Clarisonic Mia Review: Two Weeks Update

This past Friday marked two weeks since I started using the Clarisonic Mia. As planned in my first Clarisonic Mia post, this will be my two week update on how the little gadget worked for me so far.

Mia has met my initial expectations of having cleaner skin with less oil buildup leading to acne in my t-zone. Like a portion of users, I also broke out. There were pimples and there were about 5 that broke out at different times in my t-zone and took several days to heal. I use it once a day before bed with the normal brush that comes with it.

The second brush with a blue holder is for sensitive skin. Purchased seperately. This is what my mom uses.

I established a set of guidelines to evaluate the Mia and put my comments below each one. Unless it's one of the more obvious ones like #2, I purposely set a lower rating than what I think it deserves, because this is a product that is supposed to take time before you see all the things that it can do for your skin. I will adjust the ratings accordingly in the 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months review!

1. Effectiveness at removing makeup - The less residue makeup that remains on my face, the less random zits will pop up.

My primary reason to get Mia was so I could remove even the small amounts of makeup residue that's left on skin whenever I put on makeup. In the past two weeks, I had makeup on 3 and up to 4 times each week and to my delight, found that Mia does a great job covering areas that you would normally miss or areas where it might look clean after wiping away the makeup and washing with your cleanser, but still have some residue left over. I'm happy to report, Mia has your bases covered! 8.5/10

2. Cleanliness of skin immediately after use.

My face feels clean and soft immediately after using Mia. There is also a glow to my skin after I use it. This is what I experience after I exfoliate or use a mask on my skin and I expected it from Mia as it cleans and exfoliate. 10/10


3. Cleaniness of skin maintained with regular use - I have an oily t-zone where zits are most likely to appear. I hope the use of Clarisonic will vastly improve these areas and reduce acne problems.

There was a noticeable change in the cleaniness of my skin. A great example would be when I clean the blackheads on my nose, I don't see them build up as quickly as before. Previously, it would be a day or two before I see them surfacing again, but now it's a good 3-4 days and there are less in general. The oily-ness in my t-zone has improved considerably. There are still bumps on my forehead and chin, but I see continuous improvement as I keep up with my regiment. I'm going to give it a reserved 7.5/10 as I believe the longer you use Mia, the better your skin becomes and it's only been 2 weeks. In the 2 months update, I will bump up the rating if things keeps going the way they do and even higher if it's gets better.

[left to right]: Left one was taken three days after I started using Mia. Right one was after two weeks of using Mia. There are still pumps on my forehead after two weeks, but there are less and not as red. In person, they are also less noticeable.

4. Improved complexion of skin - I have a sensitive patch of skin on my cheek that's a bit redder than the rest of my cheeks. It goes away when my face is fully moisturized (and there's more humidity in the air). Although irritation sometimes occurs unexpectedly, I have faith that the Clarisonic can reduce the dryness in this area when product is absorbed better.

The red patch on my cheek is less sensitive to the touch and looks less red now. It's still drier than other areas so I have to apply an extra layer of moisturizer on there. There is an obvious glow to my skin when I get up in the morning. It makes sense as your body has a chance to repair itself overnight. Albeit slow change to that red patch, but nonethless a noticeable improvement from before plus that glow is very obvious. 7/10

[left to right]: Sorry about the lighting and quality! The first photo was taken after three days of using Mia and the one on the right was after two weeks of using Mia. The red patch is subtle in both photos, but you can sort of see the patch is smaller and less red in the second one.

[left to right]: Not my most favorite thing to show, but has to be done. I think the most obvious improvement of my troubled areas is the skin around my chin. On the left, you can see I broke out with a big zit after using the Mia for three days, but the red you see there is pretty constant. It never really goes away and every three weeks there is some sort of acne that is trying to surface. On the right is the same area after two weeks with Mia. Things are much improved in terms of the redness. The zit from before is a red dot and everything looks to be fading. I hope the redness eventually goes away altogether!


5. Noticeably better absorption of facial products - I see the Clarisonic as an investment for my skin. I am saving money over time if I don't need as much product for the same results.

This is probably one of the tougher ones to tell. I feel that there is better product absorption, because of the good things I'm experiencing. I can't tell at this point whether a smaller amount of moisturizer is doing as much as before or the same amount of moisturizer is doing more than before and vice versa. I have noticed however that liquid foundation goes on easier and looks more natural (it was fine before, but it's even better now!) which leads me to think that better absorption equals to better moisturized skin and we know that makeup goes on easier and stays on longer if it's applied to healthy, clean skin. Again, I'm going to give a reserved 6/10 as I need more time to observe the changes.

Overall, I have nothing, but positives to say about Clarisonic Mia. Although I broke out and acne can be, literally painful to deal with, I am happy this little gadget is changing the health of my skin for the better. It makes me look forward to washing my face before bed, because I feel like I'm one step closer to consistently good skin. I will wait until 1 month of use before making any solid recommendations. In the meantime, my two nitpicky issues with the design is there is no visual indication as to how much battery is left. I've now gone twice without realizing the previous night's use would be the last before I need to charge it again. This means I have to go one day without using it. Not the worst thing ever, but when I've established a momentum, I don't want to be interrupted...

The second is the charger cord is pretty short. There are a handful of plugs in the home that I can use, but the one most convenient one does not have tables or chairs beside it. Since the Mia is something I use on my face, I prefer not to put it on the carpet as it charges. If it was about 6" longer, I'd be able to place it on a drawer near the plug. Again, not a terrible fault, but this could be an inconvenience if you were traveling and there were limited number of plugs to use.