Clarisonic Mia: Is It Worth the Money?

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Updated on 05/30/19

Ever since Gwyneth Paltrow extolled the virtues of the Clarisonic Mia in her summer 2011 online newsletter, Goop, I had to buy and try it for myself. Here is my review. Find out if it's worth the money, plus the pros and cons.

Although these days cleansers should remove all traces of makeup and dirt on your skin, the Clarisonic skincare brush takes cleansing one step further: it exfoliates as well. If you are obsessive with skincare and looking for a simple way to keep your skin in tip-top condition, the Clarisonic Mia is a good buy.

It cleans deeply, evens skin tone and is touted to get rid of blackheads and blemishes. Many users report their pores appear smaller after prolonged use.

I suggest trying it out for 30 days and if you don't like it, return it. The customer service department is famous for being wonderful if the tool breaks or needs to be replaced.

I also suggest using it a good couple weeks before you should expect results. Start out gently with the sensitive brush and if you feel your skin can handle the medium brush, you can graduate to it.

What is the Clarisonic Mia?

The Mia is the most affordable of the Clarisonic skincare brush line. At $99, it comes in several fun colors. Basically a face cleanser, you use the Clarisonic with your favorite cleanser to deep clean your pores.

"Leslie Lopez, my makeup artist, has been raving to me about Clarisonic, which uses a sonic frequency to clean and tone skin. The Mia is the perfect size for summer travels and I’ve been obsessed with mine ever since I started using it. I’ve seen a real difference on my own skin," wrote Paltrow in the 2011 newsletter.

You can use a simple baby washcloth with your cleanser to really scrub the face. A simple sugar scrub works well, too, but what I love about the Clarisonic Mia is that the bristles are incredibly soft and unlike some facial scrubs, won't cause microscopic tearing of the skin.

The Pros of the Clarisonic Mia

I've used the Mia now for about 4 years, going through several of the replacement heads (it's good to keep these on hand). Here are the pros to investing in a Mia:

It does an excellent job deep cleaning pores while exfoliating dead skin. The key is to choose a cleanser that is right for your skin type, however.
I'm not the only one who loves it. The Mia is overwhelmingly popular with beauty aficionados, even spas use it during facials.
Reviews on Amazon and Makeupalley.com are very good. Users report marked improvement in skin tone and texture, fewer blackheads.
The company offers a 30-day money back guarantee, and their customer service department has a great reputation.
It comes with "normal" and "sensitive" brushes so you can choose the right one for your skin.

The Cons of the Clarisonic Mia

No product is perfect, of course. And these are the cons to owning a Mia:

The price. While the Mia is the most basic of the Clarisonic skincare brushes (others retail for $200 and up), some may balk at paying $99 for an exfoliation tool. It's true, a baby soft washcloth costs $2 and a scrub costs $12 or so. But keep in mind the Mia will last years. Your facial scrub won't.
If used too much, it can be tough on the skin. Those with sensitive skin should use the sensitive brush.
I've noticed that the results can be disappointing for those expecting a miracle product.

What Others are Saying

On Makeupalley.com's review Website, the brush is very popular. Of the 1065 people who reviewed it at the time of this writing, 79 percent would buy it again.

The average customer review is 4 1/2 stars out of 5 on Amazon.com.