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Did your Clarisonic really help with blackheads?

16 replies

KoalaDownUnder · 16/05/2014 04:00

Getting desperate here!

I'm 41, combination skin, with pores you could park a truck in. I know quite a bit about skin care, and I've tried everything (salicylic acid cleansers, BHA cleansers, Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant, La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo, SkinCeuticals 1% retinol). I still get blackheads (large and small) everywhere. I extract them, they come back. Getting worse with age! Shock

The only 'trendy' thing I haven't tried is the Oil Cleansing Method (bit scared/sceptical, to be honest). Should I give that a go before I plonk down $$$ for a Clarisonic?

I'm more than happy to pay for a Clarisonic if it will help shift these bloody things, but don't want to throw more money away. Help, please!

OP posts:
justchecking3 · 16/05/2014 04:21

Hmm I have greasy skin and a lot of blackheads and no the clarisonic didn't really help much in fact it was a bit harsh for my skin. I now use the foreo Luna which is much more gentle but it doesn't get rid of blackheads.
The sanctury warming mask, just a thin layer twice a week is helpful. Also see if your GP will proscribe azelaic acid or differin (they might not unless you also get inflammed acne too).

The issue is when you have such oily blackhead prone skin it doesn't matter how much you do to unblock any one specific pore it will just fill up again super fast. I bet I could squeeze a good quarter of a teaspoon of sebum out of my face most days gross eh? Anyway you need to look at how to reduce sebum production and make the sebum you do make smoother so it flows out your pores and over your face to moisturise your skin like it is sopposed to. Much of it is bound up in how your hormones are balanced ( a good book on this is Overcoming PMS by Marilyn Glenville even if you don't have pms this is helpful for getting your hormones balanced)

Things that might help with this are:

EFA supplement daily
Zinc Supplement daily
Low GI diet (this does help my skin when I stick to it)
Avoiding sugar and booze
Lymphatic facial massage
Daily Exercise
Milk thistle tincture or tea (to support liver and hormone health)
Some people take high dose Vitamin B5 to reduce skin oil production but I am unsure if this works see acne.com for more info.
Some people have a big improvement if they give up dairy however it didn't work for me.

Another good book is The Healthy Skin Diet which goes into detail about hormones etc

Skincare is just the icing on the cake, if your as bad as you say you are then you need to take the internal path. Its tough though as you really need to keep it up for 6 - 8 weeks to start to see a difference and then keep it going but life gets in the way!

I'm trying myself at the moment. Best of luck!

KosherBacon · 16/05/2014 05:59

Nope, it was crap. I always thought I had horrific clogged pores until I realised it wasn't blackheads, it was sebaceous filaments.

nyldn · 16/05/2014 06:01

short answer, yes. I swear by my clarisonic.

BUT I was one of the lucky that had to survive "the purge". looks like all is going well for a week or so, then bam! 2 weeks of the worst skin of your life before it clears up and stays clear. the sensitive. brushhead is far better than the deep cleansing one IMO and when paired with salcura face wash and spray, no more blackheads! it's worth the investment. I'm sure they have a money back trial period, but if you get the purge, fight through it!!! it will work!

Kundry · 16/05/2014 07:42

Are they blackheads or sebaceous filaments? I was v depressed to realise the ones on my nose are sebaceous filaments and therefore permanent.

KoalaDownUnder · 16/05/2014 08:45

I think some of the really small ones on my nose and cheeks are sebaceous filaments. But the majority...definitely blackheads. Sad

My skin is just completely congested in general. Looks okay in normal light/with makeup on, but if I get a desk lamp and angle it, then look up close in a mirror...ugh. I have just squeezed a bunch of junk out of some lumps I found under my jawline. Not blackheads, or whiteheads; just closed-over white-ish lumps with white stuff inside them. (Sorry for the grossness.)

OP posts:
Kundry · 16/05/2014 12:44

Oh dear Sad

I am looking at your list and you seem to have gone big on cleansers. The advice I found suggested active ingredients can only do so much in a cleanser as you are washing them off - made sense to me. So you've done BHA/salicylic cleansers but have you done any of the leave on BHA exfoliants? I use Cetaphil cleanser and Paula's Choice 2% BHA gel after and this has really worked.

If this is old news to you sorry. I think your next stop should be a derm appointment as you've really tried and tried.

KatoPotato · 16/05/2014 12:46

Any advice for blackheads on the neck? boths sides of mine are terrible for them! :(

Coumarin · 16/05/2014 13:11

That's really helpful Justchecking Thanks

maybemyrtle · 16/05/2014 14:25

Have tried nearly everything on your list, and my skin was clearest and totally blackhead-free when I could be bothered oil cleansing every night. Conversely, the Clarisonic irritated my skin, I saw no improvement at all and has sat unused in a drawer for over a year. I would definitely try oil cleansing before dropping the ££ for a Clarisonic.

goodasitgets · 16/05/2014 14:47

Have you tried MD formulations glycolic cleanser? That shifts mine

sansucre · 16/05/2014 17:55

To be honest, no, not really.

I've also tried various courses of Bravura peels (mentioned on here) and also Ole Henricksen Power Peel and nothing really shifted them. However, like a previous poster in this thread, I did realise that a lot of what I thought were blackheads were actually sebaceous filaments.

My skin also looked tired, dull, tired and had a terrible texture. I was also getting spots that never came to a head. As someone who got through puberty without a single spot, getting adult acne (apparently more than 2 spots is classed as ache) was really hard to deal with.

I started reading Caroline Hirons blog and also realised that my pores weren't huge and I sincerely doubt yours are either. She writes that every single woman who goes to see her is convinced that their pores are enormous but they're not.
Caroline also writes that most overuse their Clarisonic and it isn't good for their skin.

I also took Caroline's advice and ditched my Clarisonic. (I think I've used it 3 times in the past month.) I also tweaked my skincare routine and since then, my skin is much clear and my blackheads minimal with no returns (so far).

So, what did I do?

First off, I went for a proper facial* and let a professional do some extracting.
Best money I've spent for a long time as I discovered that after a proper cleanse, exfoliation, steaming and various extractions that my skin is really rather good.

Since then, I've kept up the good work and in the morning I now double cleanse - first cleanse with coconut oil which I take off with a very hot (water squeezed out) flannel, then I cleanse with a cream cleanser (don't use anything that foams) and that is also taken off with a hot cloth. I then tone with Pixi glow tonic (another Caroline Hiron's recommendation) and after that's sunk in, use a little face oil followed by moisturiser.

In the morning I just cleanse once using a hot cloth and the cream cleanser, tone with Pixi glow tonic and follow that up with face oil and moisturiser.

(When I use the hot cloth, I hold it over my face repeatedly so my skin is steamed as well as using it to take the oil/cleanser off. All it takes little more than a few minutes.)

I exfoliate twice a week with Dr Goldfadden MD exfoliator and use Ole Henriksen's Power Peel once a week. Sometimes I use Ren's Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask. I've not used my Clarisonic for a month now.

I also take Krill oil twice a day and drink 4-5 litres of water.

All in all my skin is the best it's ever been.

Oh, and most importantly, single best piece of Caroline Hiron's advice was to use a clean flannel every single day. I went to John Lewis and bought 10 value flannels at 45p(!!) each (total outlay £4.50) which means that as I do my washing once a week, I will always have a clean face cloth. I use a fresh one every morning and rinse it out in boiling water and reuse in the evening. It's then put in the laundry bin. This alone is something I'd advise anyone to do as I'm convinced that this is why my skin has improved so very much.

It's also worth looking at your diet. Reduce your sugar intake and eat more oily fish and berries. Up your water. Get as much sleep as possible.

Good luck! I hope you find something that works for you :)

*If you're based in London, I can't praise Cowshed high enough! Lovely facials and lovely staff. I plan to go once a month.

MarathonFan · 16/05/2014 18:04

So glad I've read this thread I've been on the verge of buying a Clarisonic for months.

Like you OP, I've tried everything on my skin over the last 20+ years. I'm now 43 and my skin is better than it's ever been (not perfect but much better)

My current routine is hot cloth cleansing, twice, with Aqueous cream then a splash with some cold water and Simple light moisturiser. Apart from lots of water to drink, that's it.

WildBill · 16/05/2014 19:56

I have a clariosonic mia - It came with the sensitive head which I soon swapped for the deep pore blue brush head. It's nice to use especially if I've had a frowning day as the movement seems to relax my forehead but it's not better at dealing with blackheads than any scrub. It gives a good cleanse but I've had as good cleanses with a hand held manual face brush. I do like my clariosonc probably only use it once a week. If it broke would I replace it???? probably not.

Incidentally I have had very good results lately with a cream by Bioderma called Global sebium. It's good for dealing with blackheads.

Mrpicklesesquire · 16/05/2014 19:57

Like someone else upthread I now swear by my clarisonic, I do agree thought the sensitive head is better than the deep clean, I bought the deep clean head especially to get rid of my blackheads but it just irritated my skin.

So it sat in the drawer until one day i found it again and used the sensitive head and my skin looks and feels so muc cleaner than if i use just normal cleanser and flannel.

Moisturiser goes on better, i find my skin more glowy and better looking now than before using it. I only use it of an evening though to take off the days makeup, and my skin feels amazing so ill stop buying the stupid latest cleansers or whatever and stick with this now.

KoalaDownUnder · 17/05/2014 14:57

Thank you so much to each of you who has replied, I really appreciate it! Thanks

justchecking3, I am going to order the Healthy Skin book you mentioned plus some zinc supplements and milk thistle tea. Thank you! I think you are right that hormones are playing a big part in this.

Kundry, I am looking into the Paula's Choice BHA gel, as I've heard it mentioned a few times now. Not sure they ship to Australia, though. :(

sansucre, brilliant advice re: cleansing. Okay, so off to IKEA tomorrow to stock up on their packs of 20 flannels.

So...the Hot Cloth Cleansing method and the Oil Cleansing Method are two different things, right? I don't have access to a lot of the brands mentioned on MN, as am in Aus. Have never seen Liz Earle here, for example. Can I do Hot Cloth with just any cream cleanser?

OP posts:
nyldn · 17/05/2014 15:44

@mrpickles I totally agree with only using at night. 2x a day is too much, maybe that's why some people don't like it?

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