Friday, January 9, 2009

Clarisonic Cleansers

I have a bunch of skincare reviews coming up, but I'm procrastinating a bit on writing them, haha. I thought I'd get this post out of the way since I had planned on doing a short blurb but forgot all about it until now.

When I bought the Clarisonic, I received the Breast Cancer Awareness one, which comes with 3 trial cleansers. Most people tend to chuck the cleansers, and use their regular cleansers, since Clarisonic doesn't specialize in actual skincare. I decided to try two of them anyway, since the strength of the cleanser doesn't really matter when you have the Clarisonic, which does all the work.

On a slightly related note, if you use the same cleanser daily, it's actually a good idea to rotate your cleansers every month to every two months (obviously, if you're past the stage of being experimental, you should just rotate what you know works for you). I have maybe three to five cleansers in my arsenal right now which I rotate every morning or night depending on what I think my skin needs (nourishing, exfoliation, etc.). This keeps your skin from plateau-ing, so it continually reaps the benefits of the product.



I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Refreshing Gel Cleanser is paraben free, which is a big trend right now. The back of the tube reads that the cleanser was actually created by Dr. Robb Akridge, PhD. (I have no idea who that is, but the fact that a scientist/doctor created it is somewhat comforting.) It is specially formulated for normal to oily skin types and contains 1% Willowbark Extract (Sephora tells me this is a natural antiseptic), beta-hydroxy acid, bearberry extract (what is this???), and pro-vitamins B5 and B12. I highly doubt these ingredients are anything to write home about, but I actually did like this cleanser. It was very gentle and it didn't dry out my skin. You only need to squeeze out a little bit of this clear-pink tinted gel and rub it all over your damp face, and it will not drip or run into your eyes. It also has a floral scent. After I used this, my Clarisonic brush head started smelling very nice...as opposed to smelling bacterial, which is how it smelled the first week I had it.




The other cleanser I tried was the Gentle Hydro Cleanser. This cleanser is not paraben free, but it contains aloe, cucumber, green tea, and Vitamin E. This cleanser is formulated for normal to sensitive skin. It is white and has a more milky consistency than the Refreshing Gel cleanser. I didn't like this cleanser as much because of the milkiness--the consistency was much thicker and it seemed to deposit residue on my skin. It also smells like cucumbers steeped in milk. Maybe some of you might like that scent....I didn't though. I'm sure it works just as well as the other cleanser, though--it's just not for me.

I didn't bother trying the Nourishing Care Cleanser, since it's for dry skin. I assumed it probably would have felt like pushing lotion around on my skin. Oh well!

I would not recommend using these cleansers if you're not pairing them with the Clarisonic, as it would probably be too weak to clean your skin. However, if you have dry or sensitive skin, I think this cleanser would be great alone, although they are created for normal to oily skin.

If you do use these cleansers along with the Clarisonic, do bear in mind that they probably will cause your brush to become more clogged with soap residue than your normal foaming cleanser. However, you should always clean your brush head anyway, no matter what cleanser you use.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have only used two of the three cleanser - normal to oily and the normal to dry (Nourishing Care Cleanser). Both of them smell good. The nourishing (normal to dry) one is really good if you have day(s) were your skin is on the dry side. It doesn't seem to be that heavy and leaves your skin feeling well moisturised.

Though I usually just use my own cleanser, one of them being the Clinique liquid soap. Which really foams up and I have found will go in your mouth (if you are not careful) or up your nose if you use too much of it. Not to mention it strings if you get it in your eyes. I would recommend not using that much of if you use it with a clarisonic.
I would also recommend not using any cleansers that are 'self foaming' (cleanser that are already foamed when it comes out the container.) that do not seem to work well with a clarisonic.

Rachel said...

Hi Anonymous,
Thanks for the alternate opinion. I haven't tried a foaming cleanser with the Clarisonic, but Pursebuzz @ Pursebuzz.com mentioned that she really liked using her Philosophy Purity Foaming cleanser with her Clarisonic. I've never used Purity before, but I think whether one chooses a foaming cleanser or not is personal preference.

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