This year I have ONE New Year's resolution: WASH MY FACE. A small confession: I’m really bad about doing it. Like really bad. If I’m feeling up to it, I’ll use a pre-moistened face wipe. If I’m feeling lazy, I skip it all together. In the morning, I’ll rinse with cold water. That’s pretty much it.

I’ve been of the mind that a bit of dirt never hurt anyone.  Tell that to a dermatologist.  Dr. Bill McGillivary of Project Skin in Vancouver says “cleansing is the most important step of any skincare routine and unfortunately, it is often underestimated.  Applying creams and make-up on congested skin will only make it look and feel more congested.  Over time, this could increase the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and even sun damage.”

Dirt can make you look old?  Now you’ve really got my attention.

The Clairsonic is a rechargeable electronic face washing brush that promises to get rid of six times more makeup and twice as much dirt than washing your face manually.  It claims its patented sonic frequency makes the brush move at high speeds, enabling it to really get in there.  

I bought the one speed Mia model for $139.  The two speed model costs $179 and feedback I got is that two speeds are overkill.

McGillivary assures me it’s gentle and won’t damage the skin.  (Don’t go nuts, once or twice a day is plenty.) While Clarisonic has its own line of cleansers, he recommends using it with a pH balanced gel cleanser with low concentrations of glycolic acid.  

Anna and a few other friends are also testing the Clarisonic.  After months of use, they all agree their skin feels a lot cleaner.  Tester Charmaine found that her skin glowed after a few uses.  “It used to be dull and I got breakouts every month but I’ve seen a significant decrease in breakouts.”

While Anna hasn’t noticed prolonged or obvious changes to her skin, she says it gives her a feeling of a nice deep clean and of exfoliated smoothness.

Tester Tanya adds “it feels a lot cleaner than using a wash cloth, like it will be a good base for moisturizer and makeup.”

Frankly, I’m using it more because it costs more than a washcloth.

But clean isn’t the only benefit.  McGillivary says: “published studies have demonstrated improved absorption of Vitamin C serum in the skin after using the Clarisonic PRO.  It is likely that removing debris and oil embedded in pores will help the penetration of any product.”

I’ve been using it diligently, at least once a day, for six weeks.  Is my skin well scrubbed? Undoubtedly. Am I glowing? Maybe a wee bit, but not to the point that anyone has noticed.  The best part? My pillow cases are definitely cleaner.  This may be one New Year’s resolution I manage to keep!