About a month ago, I decided to drop my money on the Foreo LUNA Mini 2 facial cleansing device. This was a very hard decision for me because the device is priced at $140 and I am very diligent about how I spend my money. The Foreo is actually not my first cleaning brush, I’ve had a Clarisonic (Mia 1, no longer sold) for about four years now. So, why did I decide to get another expensive cleansing brush?

Replacement Brushes

My biggest reason for buying the Foreo is because I was sick of buying replacement brush heads for my Clarisonic. Each replacement brush is $27 ($22 if you buy a pack of two) and you’re supposed to replace the brush heads every 3-4 months. Because I did not like spending that money, I would often stretch that span of time out and use my brushes for about 5 months. Thinking about how I have spent approximately $264 over the past few years on replacement heads for my $100 dollar cleansing device made me pretty mad! I am in college and I don’t need or want to continue spending money on something like that. It was like paying rent for a cleansing device.

I have to say, other than having to continuously pay for replacement brush heads, there was nothing I didn’t like about my Clarisonic until I got my Foreo and realized how much better my new device is. The Foreo does not require new brush head replacements. You drop the money for the device and then you never have to buy anything for it again! It hurt to spend $140, but knowing that I am saving money in the future makes me very happy!

Cleanliness

The Foreo is also sooo much cleaner than the Clarisonic. I’m not talking about how it cleans your face, I’m talking about the actual device. The bristles on Clarisonic brush heads are made of nylon (the same stuff your toothbrush bristles are made of). When you wash your face, the brush obviously gets wet, but the brush just stays wet forever, like it would still be kinda wet when I would go to use it 24 hours later. Imagine all the bacteria just brewing around in there!

The Foreo is made of silicone bristles and it is completely dry less than an hour after getting wet. There are no sneaky places water can get trapped to grow bacteria like the Clarisonic. It’s fast drying powers are also very convenient so you can easily throw it in your bag if you’re traveling without worrying about other things getting wet.

Catering to Specific Skin Types

I would have to say the two brands are actually pretty even in this category. Clarisonic makes different replacement brush heads for your skin type including deep pore, radiance, sensitive, acne, and normal. I always used the radiance brushes and liked them.

The Foreo LUNA Mini 2 is actually supposed to be for all skin types, but there are different areas of the device to use for different skin types. The front side is for normal, dry, and combo skin with thin bristles on 95% of the side and 5% thick bristles where you can get the T zone and detail work around the nose. The back side is intended for oily skin with thick bristles on the entire back side. I use the front side (with the thin bristles) on my dry skin and I am very happy with it.

Foreo makes another device called the LUNA 2 and you can buy different versions of this device for your skin type including combo, normal, sensitive, oily, and man. It’s kind of ridiculous to me that they made a different brush for men. Men have different skin types just like women! The only different thing about this brush is that its black, but its still silly to me that they made a LUNA 2 Man brush as if “Man” is a skin type… These devices are $200 and the rubber bristles are shaped differently for varying skin types. I have no experience using this model, but like I said I’m very happy with the LUNA Mini 2 that I have even though I have dry skin (plus its $60 less than the non-mini model).

Charge

This is another area both brands are pretty equal in. The Foreo only needs to be charged every 5-6 months and I don’t know exactly how much I had to charge my Clarisonic, but it was very rare. My best guess is every 4 months and I can’t speak for newer models of the Clarisonic because my device is 4 years old. Let’s just say charging was never an issue.

When a Clarisonic needs to be charged, it lets you know by pulsing an extra couple of times at the end of the minute it runs. The longer you wait to charge the brush, the more times it pulses at the end. The Foreo on the other hand just gets weaker and weaker until you just charge it.

Timer

The Foreo runs for 1 minute and very briefly stops vibrating to let you know when it’s time to switch to the next zone on your face. After the first minute it up, it just vibrates with no zone change warnings. I spend 20 seconds on each check, 20 seconds on my chin and nose, the last 20 seconds on my forehead, and then I get my neck.

My Clarisonic does not have zone warnings, like the Clarisonic Mia Prima ($100), but the Clarisonic Mia Smart 3-in-1 ($200) does. The timer thing is honestly not a deal breaker for me, but I have enjoyed it on my Foreo.

Performance

I actually didn’t notice a major difference in my skin when I switched over to the Foreo. I was not expecting any major difference because like I said at the beginning of this post, there was nothing I didn’t like about my Clarisonic. I have noticed that my skin is a little softer than when I was using the Clarisonic, but that’s pretty much the only difference I noted.

**Long story short, I like the Foreo better than the Clarisonic because it saves money and its cleaner.

Some more affordable options for cleansing tools:

–Precision Pore Cleansing Pad ($6)

I got this guy for my boyfriend (he benefits from my skincare knowledge lol). It’s not electric or anything, but it gets the job done and he seems to like it.

–CVS Facial Cleansing Power Brush ($20)

I have no experience with this brush, but I thought I would include it as a more affordable option.

**I hope these tips help you! If you have any questions, feel free to comment below 🙂