So, a Sea Anemone and a Plastic Boar Walk Into a Shower...



Photo Credit: Sephora

 It's officially Summer, which means--down here in the Deep South, anyway--beach holidays, an explosion of azaleas, crawfish boils, pool-side barbeques, hundred-plus degree temperatures, a thousand percent humidity, sweat-soaked hair and clothes just from walking out to the mailbox, and, at least, two showers a day.

It's hot. It's sticky. It's gross, and my skin has been paying the price.

Honestly, my blackheads were getting so out of hand that I was doing face masks way more often than is recommended, giving my extractor a workout, slathering on acne gel, and using both a regular facewash and an exfoliating scrub. I even tried a pore strip (and that's another post). I was desperate, and desperate times call for desperate measures.

Obviously, changing what I washed my face with wasn't working, so maybe I should try changing how I washed my face. I was placing a Sephora order, anyway, so I figured I'd tack on this little gem of a brush. If nothing else, it would throw me into Free Shipping territory.

First, let's hear from Sephora:

This brush's ultra-soft brush head gently exfoliates dead skin cells. Its other side features a silicone pad with tiny bristles to deeply cleanse pores while invigorating the skin. Use daily to reveal glowing, radiant skin.

Now, let's hear from me:

The brush is dual-headed, with a soft-bristled brush on one side, and super-flexible silicone sea anemone on the other. To use, I apply my facewash to my face, wet the brush side of the tool and scrub my face in a circular motion. Then, I wet the silicone side and repeat the process. I've been using this puppy for four days, and I can tell a difference. When I wash my face, it feels clean and is smooth to the touch. That's not really the norm around here. I've been able to lay off the face masks and scrubs, too, though I am still using the acne medication, but to a lesser degree. In other words, this works.

The tool isn't perfect, though. There are a couple of flaws that, while not dealbreakers for me, might be for you. First of all, the head is not flexible. The bristles are, but the head, itself, is hard, flat plastic. This makes getting the shorter silicone side into the curves around your nose very difficult. I'm okay with just using the longer brush side to reach those areas, but that's personal preference. The other gripe is the lack of hanging apparatus. Yes, there is a little hole in the handle, but unless you have a spare piece of rope to loop through it, it's not really useful for hanging. Right now, I have mine propped upright in a shower organizer, but a little soap-on-a-rope loop or even a suction cup would have been nice. For eighteen bucks, I think they could have tossed something in to keep it from getting mildewy. $18, Sephora.

Final Verdict: 8 out of 10. It's a little pricey, but talk about saving face.