No Buy Pause

No Buy

Before long it will be time to give my No Buy pause and make some calculated beauty purchases. Soon, the infrequent (and therefore precious) sales shall be upon us. I am not unrealistic – I’ll want to shop.

No Buy Pause Plan

The Bottom Line

There will be more purchased as I hope to maintain my Sephora VIB and Ulta Platinum statuses for 2018. If I plan and am deliberate, I am confident I can meet those thresholds without buying random stuff I don’t feel strongly about.

Fortunately, I continue to be underwhelmed by holiday collections. so there’s little temptation there. The only thing I have been stricken by so far are Urban Decay’s new Heavy Metal glitter liner shades. I love the one I own, but definitely don’t need to add more to my collection – so it is easy to get over.

May 2017 Favorites

May 2017 FavoritesMay 2017 Favorites
Fieldcrest
and Threshold Bath Sheets (Target), $10 /
OPI Bubble Bath, $9 / Clarisonic Radiance Brush Head, $27

Short post this month – my month was full with work, so I didn’t do much fun beauty stuff. In reality, I find it sketchy to see bloggers or vloggers touting 10-15 new, “favorite,” products per month. Seems disingenuous. Even if content creation is your full time gig, it isn’t realistic.

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Clarisonic Radiance Brush Head

Clarisonic Radiance Brush Head

Initially

Up until this past winter, I exclusively used the Clarisonic Sensitive Brush Head. As I approached restocking time, the cost-effective four-packs of Sensitive brushes for $81 were sold out everywhere. I never had any intention of trying the other brush heads, but I’m not about to pay $27 each…when I can get 2 for $44 (or, even better, 4 for $81!). I time my purchases of supplies like this so that I can take advantage of a 15% VIB or 20% Platinum Perk discount because I hate paying full retail.

Before

For a while, my Clarisonic had been nearly-benched in favor of my FOREO Luna Mini. I had come to decide that the Clarisonic, paired with the Sensitive brush head, was too much for daily use for me. Instead, I was using the FOREO Luna Mini daily and the Clarisonic primarily for decollete use and occasional face use.

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Clarisonic Precision Brush

Do I talk about Clarisonics too much? Sorry. I’m not sponsored or anything, they don’t know who the hell I am – I just like the dang thing. But don’t worry, this isn’t much of the same – today, I’m sharing a neat trick with you.

clarisonicheads

So while Clarisonic has a ton of different brush-heads, they don’t really have a variety of sizes. If you splurged on the fancier PLUS model(s) that can accomodate the body brush, great, you have access to a larger one. If I’m not mistaken, the diameter of the luxury heads, too, is slightly smaller than the traditional heads, but not buy a bunch.

Have you ever wanted a smaller brush head that makes it easier to work around, for example, the contours of your nose? A Clarisonic precision brush?

Clarisonic Precision Brush How-To

Guess what – you already have one! Really! Check this out.

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How to Clean Your Clarisonic

This is the second post (see the first) in my originally unintentional Spring Cleaning Series. I’ve shared extensively that I enjoy some buttons and internet in my skincare via the Clarisonic Mia2. Like any tool, Clarisonics require maintenance not only to work as intended, but to avoid introducing any ilk to your skin that, by its very design, it shouldn’t. So let’s talk about how to Clean Your Clarisonic. For that matter, these steps should apply to most replaceable-brush-head skincare tools, but illustrations will be with my trusty Mia2.

Maintenance is not something we should do when we realize that we can’t quite remember how long our Clarisonic has been hanging out in our shower. You don’t need a significant amount of time and you don’t need any fancy cleansers or materials to clean your Clarisonic. It’s quick and easy, and there’s really no good reason not to do so. (It takes less time than cleaning makeup brushes, come on).

1. After use, dry your Clarisonic.

Clean Your Clarisonic - Dry it After Use

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Clarisonic Mia 2 vs Olay Pro-X

Many moons ago, I was the happy owner of an Olay Pro-X Facial Cleansing System. Then, in late 2013, I upgraded to a Clarisonic Mia 2. Before I took the leap, I searched for a good, in-depth review of both systems so I could gauge whether or not it was worth bothering to shell out the money. I found a lot of, “Well like Clarisonic is just, you know, better. And it’s rechargeable. And sonic…but the Pro-X is nice if you’re on a budget!”

So, since I have experience with both, let’s pit the Clarisonic Mia 2 vs Olay Pro-X. Be warned, this is a very text-heavy post.

Clarisonic Mia 2 Olay Pro-X
Price $150 $30
Power Rechargeable w\ induction charger AA batteries (included)
Included Heads 1 1
Brush Head Price 1 for $27 (multiples cheaper) 2 for $12 (Amazon)
Included Cleanser 1 oz Clarisonic Gel Cleanser

.68oz Exfoliating Cleanser

Personally, I wasn’t impressed with either included cleanser so that much wasn’t important to me, but the investment in the Clarisonic Mia 2 vs Olay Pro-X is very different. The initial output is higher, and the heads are more expensive. I buy packs of four once a year at a discounted price and try to find a decent promo code (like at least 20% off that) and stack it with a great cash-back offer from eBates. Batteries, on the other hand, aren’t cheap – I recommend investing in a set of reliable rechargeable batteries to offset that cost.

Let’s look at the devices themselves:

Clarisonic Mia 2 vs Olay Pro-X (Olay pictured left) - backClarisonic Mia 2 vs Olay Pro-X

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