Firstly, let me start by saying that as usual I have not been paid or encouraged to write this review by the company and I purchased this product with my own money. However, I did find it on the clearance shelf at Boots which means that it was, of course, discounted. Hooray!
The Neutrogena Wave is a product which I have been interested in for quite some time. With famous faces advertising it such as Vanessa Hudgens and more recently Hayden Panettiere plus the fact that Neutrogena is the skincare brand most recommended by dermatologists, it’s surprising that I hadn’t tried their range before! Nonetheless, I was wandering around Boots whilst on a weekend away with my grandparents a few weeks ago, and when I spotted that this product had been popped in the sale aisle I had to have it. Usually retailing at £9.99 (and available at www.boots.com) I managed to get it at a steal for just £5 which was amazing actually as I only had a five pound note in my purse, courtesy of constantly buying products to review...
So, what does the brand claim? Well, here is television ad...
Then this is what Ulta (www.ulta.com) has to say about the product...
‘Neutrogena Wave Original Vibrating Power-Cleanser will transform your daily cleansing routine and give you super soft, super clean skin. The dermatologist-tested power cleanser is battery-operated and has been clinically proven to perform better than ordinary manual cleansers. At the click of a button, the gentle vibrating motion massages tingly cleansing foam deep into pores to remove more dirt, oil and make-up than ordinary cleansing. The softly textured pads gently exfoliate your skin. After just one use, your skin will be softer and smoother. The Power-Cleanser is water-resistant and can be used in the shower.’
Included in the box for the Neutrogena Wave Duo, I received the machine itself (already filled with batteries) and 20 of the cleanser pads. Not bad!
How does it work? Well, it’s actually really simple. You take one of the cotton-wool cleanser pads already prepared with just the right amount of cleanser on, and you apply it straight to the circular surface of the Wave. Then you just turn it on and apply the pad to your face. There are two settings, one which works with slower vibrations for a daily cleanse and the other which works a bit harder on skin giving a more thorough deep-clean which I’ve been using every three days. All you do is move the pad in a circular motion across your face and once you are finished just rinse off the cleanser. Job done!
So the first time I used it, I learnt the hard way to remember that cleansers like this are not intended for make-up removal, but work better on a relatively clean face. I had my make-up on from that day, (foundation, eye make-up and all) when I began working the pad across my face. I’m not saying this product doesn’t remove make-up. But what does happen is that once you have placed the pad onto the surface of your face and turn it on, it pulls the make-up from that area to then be spread across the rest of the visage. After I had finished with the Wave I pulled off the black and brown pad (now covered with concealer, powder and mascara) and flicked it into the bin. However, I realised that my skin still felt as if it had make-up on, clogging up my pores so I suspiciously whipped out a make-up wipe to discover that most of my make-up had only been spread around, rather than removed.
I am not complaining though as nowhere in the product claim does it state that this is to be used for make-up removal. The next time I used it, I had already removed my make-up with Ultrabland by Lush (£6.10 available at www.lush.com) and experienced much better results.
I loved the feeling of the vibrations on my face and afterwards I felt so fresh and clean. My pores really did appear smaller and less visible and I have had fewer break-outs since using the Wave, so the product really does live up to its advertising! On the other hand, I’m not convinced that this is due to the quality of the formula provided in the pads but rather to the technology of the vibrations which are specifically designed to massage the skin into relaxing the entrance to the pores before the foaming product is supposed to get in really deep to flush out all the bad stuff. The formula doesn’t foam as much as I would expect of a foaming product, which I guess is kind of a good thing for me as I much prefer cream cleansers... Thirty Neutrogena Deep Cleansing Refill Pads can be purchased for £5.10 in Boots stores and at www.boots.com, although I have been experimenting with a couple of other cleansers, purely because I’m unsure of the benefits of the pads themselves.
I have been using the Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser by Liz Earle (£13.25 at www.uk.lizearle.com) with the Neutrogena Wave and have experienced great results. Although this is a cream cleanser and hence does not foam at all I feel like thanks to the Wave the product is getting further down into my pores, giving my skin a kind of deep-clean. I do this by wetting my face with warm water, before smoothing on the cleanser. Then I apply a regular cotton pad (which can be found at www.boots.com for £1.01) to the Wave and run it under hot water. I move the Neutrogena Wave around the different areas of my face in a circular motion, then once I am done with that I begin to gently polish off the remainder with the muslin cloth provided by Liz Earle. This makes me feel so pampered and really is as if I’ve been able to bring affordable yet luxurious spa treatments into my own home.
I guess the only real downsides to this product are how careful you have to be with it around the eyes and the fact that it can be quite difficult to use around the nose. My nose is where I get most of my blemishes and where my pores appear larger and darker, but it was quite difficult to get in and around the sides at the corner of my nose which made me feel like various nooks and crannies were left untouched.... having said that, I have usually smoothed these areas with my cleanser by hand and scrub them away with the cloth afterwards, so it isn’t as if those crevices are being completely neglected.
Basically, I’m really impressed by the Neutrogena Wave. The fact that it can be used in the shower is also great for me, as sometimes I might be too tired to go ahead with a massively long night-time skin regime, but this way I can grab it and be finished in three minutes whilst cleaning the rest of my body. The vibrations make me feel so relaxed and I’m sure I’m not imagining it, but I’ve been sleeping so much better since I started using this product just before bed! Plus, my moisturiser seems to be sinking in better whilst I’m asleep and my foundation appears to be applying much smoother recently, although I couldn’t say whether this is down to the Wave or down to the ‘polish’ part of the Cleanse and Polish regime.
Neutrogena are obviously onto something good here and they seem to have realized that as they are currently working on releasing a number of other Wave related products across the globe as we speak. The USA in particular can boast the release of the new Neutrogena Wave Sonic which works in a similar way but with a rotating head which is currently retailing at $15.99 and can be seen at www.neutrogenawave.com, plus a number of new formula pads which I am very excited to try out due to my uncertainty of the default pads provided with purchase of the Wave itself.
Overall, a great product with great technology... well done Neutrogena, just keep up the good work in developing it further J
Let me know what your experience had been with this product and how you’ve been using it... any tips and tricks welcome as always!
gabriellasofia
No comments:
Post a Comment