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 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.