You know my whole ‘try not to slate products and instead highlight good stuff’ stance? It’s going to have to go out the window for this post. I hate the Clarisonic*. There, I said it. Hate it. Oh that’s liberating. I’ve heard so many people bang on about how ruddy good it is and nodded blithely along rather than incur their wrath that I’d sort of learned to swallow my misgivings. But, as ever, what was buried has surfaced and the emergence of a genuinely brilliant tool has forced my tongue (or, rather, my fingers to type this).
My concerns in brief are /
1) The bristles effectively buff the skin’s surface. The process is akin to sanding a wall. This is, as you can probably imagine, catastrophic for the skin’s barrier function which, when disrupted, engenders a world of problems from overproduction of sebum to dry patches. Just don’t do it. If you like your skin softer than a baby’s behind, get your hands on a good exfoliant.
2) The brushes cost £15 upwards a pop, so once you’ve bought the device, you constantly incur costs. And if you’re thinking of getting it and not changing the head, consider the number of bacterium that live on the brush head after a single cleanse and times that by 30 (the number of days Clarisonic recommend using the same head for). Quite off-putting, isn’t it?
3) As the Clarisonic simply works on the (very thin and easily ruffled) surface of the skin, it is by no means superior to a good proper double cleanse. All those photos of someone with much cleaner skin and fewer ‘blocked pores’ and all that jazz after using it are missing the point – skin is a living organism, not a hardwood floor. You can’t – and mustn’t – try to get it ‘squeaky clean’ by scrubbing it. A good balmy cleanser and clean flannel is just as effective.
The reason for this rant: I’ve found a tool that does none of the above while still really making the most of the process of cleansing. It’s called the Foreo Luna and has excited me immensely, for it worries me on none of the above levels and benefits the skin in a multitude of ways.
In short: the bristles are made of silicon and won’t act as a breeding ground; the device uses sonic vibrations to effectively shake dirt out the pores while simultaneously toning and aiding lymphatic drainage; it can be used to apply cleanser on the side with nubs and serum or oil on the smoother ‘anti-aging’ side, and the battery lasts for yonks (this may not sway you but my god does it please me – electronics requiring constant charging frustrate me something chronic). So if you are going to fork out on a way to make the most of your cleanse, get your hands on this puppy. And use it – it won’t do any good sitting on your shelf.
If you’d like to see the video I made for Marie Claire on five different ways to use the Foreo, click here. The Foreo Luna costs £145 here.
* The Clarisonic is not alone in arousing my concern. Apply to all similar brushes.
3 Trackbacks