how to be your skin clean and clear without wasting $150

There’s no shortage of powered face-cleaning devices on the market right now, and I can come up with no shortage of reasons why I want to buy myself (yet another) one. Seeing as how I’m working on using up the stuff I have and spending less money on beauty, though, I’m writing this article in an attempt to talk myself out of buying a Foreo Luna.

Although I guess manual tools don’t have the added value of vibrating like a sex toy.

The thing is, I already have a Clinique Sonic Cleansing Brush, and while it certainly does the job of cleaning my face, I don’t think I can encourage people to spend upwards of $90 on a powered face brush. I mean, if you have that kind of money then go ahead and spend it on what you want, but you can get the same kind of clean using manual tools (or scrubs!)

Sephora Precision Pore Cleansing Pad

These suckers are like if someone ripped the front off a Foreo Luna and made you do the “sonic pulsing” part yourself. They’re made from silicone so they’re all nice and sterile, and gentle on your skin.

Bonus: if you feel like yours has done its dash as a face washer, you can use it to deep-clean your makeup brushes. Alternatively, I guess you could use a silicone makeup washing pad or glove as a face-cleaning tool. Anyone want to volunteer to try that out?

Konjac Sponge

I eat noodles made out of this stuff.

Konjac (pronounced kind of likecognac) is a plant largely used as a foodstuff in Japan and other Asian countries, but it also makes for a funface sponge. Konjac sponges are a bit harder to store than silicone pore pads because they need to dry between uses; they dry hard, but you want to make sure they definitely do dry between uses so they stay sanitary (even if they do have alleged antibacterial properties).

Using a konjac sponge is a good way to get a ton of lather out of not much cleanser — handy from an economical perspective as well as a good way to make sure your face is getting super clean.

Literally Just A Wash Cloth

I don’t know how much I can write about a face cloth, except for the fact that they’re useful as hell and shouldn’t be dismissed. There’s a reason why so many fancy cleanserscome with a muslin cloth when you buy them.

A muslin cloth is good for making sure you’ve removed all residue of cleanser, and for gently exfoliating sensitive skin. A regular terry-cloth wash cloth will give a more thorough exfoliation.

Of course, you can always just continue cleansing your face withcleanser and your hands, and most of the time that’ll get your skin clean enough. I think the advantage of using any kind of tool, though, is that it prompts you to clean your face long enough and thoroughly enough, rather than just splashing some water across it and falling into bed.

• Do you have a powered facial cleansing device (it sounds so clinical!)?Or do you just kick it old school with a face cloth?
• What’s your favourite way of deep-cleansing?

Jawad Ameer ©2013, copyright jawad ameer