the tabs!
Check it out here, its £175
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Ahhh…I’m glad you’re doing a Clarisonic post and diary
…I’ve been using mine for about 2 weeks now, I wanted to get a Plus so that I could use it on dry patches on the body, but my brother got the wrong one (Classic) from the States…oh well, at least it’s pink lol
It’s been discussed widely online, but I felt like I had to make the investment (and it is quite an investment at the price it is!) when I read another blogger’s post about her secrets to flawless skin (her bare skin was absolutely radiant and flawless!) and saw that she attributed her skin in part to the Clarisonic.
Mine currently charges in the shaver socket in my bathroom…I’ve not noticed any weird noises coming from it (yet!)…I had to buy a travel adaptor because the US pins didnt fit into the shaver socket for some reason :S
I’ve tried the cleansers that came in the pack, and the only one that doesn’t seem to give me dry patches is the nourishing one…it smells lovely and gingery as well! I’ve also just bought the Neutrogena cream wash and grapefruit cleanser to use with it after reading your review on them!
I totally agree with you when you say that things like the Wave and generic versions don’t compare…you definitely can feel how clean it gets your face, and how bright your face looks after using it! I’m definitely going to try and perservere with using the Clarisonic, although I have missed the odd day when I’ve been too tired/lazy!
I’ll be following your Clarisonic diary to see how you get on with it
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Oooh please keep us updated! I made an oath that by my 21st birthday, I will have a Clarisonic Mia. I just need to read the right reviews to make the big splurge. I’m also trying to pay more attention to my skincare routine but I’m soooo lazy!
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What is special about the Mia, do you know? I don’t think it’s launched in the uk yet!!!
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Oh no! I wish you hadn’t writeen this because now I REALLY want it! xxx
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Well Phoebe…wait for the results first! x
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Ah, the Mia is the travel version of the regular Clarisonic. I don’t think it’s usable as a body exfoliator but there’s colors to choose from besides boring white!
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Hi Ashley
Ooohh sounds good. I hate how boring the white one is but I had the pink one and that broke!
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Looks like Olay are jumping on the sonic-cleansing bandwagon…wonder if it really is as effective as the “professional cleansing system costing $200″ lol
I’d probably buy it just to see if it was as good as the Clarisonic at a fraction of the price…wonder when it is coming to the UK?
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Hi Jen
Hmmm for $200 I’d go for the Clarisonic?! surely? Will have to try to Olay to see if its as good
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I think the Olay one costs around $30….think they’re trying to compare themselves against Clarisonic, but can’t mention them by name, so instead have to refer to Clarisonic as “the professional cleansing system costing $200″ !!
I think for $30 it’d be worth trying out the Olay to see how it compares. That being said, I’d be gutted if it was pretty much similar to Clarisonic!!!
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Thank you for sharing your brand new Clarisonic PLUS – were so happy that you enjoying it so far. Hopefully the drying will improve very soon. We look forward to hearing more as you continue to cleanse with the system. If you ever have questions you can find us on Twitter @Clarisonic or facebook.com/ClarisonicUK. Thank you again and happy cleansing!
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