Motorized Facial Brush, on Crack! (in a good way)

After hearing about Clarisonic Skincare Brush a couple years ago, the gadgety inner child in me cannot wait to get my hands on one and try it. However, since the item costs $195, that thought was put on hold until recently...

Overview:
Clarisonic was invented by the same people who made Sonicare toothbrushes famous. Apparently, this facial brush uses sonic technology to provide gentle yet deep daily cleansing.

The brush has two power settings (low and high) and a T-timer (beeps to let you know how long you've brushed type of a dealio). It is waterproof (although I'd hesitate before submerging the entire unit under water since it is an electronic item). The brush oscillates back and forth very fast (300 movements per second) and this makes my skin touchably smooth and clear. The one downer is that you cannot use this around your eyes- d'oh!

For $195, you receive a beautifully packaged motorized skin brush that comes with a little bit of juice in the battery. The best thing to do for battery life is to contain your excitement and let it charge for 24 hours. The battery holds a two week charge. Then, the fun begins.

Clarisonic Skin Brush kit comes with the Clarisonic brush, charger, one normal brush head, one sensitive brush head, and a 2 oz Daily Cleanser. Currently, you can choose from pink or white as your color of choice.

I did my research and found that The Wall Street Journal reviewed a couple of similar items and well, if they liked Clarisonics, that is good enough for me.

The Good
The cleanser is good for most skin types- I had not qualm with the cleanser and my skin type is combo-pseudo sensitive... meaning it is oily in some spots, tight in others, and red in a few "well-placed" spots on my face.

The brush is easy to use, I close my eyes and laugh every time I use this brush. Why? I keep on thinking of all the money I saved from the facials I would otherwise yearn for and get! This motorized facial brush on crack really cleans the dirt, oil and grime from my face! (and I live in the city so there is a lot of grime and pollution in the air... *laughs*).

The Bad
As mentioned before, you cannot use this tool near your eyes. This tool is not a toy... although I treat it like one so you should keep your kids and pets away from it.
When you first begin using it, be sure to follow the factory settings and just clean your face for the suggested 1 minute (instead of the overzealous 2 minutes) b/c it may scrub your cheeks too raw when your skin is not used to it.

The replacement head is not cheap at $25 a pop. The recommended replacement time frame is 3-4 months. To simplify my life, what I do is change the facial brush head when I change my toothbrush head. I clean the brush head so that it remains clean.

Some may have an allergy to an ingredient in the cleanser- if that's you, use your own cleanser. I do it all the time since I have a lot of different facial cleansers laying around.

The Radiant
My skin looks great, but of course I'm just being vain and hence would say this. ;) But even if it is just a placebo effect, I think I am generally happy with the purchase since it made me happy.

Insider Tip: I usually let the battery drain completely before charging it full again since this prolongs the life of your electric items. I did this with my ancient electric toothbrush and it still works wonderfully.

Conclusion
I think if you are a diligent individual who has good motor abilities in the hands, you don't need to spend $195 on a motorized skin brush. You can clean your face by hand... Clarisonic's claim is that the brush will clean 2x better than by hand so if you feel like cleaning by hand, by all means, go ahead. Nonetheless, just like millions of people own electric toothbrushes, if you are like me, and wants to receive maximum results for minimum work (b/c face it, we are all sometimes a little lazy when it comes to properly cleaning our face), Clarisonic may be the gadget for you.

The best thing I'd do if I were you (and is somewhat curious about the product) is to find a reputable retailer or directly from the Clarisonic (as long as the retailer has a liberal return policy, it's all good), and try it for yourself. If you like it, you can keep it and be happy. If you don't, you can return it and keep your smile on as you search for the next ultimate skin care innovation.

Thank you for reading! :)