Like an electric toothbrush on steroids!

I make an effort to take the best care of my skin that I possibly can. I use a quality cleanser, moisturizer, and sunscreen. I also get semi-regular facials. The past couple facials I've had have included the Clarisonic Skincare Brush, and it's come highly recommended to keep my skin clean and smooth. After hearing about this product and thinking about it for a couple months, I decided to take the plunge and invest the $200 in it.

Here's the blurb from Sephora:

What it is:
A professional-grade skincare brush.

What it does:
From the creators of the Sonicare® toothbrush comes Clarisonic® skin care. Sonic technology first changed the way we clean our teeth, it's now changing how we cleanse our skin. The sonic frequency moves Clarisonic's soft, gentle brush back and forth at more than 300 times per second. The sonic micro-massage clears your pores, loosening dirt, makeup and oil. Clarisonic® is proven to remove more dirt (sebum and makeup) than traditional, superficial cleansing, allowing your serums and moisturizers to absorb better. Skin is left soft and pampered without harsh abrasion or chemicals. Clarisonic reduces dry skin patches, oily areas and blemishes and removes 6X more makeup. Pore size, fine lines, and wrinkles appear smaller.

What else you need to know:
Clarisonic should be used as part of a daily skincare regimen to provide smoother feeling and looking skin. Ideal for all skin types and used and recommended by leading dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons. Gentle enough to use for cleansing rosacea and sebborheic dermatitis.

Set includes: A Clarisonic brush and charger, one normal brush head, one sensitive brush head, and a 2 oz Daily Cleanser.

And here's my blurb:

I use this brush once a day, in my morning shower. I use it with my own cleanser, though the one that comes with it is gentle and smells great. I put about a dime size of my cleanser in my hand and then lather it on my face. I then use the brush on the factory preset one minute setting. This setting is set for 20 seconds on your forehead, 20 seconds on your nose and chin, and 10 seconds on each cheek. To alert you that a time period is up, the brush beeps and pauses momentarily.

The directions tell you to use the brush in small circular motions, and I try to do this as much as possible. In some areas, like my nose, this is difficult to do, so I just try to make sure every part of my face (minus the eyes) is touched by the brush.

The brush feels great to use. I've been using the sensitive skin brush head. It feels like a gentle, exfoliating, face massage. It doesn't feel abrasive or irritating, and I have quite sensitive skin. Once I've finished with the brush and rinsed off my face, it feels very clean and soft.

I rinse the brush and handle thoroughly after each use, and wash the whole thing with a gentle soap every few days. I've been using the brush for several weeks now, and it still looks brand new. They recommend changing the brush head every 3 months or so, and I can definitely see my brush head lasting the full 3 months.

I leave the brush charging on my sink whenever I'm not using it. The directions recommend doing this and say that it will not effect the life of the battery to leave it charging when you're not using it.

The replacement brush heads are $25 and can be purchased at Sephora or directly from Clarisonic. This was probably the biggest factor discouraging me from buying the brush, but I finally decided that I spend far more than that on skin care every 3 months or so, so throwing the brush in wouldn't be a huge added expense.

The makers of this product claim that using it will reduce pore size and wrinkles. I honestly can't say that I've noticed any improvement in these areas. My pore size has never been an issue for me, but I don't think I've noticed any reduction in size. As far as wrinkles go, I would never mind if a few of those disappeared, but sadly I don't think any have.

I do recommend this product. It leaves my skin feeling so clean and soft. My skin looks healthy and clear since I've started using it. Definitely an investment, but a good one!