Comparison Review: Clarisonic Delicate Vs Sensitive Brush Heads

7th June EDIT: After I stop using Sensitive brush for quite a period of time, I realise that my face was over cleansed and over exfoliated. My face was used to be over cleansed and over exfoliated due to the brush until I did not notice it myself. It is harder to see as my skin is usually dry and dehydrated. Therefore, there are some edits and changes to the respective areas of this review. The EDITS are in black and bold like this. Scroll down to see the edits!

Ahhhh….. The dilemma of choosing which brush head to use to suit your skin after getting excited about buying your first Clarisonic or getting worried about whether it suits your skin(Like me). After all that mixed feelings and thoughts; you just stick with the sensitive brush like me. At that time, I could not find any review with a detail proper comparison between the two. So this post I am going to give a detail breakout down comparison of these 2 brushes. So read on if you want to know more!

After started using Clarisonic, my skin condition has improve. I would not say a lot but it did make a difference and that is good enough for me. Not only that, it increases the absorption rate of how much of product my skin absorb.

I have been using sensitive brush for over 1 year plus, coming to 2 years. I felt that it was good enough for my skin as I did not know what to expect. I was also worried that if I change the type of brush head, I would have a breakout or the absorption rate of my skin would decrease and the list goes on. So here I am to inform you whether it does that without you spending the extra money on a brush that you are not sure about!

Note: I am using Clarisonic Mia 2

Content:

• What is Clarisonic?

• Claims of Clarisonic and their Brush Heads

• How do I usually use it

• How did I test and compare the brushes

• Comparison Review

• Verdict

• Summary

• Cost and where I bought it

What is Clarisonic?

(Based on the international official website)

Clarisonic uses a system that uses “breakthough technology to make skin look younger, healthier, and more radiant than ever before. Using gentle sonic frequency micro massage waves, it far outperforms manual methods or rotary cleansing devices. Not just a rotating brush, a skin care revolution. Clarisonic’s patented sonic frequency technology gives you the power to cleanse and infuse your skin better than old-fashioned devices that simple spin or oscillate. “

My intake on what it is: Simply this tool helps to be cleanse your skin much better than your hands or other cleansing tools; improve your skin texture while exfoliate your skin. As simple as that! Don’t need all those technical or technology words. Hahaha!! 😀

 

Claims

(Based on their official website)

Clarisonic:

I will keep it short and simple. I am not going into details as this is a Clarisonic brush head review and not Clarisonic Review. I will inform you about what they say from their official website.

• 6x better cleansing than hands alone (Optimal Cleansing)
• Acne to significant improvement
• Improves appearance of mature skin (Anti-Aging)
• Reduces oily appearance by deep pore cleansing
• Reduce appearance of pores
• Gentle for daily use without disrupting the skin barrier
• Reduction in dry patches and improves skin tone
• 90% report more radiant / glowing skin (Radiance)
• Infusions create firmer, brighter, more hydrated skin (Brightness)

 

Clarisonic’s Brush Heads 

“Brush heads need to be replaced every 3 months because the bristles become fatigued and less effective over time. “

Delicate Brush

Skin Type: Dry

Benefits: Extra gentle and plush, the Clarisonic Delicate Brush Head is designed for delicate skin prone to irritation and dehydration.

Sensitive Brush

Skin Type: All Types

Benefits: Ideal for most skin types, including sensitive and combination skin, the Clarisonic Sensitive Brush Head Provides a gentle yet thorough cleanse.

 

How do I usually use it:

After applying and massaging the cleanser all over my face, I would use Clarisonic onto my face after damping the brush head with water.

Note: I stop any sort of physical exfoliation on my face after starting using Clarisonic.

 

How do I test and compare the brushes

Time Duration:

• Over the course of 2 months with a break week in between each week. (Technically only test is 1 month)
  • Reason is that I wanted let my skin rest, let the brushes results affect each other and try to be as fair as possible.
• 1st month is delicate brush and 2^nd month is sensitive brush.
• One entire week for each speed.
  • For example, week 1 delicate brush speed 1 and week 3 delicate brush speed 2.

Frequency:

• Use 5 times per week
  • I usually use it only about 4 times max per week but I wanted to really really test out these brushes.
• 2 alternate days and 3 back to back days
  • Clarisonic is meant to be used daily. I have been using it alternate days for as long as I could remember. So I wanted to see how my skin reacts to it.

Skin Care Routine:

• Anti-Acne Routine when use the Clarisonic
  • I usually do not use Acid Products so many times per week. I wanted to test how does my skin react to using the different brush heads when it is in a venerable and sensitive state. For those of you have thin or really sensitive skin
• Different routine when not using but it is fixed to make it fair
  • It was so hard for someone like me who customize her routine, to have a fixed routine schedule. I had to write it down and check which products I was supposed to use that day. Was not funny!

Cleanser:

• Cream
• Foamy

 

Comparison Review

(Please do not mind the “Body” word as I am using that for my body after this test. So I did not use it for both body and face before you starting grossing out. Hahaha!! )

Cleanser

Applying on the brush or on the face first, does not make such a big difference between the two brush heads. Even with the different type of cleanser (Cream or Foamy).

Personally, I prefer working and massaging the cleanser on my face first; before using the Clarisonic. As I felt  it is less messy and the product is evenly distribute on my face.

Brush absorption of the products

To be honest, I did not see much of a difference for both brushes for the absorption of products. As the time frame of testing this product is not that long to really see the difference and it is hard to tell the difference. However, the delicate brush did not increase my skin sensitive and gave me redness unlike sensitive brush did. The delicate brush did not give me any problems with the acid products.

Bristles

There is a difference between the 2. Delicate’s brush head bristles are thinner and longer compare to sensitive brush head. This might be 1 of the reason why delicate brush head is much softer to the touch and gentler.The bristles’ hole on the head are slightly bigger and denser for sensitive brush heads. Another thing to take note is that due to the delicate brush head’s bristles being thin and long, I felt that the brush might lose its effectiveness and not last as long as sensitive brush head.

As you can see from the pictures the Delicate Brush Head is losing its shape when it is actually newer than the Sensitive Brush Head.

 

 

Delicate Brush

I felt that it was not exfoliating and cleaning my skin as deeply as I like it to be used to. This might be due to the fact that the bristles are longer, thinner and less compact compare to the sensitive brush. However, when I use the speed 2, I felt that exfoliating and cleaning my skin was just nice. It was good to use for daily but it does not really deep cleanse my pores

EDIT: Both speeds are perfect for my skin. It deep cleanse my pores without over cleansing and over exfoliating my skin. I usually use speed 1 for daily usage and speed 2 for extra exfoliating (2-3 times per week).

(Note: I might be so used to the sensitive brush that I felt this way but it is actually already deep cleansing my face. So keep that in mind.). It does the job well. It is gentle and soft to my skin like how it was claimed. You are unable to feel the individual bristles when you use on your skin unlike the sensitive brush (Which I love). Did not give me any problem when I use the acid products (BHAs and AHAS) 3 days in a row. My skin is on the thicker side. So this would be good for those who have thinner skin or those who can see capillary veins on their face.

That is something you would want to take note. If you are going to use speed 2, you would have to charge it more often and this leads to the increase of electricity used for this tool.

EDIT/NOTE: When you use speed 2 on a daily basis, you would have to charge your Clarisonic every few weeks instead of every few months.

Sensitive Brush

For both speeds, this brush exfoliate very nicely and cleanse my skin very deeply.

EDIT: For either of the speeds, I realise that this brush was over cleansing and over exfoliating my skin without realising it until I stop using it for quite a few months.

However, I felt that it was too harsh to the skin to use it every day. I could feel the bristles on my skin going back and forth. For speed 1, the 1^st 2 back to back days was okay but on the 3^rd day, my skin starts to show some signs of over exfoliating and an increase of skin sensitivity. It was not a huge huge increase and this might be due to the fact that I used acid products 3 days in a row. I felt that if you do not use acid products 3 days in a row unlike me(Due to the test); and your skin is not sensitive or thin, it should be fine to use it EDIT:once in a while or 2-3 times per week. daily. If your skin is sensitive but not thin, it should be fine to use it continuing for 2-3 days.

For speed 2, it was kind of a scary experience for me. For the alternate days, it was fine. It did not give me big problems. It was slightly over exfoliating my skin but not so much that is was giving me a problem. However, I felt that the bristles are like scratching my skin and it is not a good feeling. The scary part is during the consistent 3 back to back days. On the 2^nd day, my skin sensitive increase and show signs of over exfoliating. My cheeks turn slightly red. I was kind of expecting this seeing how my skin reacted previously. However, I did not think that it was so bad that when I put the BHA product it cause my skin to itch while I was waiting for the 20 minutes to let it work. Like itching at many different areas and not just 1 or 2. Usually, it does not itch unless I use a high pH level cleanser, have a bad reaction to a product or my skin is really dry or dehydrated that day. I just push it aside thinking I might use too much BHA product as the AHA did not give me the same problem. I was wrong.

On the 3^rd day, my skin sensitive still increase and show even more signs of over exfoliating. It start to react badly as soon as I apply the BHA product onto my face. I could not take it (even applying mist to my face. It usually works) and wait for the 20 minutes. I skip the AHA and apply as many moisturizing and hydrating products as I can to my face. I manage to calm it down but I would not be doing that ever again. Do not get me wrong. My skin is able to handle AHAs and BHAs well.It likes the combination of the 2 rather than 1 (But hates it when I apply it too much though. Haha!!). Delicate Brush did not give me any of this kind of problems when I use acid products back to back for 3 days straight. That says something.

If you have normal skin, this might be good for you. As you would not react so badly as me who have dry and quite sensitive skin. This would also be good for those who have really dry flaky skin as it really exfoliate your skin.  However, you might want to test it for yourself first since it comes with together with the machine. As everybody have different kind of skin even if it is the same type. Not only that, this is from my skin experience and not yours. If your skin does not like it, use it for the body! Even though it says for the face but who cares?! As long you do not use the same brush for your face and body. Its fine!

EDIT:I would never use Sensitive brush on my face again.  For those who are particular or worried about over cleansing and over exfoliating your face. Its best to start from Delicate Brush first compare to sensitive brush.

Sensitive brush works well on the body. I use it on the rough areas of my body like the knees and elbows.

Verdict:

For daily usage, I prefer the delicate brush way more than the sensitive brush. I would still use the sensitive brush but only once or twice every week if I really need a deep cleanse. If you are using a model that has more than 1 speed, make use of that. Specially if you have combination skin or any skin type that has sensitive at a/a few particular areas. I have sensitive skin but more on a few particular areas. So here is my tip to you on how to really cleanse your face without making your skin react (from over exfoliating or cleansing).

Tips: Use the lower speed on the sensitive areas and higher speed on the other side of the face. For example for me, I get sensitive on my cheek areas. (Following the Clarisonic timing and directions) I would use the Delicate Brush speed 2 for the 1^st 40 seconds (T-Zone) and speed 1 for the last 20 seconds (Cheeks). This works really well for me.

 

Summary

Recommendation Skin Type for Delicate Brush:

• Sensitive
• Thin Skin
  • For those who can see the capillary veins, use the Clarisonic on a light hand as you have the risk of the “breaking” your veins.
• Combination
  • Different speed on the different areas to suit your skin type.
• Oily
  • As you would not have a lot of dead skin unlike dry skin people. You might over exfoliate without realizing it as you naturally produce more sebum and that protects/moisturize your skin

Recommendation Skin Type for Sensitive Brush:

• Normal
• Thicker skin
• Very Dry Flaky

Tip: I would advice you to try out the sensitive brush first. Since it comes with the Clarisonic itself. As you would not need to waste the extra money if it suits your skin. If it does not suit your skin, you could just buy the delicate brush.

 

Comparing the two according to my skin type

 

Bristles

	A Single Bristle	Bristles Hole Size	Bristles Hole’s Bristles
Delicate Brush	Thinner and longer	Smaller	Compact
Sensitive Brush	Thicker and shorter	Slightly Bigger	Compact but denser

 

Harshness

	Speed 1	Speed 2
Delicate Brush	Slightly too gentle EDIT: Just nice and not harsh. Perfect for daily use	Just nice EDIT: Great for that extra exfoliating and was not harsh at all.
Sensitive Brush	Harsh Could feel the bristles going back and forth on the skin	Too Harsh The bristles are “scratching” the skin

 

Exfoliation

	Speed 1	Speed 2
Delicate Brush	Not enough EDIT:Just nice for daily exfoliation	Just nice EDIT:Great for exfoliating 2-3 times per week
Sensitive Brush	Good exfoliator but will over exfoliate if use daily EDIT: Over exfoliate	Over exfoliate EDIT: Definitely over exfoliate

 

 

 

Cost and where I bought it:

 Singapore (Since this is my hometown!(: )

Both brushes are S$35 and bought from Sephora

 

Thank you for reading my 1st proper comparison review! Hope you are able to benefit  and learn something from this post! What do you think about the brush heads and which brush are you using now? Let me know at the comment down below! See you on Thursday! Muacks!

Lydia♥