03/28/11

Do the facial cleansing devices do anything special?

When I was growing up, which feels like centuries ago, plain soap and hands or a washcloth were the standard accessories used to clean the face. The twenty-first century, however, offers a surplus of battery-operated devices (cost range from $20 to $300) for facial cleansing. 
 
A little information on these devices:
 
The currently marketed facial cleansing devices operate by some type of motion. This motion can be vibrating (don’t get excited ladies!), rotating, sonicating (I had to look this up) or reciprocating.  Let me not waste your time with the definition or physics of these different types of motion.  Essentially, these devices cleanse and exfoliate the skin through the mechanical motion of the brush combined with a gentle liquid or foam facial cleanser.
 
I personally have tried the Clarisonic Classic.  While I enjoyed the way it felt and achieved a good cleansing with each use, I can’t say that it REDEFINED facial cleansing for me. I did also find that if I used it too frequently (every day) or at the faster, stronger speed, my skin became irritated.  I would also caution one from using such a device every day if also using topical exfoliation products such as Retin-A, salicyclic acid or glycolic acid, all things which can irritate and dry out the skin.  And for those of you who are acne or eczema prone, tread lightly.  Mechanical exfoliation such as that provided by these devices can often irritate and/or exacerbate such skin conditions.  The sales rep at your local beauty store may conveniently forget to tell you that, just like the company drug reps forgot to mention that to me when they asked me to sell their devices in my office.
 
In summary, these cleansing devices are probably just a modern, more costly version of simple soap, your hands, and water.