Review | Clarisonic Mia 2

Heylo. Haven't been writing for awhile; I just had the craziest week and school hasn't even started yet. But I'm back with a review of the Clarisonic Mia 2!

You've heard of it, right? Of course you have. It has taken the skincare world by storm ever since it's debut. 

I got mine as a gift from the boyfriend (special shoutout to Bryce; without you this review post would never have been possible *sheds tear). What it is: an electric cleansing brush specially designed for the face. 

Let's get straight into the review then.

Packaging

The box the Clarisonic Mia 2 comes in is not pretty. It's designed more to convey information than to make a lasting impression. Fair enough, given most people wouldn't splurge 200 bucks on a face brush without information to show that it's actually worth it. Enough about the box though, because I think the Clarisonic Mia 2 itself looks so damn pretty.

Mine is in a gorgeous baby pink, and it has a sleek handle that just invites you to "come hold me". It looks so damn good. The Clarisonic Mia 2 comes in a variety of colours, including a hot pink, a lilac and my personal favourite, turquoise. However, I think Singapore's Sephora only carries white, black and baby pink; I'm not complaining, I think baby pink is darned fetching anyway.

Functionality

If you're wondering how the Clarisonic Mia 2 charges, that's how. Don't take my word for it, but I think it's uhh, magnetic charging? What that means is basically, hole-less charging. Also, this makes the Clarisonic Mia 2 100% waterproof, so you won't to worry about wetting it or using it in the shower.

The Clarisonic Mia 2 also comes with a 'Sensitive' brush head, which means its bristles aren't stiff or too abrasive. It doesn't rotate (like those car washes at petrol kiosks), but the brush sorta wiggles in place. It also has two settings, which can be toggled with the arrow button that basically mean "wiggle" and "wiggle faster".

Also, if you purchase one from Sephora, you get a mini Clarisonic cleanser to go along with it, but I don't care much for that.

How to use it

Once you activate the Clarisonic Mia 2, the entire brush head starts wiggling in intervals of 20 seconds, 20 seconds, 10 seconds and 10 seconds corresponding to forehead, nose and chin, and each cheek respectively. There'll be 2 short beeps in between each section to signal for you to move on to the next.

Here's a simple chart I drew to explain the above (largely because I had nothing better to do):

Thus, one cleansing session lasts a grand total of 1 minute.

How I use it

I wet the entire brush, dispense some facial wash onto it, place it against my forehead and press the start button. I then go through the entire routine pictured above before washing my face and the Clarisonic Mia 2.

I primarily use it on the normal speed setting and I hardly ever increase its speed, and when I do, I can't tell a difference in the way it cleanses my face except for the fact that the brush just wiggles faster.

Do I like it?

I'll start with the things I don't like about it, because there are very few and largely insignificant. 

1) Even with a 'Sensitive' brush head, the Clarisonic Mia 2 was sometimes too abrasive. I learnt the hard way to not press the brush against my face too forcefully (that doesn't equate to a deeper cleanse). I also do not recommend using it more than once a day, nor do I recommend using it after you've exfoliated your face. I don't have particularly sensitive skin, so I use it every night. However, if you do have sensitive skin, perhaps a different, gentler brush, or usage once every other day would be more befitting. 

2) On the surface, it has a shitty battery life. One full charge lasts approximately 20 uses; i.e. 20 mins. It takes 18 hours to fully charge a Clarisonic Mia 2. Therefore, 18 hours of charge time corresponds to 20 minutes of usage. I was quite disappointed when I realised this, but I also realised shortly after that I only had to charge my Clarisonic Mia 2 once every 20 days, then it wasn't so bad.

3) Face wash gets into my eyes way too often. Since you wet the brush before using it and start with your forehead, this meant that soap infested water would drip down into my eyes at the very start of my cleansing routine - not fun. I make an extra effort to flick off any excess water before hitting the start button, and pay a painful price when I get sloppy. Thankfully, the start button also functions as a pause button which allows me to wash my eye midway through a cleansing cycle should I get soap in it.

Once again, those tiny little shortcomings don't affect me all that much, although they are worth considering before you splurge on a Clarisonic Mia 2. Moving on to the the reasons I absolutely love this darl'.

1) It feels hella good. Nothing feels better than a good, vibrating face massage after a long day with your face marinating in makeup or sweat or a combination of both of the above. It feels nice, and you know your face is getting a good cleansing.

2) I actually see a difference. Before this pink bundle of joy came along, I cleansed my face by using an oil-based makeup remover and sometimes followed up with facial foam using my fingers. Now, I use the makeup remover and always follow up with facial foam on the Clarisonic Mia 2. And let me tell you, the brush head almost always changes colour to match my foundation shade after I'm done, even if I've used makeup remover prior to my wash. This means that there was almost always residual makeup leftover that wasn't properly washed off.

3) I think that my skin has shown an improvement over the past 2 months of using it. It may just be the placebo effect, I can't say for sure that oh the Clarisonic Mia 2 has done wonders for my face, oh praise its inventors, oh happy day - but what I can say is that I've noticed subtle differences in the texture and condition of my skin since I've started using it. There've been less dry patches, less whiteheads and my skin just feels cleaner and smoother.

I love it.

I won't say that you absolutely must have a Clarisonic in your skincare routine; it's more of a luxury, but once you start, there's no going back. It is something that makes my cleansing ritual complete, and it has become an indispensable part of my every day skincare routine. Whether or not it's worth the splurge is up to you. It makes a fine gift for any skincare lover (or any lover for that matter *wink) though.

The Clarisonic Mia 2 retails for $215 at all Sephora outlets, along with a variety of Clarisonic brush heads.

Much love,

Denicia