Deprecated: Constant FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING is deprecated in /www/musingsofamuse_902/public/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php on line 22

Deprecated: Constant FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING is deprecated in /www/musingsofamuse_902/public/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/conditionals/third-party/elementor-edit-conditional.php on line 28
Musings of a Muse | Makeup Reviews, Beauty Blog, and Swatches
May 9, 2008

Clarisonic Skin Care Brush Review

After much consideration I gave into temptation and ordered the Pink Clarisonic Skin Care Brush. I’ve been using the brush for over a month now and I think I’m about ready to review it so finally in all it’s glory (with minor snarky remarks here and there) here are my babblings and review of the Clarisonic Skin Care Brush.

Honestly, shelling out $195 USD for a cleaning brush totally made me groan in agonizing pain. I have absolutely no problem shelling out $30 for a single eyeshadow but ask me about my indecision when purchasing this brush and I’ll tell you that the sale’s girl that sold it to me had to pry the money from my hands.

I haven’t seen an official review on this brush so I feel all special and stuff that I’m writing a long, babbling post about this brush because it deserves at least that for the price!

I’m not going to say it sucks. That would be too harsh of me. I am going to be very good about this and point out it’s flaws and point out it’s good features and all that jazz.

What is it and what’s it promise?

It promises to reduce dry skin patches, oily areas, blemishes, and get six times more makeup off your face! Take that! It also minimizes pore size, fine lines, and wrinkles appear smaller too! I’m generally curious about how wrinkles can appear smaller but hey that’s what it says on the Sephora description and who the hell am I to argue right? Although I think they maybe mean fade wrinkles?

I don’t have fine liners or wrinkles and my pores aren’t huge so I can’t really say whether this actually helped any!

Dry patches? No, those are still there.

Oily areas? It’s getting warm out and my oily areas are definately still there!

Blemishes? Don’t have much of a problem with any acne or blemishes so unsure if this works well at clearing those up!

Ok, so far we are off to a smashing start aren’t we? Everything it’s promised isn’t working for me!

After getting this home the first day I purchased it I was tempted to rip open the box with my teeth in excitement but I settled for setting it down and pushing it away while I washed my face as I do normally or you can call it manually if you so please, with my own two hands. I decided this would be an effective test to see how well the brush would be cleaning my skin!

After washing my face with Philosophy Purity and doing what I call a spot check with Witch Hazel it turns out my face was whistling it was so clean. I simply washed my face as normal and after drying off with a towel I soaked a cotton square in Witch Hazel, smoothed it on my face, and looked at the cotton square. No makeup remained. I decided to do so again with Lancome Bi-Facil and again the cotton square came back clean!

My bright idea to compare the brush cleaning to my hand cleaning had failed. It appears my cleanser was already doing a mighty good job by itself! But I wasn’t swayed! I just knew that the brush would work at making my moisturizer and other face products “sink” in better! My skin would be smoother and more polished once I used this daily! Yes, indeed it would!

Nope.

No, it wouldn’t.

Hello? Am I using it wrong?

I think it’s basically goof proof that you obviously know you can’t do full makeup removal with the brush. I normally remove everything on my face with my normal cleanser prior to using the brush as an EXTRA step. So now I’m actually adding time to my skincare regime (as if it wasn’t long enough).

The cycle:

Remove Eye Makeup with oil based remover.
Cleanse with Purity.
Rinse.
Squirt a bit of Purity onto brush and go to town for two minutes.

The time I spend doing all this boggles my little brain. I decided, after two weeks of use, that maybe I’d do the brush twice a day! If I used it in the shower in the morning plus in the evening it was sure to produce some dramatic effects.

Yea. Sure it did.

Not.

Maybe I need to use it a bit longer to see the ultra dramatic results it promises? It’s been almost two months since I got it and I am not noticing any difference in my skin at all. My products (moisturizer, foundation, etc…) do not work better or “sink” in better. My oily and dry areas are still very much there. I don’t feel polished or smoother thanks to this.

Honestly, the only thing I feel like is I’m wasting two minutes (4 minutes if you could the fact I use the bloody thing twice a day!) a day and I’m $200 broker!

Ok, so I guess this is where I’m supposed to say good things about the brush right? This is the hard part.

Well….mmmm…you get two brush heads with your purchase….that’s good right?

Did I mention that this thing is huge? It takes up some serious room on my bathroom vanity! I hate the clunky feeling of the recharging base as well! I wish they’d give an option to use either the recharger or batteries.

Fact is I’m seriously just a hater at this point. I don’t see the point of this. It’s expensive and it makes ridiculous claims. My skin doesn’t feel any better than when I originally began using it. I’m so sorry to the lovers…I can’t love it. I’m trying really hard though! Honest! My relationship with the brush is still a work in progress and I hope I’ll come back one day and post a brand new review where I am raving about the benefits of giving $200 to Clarisonic!

Fact is…if I were you…I’d stick to my hands and a good cleanser! Works just the same, if not better!

Clarisonic should stick to making toothbrushes.

If all else fails and you really want it maybe write a fan mail to Oprah begging her to send you one! It’s one of her “favorite things” after all!

27 Comments

May 9, 2008

Reader’s Request: Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in Beige Lurex

As per a lovely reader’s request here is a simple FOTD using Dior’s New Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in Beige Lurex which was introduced with the Summer Collection. Click here to read more about the Dior Summer Collection and what I hauled from it!

What I Used:

Face
Aromaleigh Rocks! Mineral Blush Powder in SundayGirl

Eyes
Beaute de Kose Star Twinkle Cream Eyeshadow in GD 073
Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner
Visee Volumizing Mascara

Lips
Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in Beige Lurex

11 Comments

May 9, 2008

Philosophy’s Summer Collection 2008

Philosophy is banging out it’s Summer Collection with some seriously cool items this year! Not only are they doing the normal batch of Three in One Shower Gels, Lip Gelees, Kits, Etc…but they are also extending their skin care department with two new editions!

Check it out:

Surfer Girl Exfoliating Shower Gel $20 USD and Surfer Girl Lipshine $10 USD

Both of these are tropical scented (and flavored as far as the lipgloss goes!) to prepare you for the Summer beach weather ahead! Surfer Girl Exfoliating Shower Gel looks promising for prepping your dry skin after a long Winter indoors and Surfer Girl Lipshine sounds tropically yummie for giving your lips a bit of shine!

Philosophy Surfer Girl Gift Set $35 USD

Includes Surfer Girl Lipshine, Surfer Girl Exfoliating Shower Gel, and Surfer Girl Shimmering Body Lotion!

Philosophy’s Tiki Hut Gift Set $35 USD

Although the coconut line has been introduced before I’m still appreciating the awesome new Tiki packaging!

Coconut Body Scrub $25 USD, Coconut Body Butter $25 USD, Coconut Three in One Shower Gel $16 USD, and Coconut Lip Shine $10 USD

Never Let them See Me Shine Cleanser $20 USD and Never Let Them See Me Shiner Primer $20 USD

Since my skin likes to play oily in the Summer it appears these two items may help! Never Let Them See You Shine Cleanser is a deep cleaning cleanser that controls oil and shine! Since I’m currently on the look out for a good primer I wouldn’t mind trying out the new Never Let Them See Me Shine Mattifying Primer!

All in all the Summer selections from Philosophy appear quite good and I’m sure I’ll picking up some for review! Check back soon to hear my thoughts!

Discover my love for some of Philosophy’s awesome line by clicking through some of the posts below!

Happy Reading!

Here my rave for Philosophy’s Three in One Shower Gel Bubbly by clicking here!

Click here to read my review on Philosophy’s Microdelivery Wash!

Click here
to read my review on Philosophy’s Pink Lemonade Collection!

10 Comments

May 8, 2008

Wendy’s Awesome Dior Collection

My very sweet reader and friend, Wendy, created some killer videos with her Dior Collection! She’s such a cutie I was utterly enthralled listening to her dutch accent (my x-boyfriend was dutch and had a similarly awesome accent!).

Do click here and have a visit with Wendy at her site Why Me Sweetie! Her blog is a fun read and I especially enjoyed viewing her Dior Collection!

Anyone for a trip to the Nederlands? Maybe if we are extra nice Wendy will let us pet and caress her Dior palettes (try not to drool on them!).

Whatta ya think?

Cheers Wendy! Gorgeous Collection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 Comments

May 8, 2008

Revisiting My Storage Solutions and Makeup Collection

This had been posted a long, long time ago but I get daily comments and emails asking me about my makeup collection and how I store it, organize it, etc….

If you click here you can visit my original post from a year ago to see various photos of my collection and how I store items and such!

And below you can watch some MuseTV on my storage solutions and such!

Enjoy!

There’s a part five somewhere but I can’t find it at the moment hehe! Will updated the post when I do!

16 Comments