Review: Clarisonic MIA2 + New Skincare

If you read my haul post here before, I mentioned that I recently purchased the Clarisonic MIA2 last month adding to my skincare routine. I also explained that I've been dealing with far than perfect skin since teenager. I spent vigorous amount of time on Dermatologist visits and money towards prescription pills and creams for over 10 years. I'm pretty much done with that and took a leap with the Clarisonic.

My morning routine:

1. Wash face with Philosophy Purity.
2. Apply face with Clinique Clarifying Lotion 3 with cotton rounds to get rid of the dry flaky skin.
3. Moisturized face with Clinique Even Better SPF 20 cream and let it sink to skin.

and evening routine:

1. Wipe face withe make up remover wipes as much as you can. I got mine from Costco in bulk.
2. Wash face with Philosophy Purity in adjunct of the Clarisonic MIA2 for 1 minute and rinse with warm water.
3. Apply Retin-A Micro on problematic area. This needs doctor's prescription. 

Pretty simple, isn't? 

Now about the Clarisonic MIA2 review, I would have to say that this is one of the great investment I made for my skin care regime . If you do a quick research on reviews for this product, there are a handful of people to say that Clarisonic broke their skin out which is partially true. If you have a problematic skin to begin with (acne-prone and congested), you would most likely encounter a "purging phase" within the first 4 weeks of use. You will see a lot of red bumps coming out and this tells you that the Clarisonic is actually working deep to get the "gunk" out of your pores/skin that has been there forever. So, the Clarisonic is not the reason why you broke out, it's just helping your skin to get the "gunk" out faster. 

If you do encounter this, my suggestion would be using the Clarisonic only once a day  (either morning or evening) rather than twice a day. I was so excited when I got mine in the mail and I started using it twice a day on Normal speed and sometimes more than the suggested 1 minute per use instruction. All that made my skin flare up like nobody's business. Then after I read other people's review, I understand that I was not doing any good for my skin. I was literally over exfoliating my skin.  I quickly changed my routine to once a day in the evening on Low speed for no more than 1 minute. I am now in my fourth week and I can tell my skin is probably 90% better than where I was flared up on week 1. Old marks/blemishes are fading and the red bumps are almost completely gone and my overall skin texture is so soft. With this kind of progress, I'm pretty sure I will be clear in a matter of weeks now which is awesome!

My take on the comparison between the MIA2 and the regular Clarisonic Classic is the size, weight, and price. Both have the same size brush and different speeds. But the MIA2 is smaller and lighter and comes with a travel case so you can throw your MIA2 anytime you travel which is a plus for me. Another thing that you want to take into account is that you will need to change the head brush once every 3-4 months for about $20 per brush. Roughly about $5 per month which is NOTHING!

I am very happy overall with the purchase and whenever you decide on investing something in your skin care, I would encourage everyone to put this on top of your list! Hope this helps and good luck!

Clarisonic MIA2 is available in Sephora, Nordstrom, QVC, and Ulta.