Is Your Face Cleansing Brush Doing More Harm Than Good? Derms Address This Beauty Myth.
I have been seriously wanting a Clarisonic Mia Cleansing Brush or any of its sisters for ages now. Like my electric toothbrush, it works via sonic technology. I read that a lot of beauty bloggers received them, including the Clarisonic Opal for Eyes, as gifts at various blogger conventions. So jealous. These babies from Clarisonic go for $149 and up. The replacement heads go for $25 each (replacement every 3 months). I was considering asking for one for my birthday this week, but the price tag was just too high.
This week, I’ve been conducting “shop-along”, market research interviews for a cosmetics client, and the interviews were held at several Ulta stores in the Chicago area. A sales consultant from Clarisonic was in the house at one of the stores, and she demonstrated the Mia 2 to me, offered 2 free heads if purchased that day. She gave me the hard sell, but I still wasn’t convinced to spend $160 (I had an Ulta 20% Friends & Family coupon). I walked away.
I saw the Olay Pro-X version at CVS for much, much less (around $30), and I thought I should do some research into its efficacy. So I spent the morning reading hundreds of reviews. The Olay brush rotates, has 2 speeds, a softer brush than the Clarisonic, and it runs on 2 AA batteries. Some reviewers complained that it’s difficult to open the door to where the batteries are stored. But most of the women loved it. Though the brush works by rotation rather than sonic technology like the Clarisonic, they believed it did a good job and was less harsh. In fact, many of the reviewers who had used both preferred the Olay brush to the Clarisonic.
Although the majority of the reviews came from young women under 25 who had oily or acne-prone skin, there were enough reviews from women over 40 to give me an idea of why they were using it and how it worked for them. Basically, they used it to clean enlarged pores and blackheads (that are usually the cause of adult breakouts) or to exfoliate dry flaky skin. A few women with dry skin said that using the brush helped their skin feel less dry. Interesting.
OK, so now I’m feeling good about buying the Olay Pro-X. Then the article from Huffington Post (see link above) appeared in my Facebook newsfeed. I thought I’d read it and see what the experts say. Frankly, it reminds me a little of the gel manicure controversy. My assessment is that anything that’s over-used or misused is a bad thing.
Do you use a Clarisonic, and if so, which one? What do you like about it? Has anyone tried the Olay Pro-X? What do you think? Please share your experiences and help me decide whether to buy this!
I have been using the Olay Pro-X for almost a year. I have older skin and find my skin now looks younger, feels softer and my blackheads are seriously diminished. I really like this product. The price is right. You can adjust the speeds 3 ways. It comes with 2 brush heads. And it really works well for any age skin. You should try it!
Thank you so much, Mary, for the Olay Pro-X review! I am so glad to know that it’s working well for you. I’ve had good luck with everything I’ve tried from Olay, but I never did get the cleansing brush. I received a couple of the Michael Todd Cleansing Brushes, and I need to review the second one I received about 6 weeks ago. I can’t use a cleansing brush every day because I have such sensitive skin, but I do enjoy using it a couple of times a week. I find it very relaxing. Do you feel like you’ve had a facial massage after using the Olay Pro-X?
Funny thing is I was looking for the post where we talked about cleansing brushes and couldn’t find it. I wanted to tell you I found a Foreo mini on sale plus I had 20% off. I know this isn’t what this post is about,I haven’t tried Clarisonic or Olay but I’ve been tempted by them all and so happy I found a great deal.Now I need to read even more than I have about the best way to use it and care for it. Thanks for all the great posts,I truly enjoy reading your blog even when I see old posts about things I just discovered realising I’m not as hip as I would like to think, lol
Wow, Laura, that’s terrific! What a deal! I know you’ll love the Foreo. It should come with instructions. I use the side with the plastic “teeth” in the different quadrants of my face for about 15-20 seconds per area and the Foreo has a built in timer letting you know when to move on. Then I flip it onto the side with the ridges (the anti-aging side!), and I go around my jawline primarily and sometimes a little on my face – it feels like a massage. In terms of cleaning it, I rinse it well after each use, and wash it once a week with a mild soap. I should do a post on it! I hope you will enjoy yours as much as I do mine!!