Trouble with my Clarisonic?

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LisaF1163

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May 26, 2009
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Hi, ladies - 

I need some advice whether this problem I'm having sounds like it could be due to my Clarisonic.

I finally got a Clarisonic one speed Mia in December, and it came with the one basic brush head.  Previously, I had the Olay ProX, and it just really didn't do anything for me.  But all I heard about the Clarisonic is that it really improved so many ladies' skin, so I finally took the plunge.

I use it once a day, at night with a creamy foaming cleanser (the foaming milk protein cleanser from Korres, which I love, and which hasn't given me any problems).  And using it once a night since mid-December, it just feels like my skin is getting worse.  I've got far more breakouts than I did before I used it.  Not big huge jobbers, but I'm just breaking out more.   Could it be too harsh for my skin?

Here's my skin profile in a quick nutshell - I'm 49, I have super sensitive skin, and I can't even really use any kind of real anti-aging stuff on my face. It has to be all sensitive skin products or nothing.  Retinols, glycolics, AHAs, etc. - they all just tear my skin up.  So, all of the products I've been using are made for sensitive skin, and I've used them now for several years with no problem, so I don't think it's any of those.

I'm also peri-menopausal.  One of the things a friend of mine who works as a skin care expert told me was that many times, in peri-menopausal or menopausal women, the chin and jawline area have the tendency to break out more due to the hormones being a little more crazy.  A few years ago, as menopause got closer and closer, that's EXACTLY where I was breaking out.  But once I got onto my current skin care routine, it calmed down and has been fine for the past few years.  But now since I added the Clarisonic to my skin care routine, my skin's going nuts again in that exact same area.

I keep the Clarisonic brush religiously clean - I pop it out and shampoo it with unscented hypoallergenic soap at least one to two times a week, and I always rinse it thoroughly with hot water after every use.

When I use the Clarisonic itself, I don't "dig in" to my skin.  I just let the brush go gently across my face, and I make circular motions with it.

I know that initially, there could be some breakouts, as it gets all the gunk that was in my pores up to the surface.  But after two months?  That seems like a pretty long time.  

I've experimented and not used it for a couple of nights in a row, yet continued with my regular skin-care routine, and my skin calmed way down.

So my last shot - I've ordered the sensitive skin brush head to see if that helps, and hopefully that'll do the trick.  But if it doesn't, I'm kind of at a loss.  Have any of you ever heard of that?  Have you ever heard of a Clarisonic making someone's skin worse?  I've Googled around, and I'm just not seeing any other women reporting a problem, so it sounds like it's just me. 

 
I want to preface this by saying that I do not personally own a Clarisonic but I have tried one and I do read a lot of reviews on this forum and elsewhere. I have very sensitive skin and mine was irritated after the first gentle use so I opted not to purchase one for now.

I know Clarisonic is a godsend for many. From what I understand quite a few people have had their acne get worse. We even have some threads in this forum regarding it. What I do notice is that the different types of heads, the cleanser you use with it, frequency of use, that seems to effect how well it works for different people. Anyway, let me point you towards the threads that are already going regarding this:

https://www.makeuptalk.com/t/128784/clarisonic-and-acne

https://www.makeuptalk.com/t/128015/clarisonic-worth-it

https://www.makeuptalk.com/t/87910/clarisonic

https://www.makeuptalk.com/t/132307/clarisonic-skin-care-routine

Hope this helps!

 
I've posted in some of those threads. The Clarisonic made my acne flare horribly. . Even past the month purge. I'm attempting to retrial it for another two month period and see if there's a difference, before getting thirid of it.

 
Clarisonic was terrible for my skin, and I think I started one of those threads. I had awful, painful break outs with it. I guess it works for some people and not for others. It just wasn't worth it for me when cleanser and regular exfoliation work just fine.

 
Thank you all so much!   I didn't know if it was just me, or my crazy peri-menopausal hormones, or if there were others out there who had problems with the Clarisonic, too.  Dalylah, thanks for the links - I'll check them out tonight when I get home, but much appreciated.  The sensitive skin brush head should be here in a couple of days.  In the meantime, I'm still using it, but cutting back - and this morning, my skin seems less irritated (which - of course.  This has been making my skin a wreck for two months, but when I finally post about it on a beauty board, it calms down!
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).  So I'm experimenting around between how often I use it, changing to the sensitive brush head, etc., to see if there's some way I can make this work for me.  But I'm really glad to see that there are several threads that may give me some clue as to whatever the problem might be.  Thanks very much!

 
I used my Clarisonic with the sensitive brush head and it was problematic. I'm going to drop by Sephora and talk to the ladies about it. . Maybe if I only use it a few times a week, I'll be okay.

 
There are "delicate" brush heads now which are even one level softer than the "sensitive" brush heads.  I just started using it myself a few weeks ago, but because my skin is so sensitive and so easily irritated, I started off with once-a-week use.  Now I'm up to twice a week.  I've noticed that some people are able to use their Clarisonic daily without any problems, for others it might be once every other day or even just once a week.

 
There are "delicate" brush heads now which are even one level softer than the "sensitive" brush heads.  I just started using it myself a few weeks ago, but because my skin is so sensitive and so easily irritated, I started off with once-a-week use.  Now I'm up to twice a week.  I've noticed that some people are able to use their Clarisonic daily without any problems, for others it might be once every other day or even just once a week.
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Oo.. I'll try that one.. that's my last hope lol.. if it doesn't work.. I'll be selling it.
 
What kind of cleanser are you using with your Clarisonic?  I'm afraid my normal cleanser plus the Clarisonic will be too much for my easily-irritated skin, so I've been switching to CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser whenever I use the Clarisonic.   It's very similar to Cetaphil cleanser.

 
I used Philosophy purity made simple. . Love that stuff, super gentle and non irritating. An HG product for me.

 
Originally Posted by nishino /img/forum/go_quote.gif

There are "delicate" brush heads now which are even one level softer than the "sensitive" brush heads.  I just started using it myself a few weeks ago, but because my skin is so sensitive and so easily irritated, I started off with once-a-week use.  Now I'm up to twice a week.  I've noticed that some people are able to use their Clarisonic daily without any problems, for others it might be once every other day or even just once a week.
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Oh, wow, I had no idea that the sensitive brush and the delicate brush were two different ones, LOL!  The one I ordered was the sensitive one - we'll see how it goes.

RIght now, I'm using the Korres Milk Proteins Foaming Cleanser, which I really love a lot!  Really gentle, and I do like a foaming cleanser, but it was tough to find a foaming one that doesn't strip my skin.   I wanted to make sure the cleanser wasn't what was irritating my skin, but when I laid off the Clarisonic, the cleanser was stil nice and gentle, so I know that wasn't it.

 
Hello, and thanks again for your advice!  So an update:

The sensitive skin brush arrived a little over a week ago, and I took a little longer to use it.  Here's why:

I think I can definitely say that it was the regular brush giving me all the trouble; that has to be it.  Right before the new brush arrived (actually, it arrived on the day I posted last in this thread, which was faster than I thought it would), I had used the regular brush just once or twice more - it was, again, totally cleaned and sanitized like I always do.  And I wound up with probably the worst crop of breakouts I've ever had.  Not just along the chin and jawline this time - I also had a few new "beauties" on my upper cheek, my nose and between my eyebrows!  I nearly tossed it out the window, but instead I experimented a bit more.

First, I stopped using the Clarisonic - full stop, for about two nights.  This was AFTER I got the sensitive brush - I just left it in the little box till my face healed up. 

The other thing I did that seems to have helped to an extent - I changed up some of my products. I really liked the Korres Milk Protein Cleanser, but I thought maybe the fact that it's foaming was a contributing problem.  Plus, I've heard (and I don't know how true this is, but I just mentioned it in another thread) that your skin goes in "cycles" of seven years, and after about that time, you should change up your skin care routine because your old products may stop working for you.  Now, I hadn't been using the Korres cleanser for that long, but I had been using all my other skin care for about seven years - everything else I was using was from Lush.  And I thought, maybe it's time to switch some of this stuff out?  Not that anything's wrong with the Lush products - they were wonderful for a very long time.  But I think my time with them may have run it's course.

So I hit the Philosophy counter at Macy's and got the "Restore and Nourish" kit for the first signs of aging:  http://www.philosophy.com/skin-care-systems/restore-and-nourish-first-signs-of-aging-set,en_US,pd.html.  It seemed like a good set of basics to start off with, and I know that Purity Made Simple is a really good gentle non-foaming cleanser.  Plus, I didn't want to freak my skin out any further by switching over to a whole bunch of stuff at once.

Then I just eased into things.  I started off with the Philosophy stuff alone without the Clarisonic.  Then a night or so later, I used the Clarisonic with the sensitive brush and the Purity Made Simple.

Now, things aren't perfect, but I have no new breakouts, and the ones I have are going down a little.  So we'll see, but I'm happy to report at least a little bit of an improvement since the last time I posted.
 

EDIT to add - almost forgot to mention, the difference between the regular brush and the sensitive brush is A LOT!  You can really feel how much softer the sensitive brush is.

 
i have heard good things and even more bad things about the clarisonic. i have never owned/used one, but i have used the olay pro brush and that tore up my skin. i just think its too much trouble to go through to make the clarisonic work. you seem to have really sensitive skin, i wouldnt bother with trying to make the clarisonic work. if you can return it, i would definitely try! 

 
Originally Posted by SistaPlease /img/forum/go_quote.gif

i have heard good things and even more bad things about the clarisonic. i have never owned/used one, but i have used the olay pro brush and that tore up my skin. i just think its too much trouble to go through to make the clarisonic work. you seem to have really sensitive skin, i wouldnt bother with trying to make the clarisonic work. if you can return it, i would definitely try! 
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It's tempting.  Things went a little better the past couple of days with the switch to the sensitive brush and the Purity Made Simple.  But believe me, I totally see your point, and it's been extremely tempting to just Ebay the damn thing.  I'm certainly not seeing that much of an improvement in my skin, given all the problems, that's for sure.  Keep in mind that at this point, I'm jumping through hoops with the stupid thing just to get my skin back to normal, let alone better. 

I wouldn't say I'm out of the woods with this device just yet.  My skin hasn't been freaking out the past couple of days, so let's see if I eventually wind up with any kind of actual improvement ("improvement" meaning if my skin actually gets better eventually, not just gets back to normal) before I decide to get rid of it or keep it.  I will say this much - if I had any idea at all that it would be this much trouble, I'd have never bought it, that's for sure.

Oh, and I had the Olay ProX a couple of years ago, too.  It didn't wreck my skin, but it didn't do anything great for it either.

 
i totally understand where you are coming from, and hope that i didnt sound too negative. i just feel like we might have similar skin types and i have learned the hard way not to mess with what might be working. i hope it works out for you, but dont feel forced to make it work, ya know? keep us updated with your progress! :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
Oh, no, not at all - you didn't sound negative, so no worries.  In fact, given what that thing's been doing to my skin, you sounded realistic, LOL!  Yeah, it's definitely been like having several "bad face days" in a row! 
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UPDATE!

So!  After weeks of patience, super-sanitizing brush cleanings, not using it every night, switching to the sensitive brush, etc., etc., I am pleased to report that I have broken up with my Clarisonic!  I am out of that abusive relationship (abusive to my skin, that is!), so I sent it packing to some other chump on Craig's List, and I couldn't be happier.  Well, my wallet could be happier, but my face is freaking thrilled! 

That thing was a killer. I'd never recommend it to anyone ever again.  The next time I hear someone rave about it, I'm going to feel their forehead!
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Originally Posted by LisaF1163 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

UPDATE!

So!  After weeks of patience, super-sanitizing brush cleanings, not using it every night, switching to the sensitive brush, etc., etc., I am pleased to report that I have broken up with my Clarisonic!  I am out of that abusive relationship (abusive to my skin, that is!), so I sent it packing to some other chump on Craig's List, and I couldn't be happier.  Well, my wallet could be happier, but my face is freaking thrilled! 

That thing was a killer. I'd never recommend it to anyone ever again.  The next time I hear someone rave about it, I'm going to feel their forehead!
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As someone who had a similar relationship and kept hearing "give it time" "oh you must using the wrong brushhead" etc, I am right there with you. Happy to hear about your face feeling better lol.

 
Originally Posted by Playedinloops /img/forum/go_quote.gif

As someone who had a similar relationship and kept hearing "give it time" "oh you must using the wrong brushhead" etc, I am right there with you. Happy to hear about your face feeling better lol.
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Thanks, Jenna!  I feel like 12 oz. has been lifted from my mind! 
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