Clarisonic Mia 2

The lovely people at Current Body were kind enough to send me a Clarisonic Mia 2 to test for the next 3 months! I was so excited to receive this today, it's something I've been thinking about buying but I have to be honest, the price tag was making me a bit unsure. 

Clarisonic say the Mia 2 is the essential first step in your daily skin care, using a gentle sonic micro-massage action to cleanse deeply. It cleans pores without harsh abrasion or chemicals, cleansing so effectively that skin care products will absorb better. They claim 6x better cleansing, reduced appearance of pores, fine lines and wrinkes, and improved skin tone. The Mia 2 has two speed settings and a T-Timer that pauses to let you know when to move on to the next area of your face.

In the box was the Mia 2, charger, travel case and a sample cleanser from Clarisonic. I excitedly plugged it in to charge as soon as I got home and waited for it to be charged enough to use for the first time.

Lately my skin has been really dry, with flaky patches. The cold weather seems to be playing havoc with it and even my emergency slapping on of Eight Hour Cream hasn't rescued it, so I was intrigued to see what effect the Mia 2 would have. 

First, I took my make up off. Here's a lovely picture of me with no make up before using the Mia (I can't actually believe I'm putting make up free pictures up!)

You can use the Mia 2 to remove make up but I've read lots of reviews saying this stains the brush head so decided not to do that. Then I applied cleanser to my face before turning on the Mia and letting it go to work. You spend 20 seconds on your forehead, 20 seconds on nose/chin and 10 seconds on each cheek. There is a little pause when it's time to move on.

Then I rinsed off the remains of the cleanser and my skin feels smoother than before, still a little dry and a little red around the forehead and cheeks, but definitely an improvement. Here's a picture after cleansing and before putting any product on.

They say this is gentle enough to use twice a day but I think I'll start off with once a day and see how it goes. Considering I had removed make up before using the Mia I was surprised to see how much grime there was on the brush! Scary to think that all that muck would have just stayed on my skin all night - yuck! I've put some moisturiser on since taking that picture and maybe it's just wishful thinking but I think I can feel the difference in how products absorb into the skin so hopefully they will be a little more effective.

I'm going to try my Soap & Glory face wash with the Mia as well, and maybe try out a few other products to see what has the best effect and I'll keep you updated with my progress and whether I'm going to invest in a Mia 2 when the trial is over :) Watch out for my video review as well!

Mia 2 is an extension of our popular Mia family that gives you all the benefits of sonic cleansing in a compact, easy-to-use style. Mia 2 features two speeds, a one-minute pulsing T-Timer® and a protective travel case for on-the-go sonic cleansing. Now you have more choices for beautiful skin. - See more at: http://www.clarisonic.com/shop/sonic_skin_cleansing_systems/sonic_skin_cleansing_system_mia2/#sthash.scljfAT5.dpuf

Shellac Manicure & Pedicure

 I got a great deal on a Shellac mani and pedi, £12 for each. My plan was to have them  done for my upcoming trip to Ibiza but, typically, I could only get an appointment for 2 weeks before...Never mind, I was optimistic and hoped it would last!

Off I went to get pampered! Now, I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my nails, normally painting them twice a week because they get a bit chipped or smudged or something that bugs the life out of me. Today was day 7 of the Shellac and my toenails are holding up well, no doubt they'll last through the holiday but the fingernails were dented, growing out quickly and not even enough for me.

I removed the nails tonight, after doing lots of research on how to remove it without doing horrendous damage to my nails.

The method that sounded best, and I tried, was this:

1. Cut cotton pads into quarters and saturate with nail polish remover (with acetone)
2. Place a cotton pad quarter onto nails and wrap in tinfoil (this helps warm things up and speeds up the process)
3. Leave for 15 mins (some people say 10 some 20 so I averaged it out)
4. Take the cotton pads and tinfoil off and scrape away the Shellac with an orange stick

I found that after 15 minutes the Shellac was all loose and very easily to scrape away, no stubborn bits left. My cuticles and nails looked very dry but once I gave my hands a good wash they looked fine. My hands need a little TLC with some good handcream but that's never a bad thing, is it?

My verdict on Shellac? I probably won't get a manicure again but I will get a pedicure done again.