Olay Pro-X Review!

I have heard wonderful wonderful things about the Clarisonic facial cleanser, and I really wanted to try it to try and get rid of pesky blackheads and to hopefully reduce the amount of breakouts in general. But... if you've heard about/researched the Clarisonic, you probably know that it retails for anywhere between $100-230, and I was not interested in spending that much money on something that I didn't even know worked. Instead, I decided to try the Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing system, which retails for about $20 on Amazon. I was just about to purchase one, when I happened to go home for Spring Break, and my mom said she had gotten one that she never used. So of course I took it (yay for stealing things from your mom!)

 Unopened (of course she got it on clearance)

What's included in the box (yay for batteries!) 

What's in the box: the device, a brush head, the Olay Pro-X exfoliating renewal cleanser, and two AA batteries. As you can imagine, it's super easy to set up and use. You just put the batteries in, pop the brush head on, and it's good to go. The directions say to first wet your face, then to put the cleanser directly on your face (not on the brush), to wet the brush, and then go at it. They recommend to use this 1-2 times a day, but warn that if you have sensitive skin to try once a day and maybe not even do it that often if you experience irritation. 

How I decided to use it was to go for once a day, right before bed. My skin isn't extremely sensitive, but some things irritate it and I decided to play it safe. For the first week and a half of using it I used the cleanser it came with. It was very exfoliating and it didn't really have a smell. I was really pleased with the way my skin felt after I used it. It felt really clean without any tightness. After that week and a half I did notice that there were less blackheads on/around my nose, however, I had super bad breakouts on my forehead and cheeks. I have pretty clear skin, and this was causing me to break out a lot more than I normally do. I was pretty sure it was the cleanser, and the fact that my skin just wasn't used to it. I also looked at the ingredients of the cleanser and noticed it didn't have benzoic or salicylic acid in it, while the cleanser I normally use has salicylic. After this, I used the brush with the cleanser I normally use and noticed less breakouts right away.  

While I was concerned with my own breakouts, I was also interested in seeing how this worked for men. Will is the typical guy who doesn't take care of his skin. He's been using this (with the included cleanser) for about a month, and I've definitely noticed a difference. Not only has he had less breakouts, but his pores are definitely shrinking, and he's had way less blackheads. The only challenge with him has been getting him to stick to the nightly routine since he's never done anything like that before. 

My only complaint about this is the motor/battery system. The device has two speeds. The slower speed is far too slow, unless you have really super extremely sensitive skin. The faster speed isn't very fast, and if you apply pressure you can tell the motor is really struggling. Also, after about a month of the two of us using it, the batteries are close to dying. I would much prefer a rechargeable system (which the Clarisonic has). 

All in all, I think the brush system really helps to reduce the appearance of pores and blackheads. I'd say it's really good at deep cleaning, and getting to areas of the face you may not focus on if you're just washing it. I do think that it's safer to stick with the cleanser your skin is used to, especially if you have sensitive skin. I think that for the money (free in my case :p), this is definitely worth it, especially if you aren't sure you're going to like the experience. I don't know how the motor in the Clarisonic is, having never used one, but I'd hope that for such an expensive product it'd be more powerful. I don't think I'd be willing to spend that much money on it, but it might be a good birthday/Christmas gift? But I also think that the Olay Pro-X gets the job done just fine.