Acne Nightmares from Clarisonic: What You’re Doing Wrong

Upon moving back to a pollution-filled metropolis recently, I decided to give my Clarisonic face brush another try. You know, the line that achieved cult status a few years back, sweeping beauty awards from Elle, Allure, and InStyle, and was ubiquitous in women’s interest magazines around 2011 and onwards…retaining hype for a few more years before its gradual diminish (to cheaper alternatives with more functionality available, to other skincare routine trends, or just to its own business model) leading to a major round of layoffs this year? Yeah, that one.

After a hiatus in usage stemming in part from my living in an environment surrounded by nature (rendering it unnecessary), and in part from an unpleasant experience of developing adult acne from using this cult favourite...wait what?

Internationally qualified facialist and British skincare expert Caroline Hirons is quoted saying,
The Clarisonic was my first [face brush], around 2009. I used it the way it was recommended, and I developed adult acne within two weeks. And, I’m not the only person this has happened to — clients and readers have said the same thing...The brushes cause too much stimulation, especially when people use them incorrectly (which nine out of 10 do) — they do it in circles, like they’re brushing their teeth. I’m very much of the thinking that most tools should be used by professionals. The only people I know who use it right work on the shop floor and have been trained by reps from the brand. The information is not being properly conveyed to the client. For example, people remove their makeup with it! A cleansing brush will not properly take off your makeup — it will just push it further into your pores, which is rather disgusting.

What happened was that the brush I was using with my Mia 2 was abrasive on my already-sensitive skin; the protective layers were being scraped off (this was before I knew anything about over-exfoliation), catalysing acne. I learned that the pus from pimples, no matter how seemingly minor, could transmit bacteria when carried onto other parts of the skin and beget more breakouts.

Now, does this mean that if you brush right, you wouldn’t be left with acne? The second time around, I switched to the cashmere cleansing brush head (possibly the mildest brush that Clarisonic carries with a softness that would elicit purrs) and had a much better experience. Exfoliation is good, but only in moderation. Signs of over-exfoliation can bear close resemblance to those of breakouts: itching and pain; blotchy and redness of skin; and the most apparent sight of cysts, white pustules, and pimples. So the lesson here is to really know your skin, do thorough research, and always be gentle; just as you wouldn’t bite off more than you can chew, you wouldn’t want to scrub off more than what could be renewed.