At the age of 28, I have a very love-hate relationship with my skin. There are days when my skin looks as close to perfect as it ever can be. Then there are days where, if I don’t wear makeup, people think I’m dying. I wish thre could be a balance between these two extremes, but there isn’t, my skin is binary. And so I often get stuck in that loop where I put on a foundation when my skin is bad, but then my skin gets worse because my pores get clogged. It’s a problem.
In my quest to not have the skin of 16-year-old, I’ve tried countless serums, toners, face washes, and masks over the years. Something I’ve wanted to try, but haven’t, is a Clarisonic, because I absolutely refuse to spend $200 on a face brush. I know people swear by it, but I just don’t have the cash to shell out for something like that.
When I saw the PIXNOR Waterproof Face Brush on Amazon last July, I thought it looked just like a Clarisonic, only it was a fraction of the cost at just $20. I ordered a PIXNOR ASAP and figured if I didn’t like it, I’d just take advantage of Amazon’s lax return policy.
Unlike the Clarisonic, the PIXNOR is battery-powered. Also, the PIXNOR comes with seven brush heads, which is a big deal considering any additional Clarisonic brush heads are sold separately. The seven you get in the box are:
- Makeup sponge – To remove makeup
- Exfoliating head – To gently exfoliate
- Rolling massage head – To massage the face and body
- Coarse Brush – For daily deep cleaning
- Soft Brush – For general cleansing
- Ultra-Fine Brush – For gentle cleansing
- Pumice stone – To remove callouses (presumably on your feet)
I’ve never actually used the pumice stone because I have a hard and fast rule of not using things on my feet that I use on my face and vice versa, and, uh, I do not have callouses on my face.
For the most part, I use the soft brush for general cleaning. The device itself is waterproof so I can easily use it in the shower and don’t have to worry about it shorting out. The coarse brush, meanwhile, is my go-to for washing off a face mask. It gets all of the little bits of mask out of my pores that simple rinsing cannot. And the exfoliation head has proven to be useful when I double it up with an exfoliating cleanser.
I’ve never actually used the makeup sponge brush head, as I feel the ultra-fine brush does a great job of removing any makeup left behind by my Neutrogena wipes. The rolling massage head was my favorite to use when I could literally feel my under-eye bags. I can’t say if it actually helped get rid of mine, but it sure made my skin feel better.
Now, I’ve never owned a Clarisonic, so I can’t say if the PIXNOR cleansing brush is actually better, but it is certainly a great option if you’re living on a budget. For 20 bucks, it was a simple decision to purchase, and I’ve never looked back.