Continuing on with the skincare and beauty happenings on this blog, I can finally announce that I have joined the Clarisonic club after a good year of ruminating on whether or not to buy one!
Fuelled by frustration with my skin since September (allergies, dry flakiness, more allergies, and more flakiness!!) I bit the bullet after one long day of study and bought the new Mia 2 from Sephora. It arrived last week and I've been waiting to pick it up from Simon's house since then.
A bit about the Mia 2
It's the same as the original travel-sized Mia, but features two speeds instead of one.
For those who haven't come across the Clarisonic before, think of it as a giant toothbrush for your face. It is touted to gently exfoliate the skin and do a much better job than your hands alone, and the whole process takes a measly 1-minute to do. In the photo above is my brother, showing you how it's done. Apparently it tickles!
I purchased mine off Sephora in a package deal which included an extra head and some samples (shown above), but you can get the original Mia for a similar price in Australia online, such as here. Also, who doesn't love the freebies from Sephora?? Those nail stickers will be coming out to play in December.
A bit about my skin
Here's some photos from Saturday morning before work, which I haven't used the adjustment-brush tool on. (Of course, white balance and cropping was done, but nothing more - we like to be truthful here!). Admittedly my skin didn't look too bad then, but when I came home from work my jawline and forehead were off to flaky-town, urgh. Also, my pores are perpetually like, "hey y'all! Jump on in!" to bacteria, so something to stop them doing this would be greatly appreciated.
Since my teens, "oil-slick" has been an appropriate descriptor for my sensitive dermatological state. Except until 2 months ago where I reacted pretty badly to my brother's face-wash (and then some more with the Spring weather), went into a frenzied state of exfoliating, and am now stuck with dry skin. Boo :(
I'd much prefer oily to be honest, and you can see that my makeup in the photo on the right doesn't sit very well on my face. Let's hope this helps it out by cutting down my previously (very) abrasive skincare routine!
And now, the 6-week plan!
It's 6 weeks because I just chose an arbitrary number of weeks to carry out my experiment in.
Firstly, I've gone back to basics with my face-wash (sorbolene and phisohex) since my face has decided to revolt against Neutrogena which I've used for years. Secondly, since my skin is pretty damaged at the moment from all my scrubbing, I'll be slowly introducing the Clarisonic over a couple of weeks. All my other skin routines will stay the same.
Thus the plan of attack will be:
Week 1: twice a week
Week 2: 4 times a week
Week 3 - 5: nightly
Week 6: nightly, and if I think it might be appropriate, in the morning too
I'll update you on my progress when I have the time to (20 days to exams, not that anyone's counting)!
Wish me luck, and ask as many questions as you like!
xx T
Yay for the Clarisonic! I have the original Mia, it's pretty darn good.
ReplyDeleteIt must be the time of year allergies, my body/eyes/face have been constantly being a bitch for the last couple of months. Good luck with your experiment (and your exams of course) I'm looking forward to seeing how it all goes!
Shell xx
Oh and P.S - how did you manage to order from Sephora?!
ReplyDeleteYup, it's definitely that time of year - I'm forever scratching my arms out of habit now!
DeleteSimon was doing some mail-forwarding and he so happened to ask if I wanted anything from the States, so I snuck in my Sephora order!
xx T
this thingy looks just amazing... not sure where to purchase on in switzerland though --'
ReplyDeletehttp://munchmecat.blogspot.ch/
You can actually get it off Asos! Your local department store or beautician might be a good place to look too :)
Deletexx T
I suffer from dry skin patches on my face and scalp, which has been diagnosed as seborrheic dermatitis. After years of experimenting with all sorts of commercial and natural products, creams, scrubs and remedies (and I mean YEARS...I'm a bit older than you!!), I have finally found what works for me most of the time - good old plain water with no scrubbing at all. I then use a very mild moisturiser like 'Simple' or 'Ultraceuticals'. Recently I've been trying pure coconut oil on my face instead of moisturiser, which seems to be good, but it's only been a few days. I don't wear foundation unless it's a very special occasion and I only use water to wash off my other make up. This probably sounds radical - it did to me too until I tried it and it worked! Even more radical, I've been shampoo free for the last 6 months and only use water on my hair too. Using water alone definitely helps my skin a lot. I get the occasional flake or dry patch but nothing like before. I think it's worth a try :)
ReplyDeleteWow that is pretty radical Meg! Have you tried rosehip oil? It's quite calming for my sensitive skin and works pretty well as an overnight treatment thingo.
DeleteThe problem is that I wear make-up every day (sadly, I can't bring myself to leave the house without it on since my self-esteem needs a bit of work too) so I need some sort of cleanser. But defs something I might try out over the study break when I don't leave the house!
xx T
I caved in a bought the Classic Mia some months ago, and im loving it and so is my skin. I feel it is clearer, and any breakouts definitely disappear a lot quicker.
ReplyDeleteBtw - I have a small giveaway on my new blog, feel free to enter:
http://beautyandlifestylehunter.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/welcome-giveaway.html
Awesome - I hope my skin does the same! And thanks for letting us know; we'll pop over to your blog to have a look!
Deletex T