I developed an interest in taking care of my skin before I was particularly interested in makeup, hair, etc. I’ve had a routine for ages; it has changed over the years, and I periodically look for ways to improve it. After all, your skin does not indefinitely remain the same, so taking care of it should change along with it.
I heard about Clarisonic several years ago, but was astonished (and offended!) by the price tag. At that time, they did not have the Mia and Mia2 models, so it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $200-$250 … for a face brush. My mind was blown – bloggers who I felt were otherwise trustworthy sang its praises. I honestly thought they had lost their minds.
Then, Olay came out with the Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System (always with the long product names…). Smaller than any Clarisonic on the market (still!) and at a much less frightening price-point ($30), I grew interested in it. Better cleansing than my hands can deliver? Gentle exfoliation? Hot damn! A friend picked one up before I did and expressed happiness with its performance so my interest was piqued.
Here’s the official spiel about the Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System, from Olay’s Site:
Is it time to rethink your daily cleansing routine? Designed by a team of dermatologists along with Olay, the Advanced Cleansing System is professionally and clinically designed to cleanse hard to remove makeup 6X better vs. basic cleansing. The Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System also sets your skin up for supersonic anti-aging moisturization.
Designed by dermatologists with Olay, huh? Well you obviously would not hire amateurs for this sort of thing, and just because you’re wearing lab coats doesn’t make the design, “clinical.” Can you clarify these terms? Who were the professionals? Were they engineers? Estheticians? Nikola Tesla?
6x better vs. basic cleansing – that sounds good, and I’m not overwhelmingly skeptical or critical of this statement, but I wish they could clarify what they mean by basic cleansing. That may just mean massaging your face with water to remove superficial impurities. It may mean using a generic cleanser with your fingertips. Or one of their cleansers. Or using a washcloth. I’m not sure what their basis for, “basic,” is. Their site does clarify, in fine print, that the 6x better figure is achieved with their Normal/Dry cleanser – but they do not provide quantitative data to substantiate the six-times-better claim.
My favorite? The sets your skin up for supersonic anti-aging moisturization statement. Let’s take a look at a few definitions here, courtesy of Google Define.
Hmm…
It makes sense that this might help with moisturization. Being a cleansing brush, regular use means regular exfoliation. Regularly exfoliated skin tends to “accept” moisturizers better; they sink into newer layers of skin rather than sitting on top of to-be-discarded ones, and so forth. Sound, however, has nothing to do with it. This device, unlike Sonicare toothbrushes and the Clarisonic system, does not employ sound, vibrations, or other sonic technology to get the job done. Additionally, this is not an anti-aging magic wand and may not be best-suited for those with such concerns.
I am satisfied with the performance of the device itself and have an in-depth review coming soon. As always – be a skeptic!
Disclosure: None of the items listed here were sponsored, I purchased them on my own. That said, some of the links in this post are affiliate links – this means I may get a very small percentage of the sale if you decide to buy something. I will only actually call something out as awesome if I have personally verified that much and believe it to be true.