What Is Sonic Skin Cleansing?

Washing with hands alone? You could be doing so much better for your skin. If you haven’t heard of sonic cleansing, listen up! The magic—yeah…we said it MAGIC—behind the cult-classic Clarisonic, sonic cleansing helps to deep clean your pores, removing makeup and other impurities better than hands alone, how much better? We share everything you need to know about sonic cleansing and why you need to include it in your skin care routine—stat!—below.

Okay, first things first, sonic skin cleansing was introduced by Clarisonic way back in 2004 as a way to cleanse the skin more effectively than just with hands alone—six times more effectively, to be precise! The cleansing device—which was originally created for in-treatment use—has since made it to the top of of the must-have lists of dermatologists, estheticians, and celebs nationwide. Often imitated, but never duplicated, the Clarisonic patented sonic skin cleansing is in a league of its own. Unlike other cleansing devices, these brush heads don’t vibrate or spin—two movements that can often cause more problems than positives for your skin. Instead, sonic skin cleansing harnesses sonic frequency to drive oscillation—over 300 movements per second!

The innovative—and exclusive—sonic skin cleansing movement, helps to loosen dirt and oil from the skin’s surface and remove any deep-seated impurities for a pore-by-pore cleanse. You can use a Clarisonic with your favorite face wash—we list some of our top picks, here—and even customize the cleanse by picking out skin-type- or concern-specific brush heads. Worried sunscreen may be clogging your pores? Sonic skin cleansing is perfect for removing sunscreen effectively. Hard-to-remove face mask? Sonic skin cleansing can help you rinse it all away!

Want to start sonic cleansing and aren’t sure where to start? At Skincare.com, we’re huge fans of Clarisonic’s Mia Fit. It’s perfect to bring along on vacation since the compact design fits right into your beauty bag with ease. 

Still not convinced? Check out six very unexpected ways you can use a Clarisonic!