I’m going to give you a glimpse into my brain. If you’re frightened, you should be. One day I was mundanely brushing along with my Sonicare tooth brush when I thought “Wouldn’t it be great if they made something like this for the face?” Living in NYC and the inescapable grime which accompanies that, New Yorkers are tormented by images of their pores filling up with the nastiest crud you can imagine. I’m pretty sure this wishful thinking came to me shortly after a summer afternoon while stuck on a sidewalk behind a bus blowing noxious fumes in my face. Or maybe it was when the homeless man stumbled on me on the 6 train? (No really).

Whatever it was that provoked this train of thought, I knew if any one could win the battle of the pore, it was the good people at Sonicare. I mean they already figured out and patented the whole sonic/thousands of oscillations per second thing with their tooth brushes, which has rendered me permanently incapable of using a manual tooth brush. Fast forward a few years, and as if they yanked the idea right from my brain, the Clarisonic hit the market. What is Clarisonic? Well it’s essentially a giant electric brush for your face. Here’s what my heroes have to say:

The Clarisonic Skin Care Brush uses a patented sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second to clean, soften and smooth your skin. In just 60 seconds a day, the Clarisonic micro-massage action cleans more than twice as effectively as manual cleansing. Even makeup is removed six times better than standard cleansing. And skin is left so clean it actually absorbs products like serums and moisturizers better.

I am such a sucker for these kinds of before and afters

Ever the guinea pig, I didn’t even wait for reviews before buying this baby. I wasn’t disappointed. This thing rocks. It’s akin to discovering cell phones which do my taxes, Tivo, and my beloved Japanese digital rice cooker which chirps Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. What’s so great about the Clarisonic? Hands down it’s the best exfoliator I ever used. All the dry, flaky bits? Gone. Serums, moisturizers, and other miscellaneous goo do penetrate better following use of this handy dandy gadget, which amounts to less breakouts, smoother skin and smaller looking pores. Oh and you can use it in the shower.

Then I got to thinking. Maybe you’re not supposed to remove all those layers that have built up on your face. Kind of like people who say you shouldn’t remove the calluses on your feet because they protect you and make it bearable to walk in torture contraptions, er I mean designer shoes. (For the record, I have no calluses, corns, bunions or anything else that would distinguish my feet from anything but perfect.) Maybe the Clarisonic makes your face more vulnerable to the assaults of the urban jungle? I have a cousin who swore her makeup protected her face even at night. When she saw me twitching at the notion of her sleeping in 7 lbs of pancake, and after my constant pleading, she agreed to wash her makeup off one night. Wouldn’t you know it she woke up with a giant zit! I’ve never seen the woman with so much as a pin prick of a blemish before (but that could be because I’ve never seen her in her natural state). I think she still holds it against me. Ok I know this sounds like crazy talk, but all of this is to illustrate a point. If you use the Clarisonic too much (i.e. more than once a day), it will aggravate your skin. And do you know what happens to aggravated skin? It produces more oil, which you got it, leads to breakouts. It’s the case of too much of a good thing. Consider yourself forewarned!

So why else should you buy the Clarionic? Because it’s one of Oprah’s Favorite Things. And really isn’t that reason enough?