When it comes to makeup and beauty products, I believe less is more. The first time I wore primer and "full coverage" products was for my wedding. Since I had bought an expensive primer and a heavier foundation for the wedding, I continued to use them for the month after, but quickly realized that it was clogging my pores and making me break out. This sent me into a terrible cycle of breaking out from the heavy products, but wanting to use the heavy products to cover the breakouts. Not good. I realized that the only way to overcome this would be to suck it up, switch products, and figure out a way to help my skin clear up.
Up until a few months ago, I'd never met a cleansing product that I actually wanted to recommend. I had found okay facial soaps and decent moisturizers, but nothing that made me jump for joy. Then I met Mia.
As you may already know, the Clarisonic Mia is a facial cleansing brush that cleans deeply to remove all the sweat, grime, and make-up that gets stuck in your pores throughout the day. I was skeptical that the Mia could really be as good as some people claimed, but now that I've used the accessory for three months, I'm a believer. Immediately I felt my skin was smoother, brighter, and cleaner, but I kept waiting for the breakout everyone swore would happen from over-exfoliating your skin. It didn't happen. The brush is as amazing as the day I bought it, and I'm in love.
So that was all fine and dandy, but I still hadn't found a cleansing product to use with the brush. I was using eye make-up removing pads from Almay that felt rough and weakened my lashes, and a cleanser from Clinique which was great except that it ran into my eyes and burned whenever I used it with the Mia. A lady at Ulta told me that I should try something by Philosophy, but I said "no thanks" and figured I could just put up with the irritation. I did for a couple more weeks, but things did not get better. When I finally admitted to myself that it was time to find a new product, I walked in to Ulta and, low and behold, the Philosophy cleanser was front and center with a free gift! It was meant to be! So I bought Purity one-step cleanser, which is also approved for removing eye-makeup, and now I want to kick myself for waiting so long.
If you skipped over everything else, read this part. Get in your car and go buy this product. I am in disbelief about how well it works. Now all I have to do is wet my face and the Mia, put a dab of Purity on the brush and use it like normal, and then when the 60 second timer is up, I gently rub the Purity over my eyes and it removes ALL my eye makeup! I'm talking not even a trace of mascara left! This is better for so many reasons like saving time by reducing steps, and not having to scrub off mascara.
The quick version is this: Clarisonic Mia is as good as you've heard and Philosophy Purity is essential.
I've always been curious about the exfoliating brushes but I've never had the push to go and get one. I still want to try it but I have a pretty good system of just using a washcloth to exfoliate once in the evening. I wash with Purpose cleanser and I have great results. I used all kinds of things when I was in high school, all with chemicals to essentially burn off my blemishes, but it never cleared up my skin. I actually ended up bleaching my eyebrows using Proactiv! That product was slowly turning them orange and it was just not a good look. Dermatologists only gave me more chemicals and I knew that they weren't the answer, so I went to Ulta and got the highest rated gentle cleanser, which was at the time Purpose. It says on the bottle it's as gentle as water, and I believe it. It's unscented and gentle and after three years of using it, I'm never going back to strong chemical cleansers. More than my cleanser or exfoliation though, was the impact that my diet had on my skin. I cut my sugar intake by more than half and my skin immediately cleared up. When I go overboard with sugar one week, I see it on my face the next. While I advocate a good face washing, I have to say your diet has a way bigger effect than we think!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Kate
Myteacherstyle.blogspot.com
Wow, I had no idea Proactiv was that strong! I wanted to buy it so bad when I was a teen, but my mom wouldn't let me because she swore it gave her a chemical burn when she was younger. It's scary to put that kind of stuff on your face, but I guess that's the typical answer to breakouts in our society.
DeleteI've never heard of Purpose but now I'm interested. I completely agree with you on diet. When I eat clean and drink more water, I definitely notice a difference in my skin. I think the more natural and healthy we can be, the better we feel inside and out.
Thank you for your comment!
I just heard about the Clarisonic last week, and of course didn't love the price tag. Your post is timely! I may have to bite the bullet and just go for it! :)
ReplyDeleteIt is a hefty price tag, which is why I waited awhile to buy it, but I truly believe it's worth the investment. I have the Mia 1 which is the cheaper of the options, but it works perfectly for me. :) Let me know what you think of it if you decide to get one. :)
DeleteI bought the Clarisonic Mia when it first came out and loved it. Never tried using it with Purity, definitely need to try it out!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mintnotion.com
The Mia is so great, right? If you get a chance to try it, definitely do. It's the best cleanser I've found to use with the Mia. :) Let me know what you think!
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