This week I am currently reviewing the Magnitone Pulsar cleansing system. Here. A couple of weeks ago I volunteered to test and review the Magnitone Pulsar in conjunction with Jane from British Beauty Blogger. The terms were to use it each morning and evening for 7 days and to give honest feedback.
This had come at the perfect time, as I'd been thinking of investing in something similar to the Clarisonic, to help sort out my pesky oily/combination skin, but on a cheaper budget. I had been eyeing up the Boots No7 Cleansing Brush (here) at £24.95 and the Olay Regenerist 3 Point Super Cleansing System (here) at £26.66. Without this opportunity, Magnitone's hefty price tag of RRP £129.99 would have meant saving my pennies for quite a few months!
A week later, I then got a lovely little parcel from Magnitone, containing the Pulsar Cleansing System for me to test out. This is quite an in-depth review, so make yourself a cuppa and get yourself comfy...
The Benefits
The Magnitone Pulsar uses " Active Electromagnetic Technology, to effectively cleanse, refresh and stimulate your skin", helping to "achieve visibly softer, smoother and clearer looking skin in just 7 days".
It provides the user with 4 different cleansing modes which benefit your face and body in different ways. Combined with over 15, 000 rotational oscillations per minute it ensures that "skin all over the body receives a deeper exfoliation".
Cleansing Modes
Magnitone have given the user a choice of four different cleansing modes:
Sensitive - Ideal for people with sensitive skin, it uses a more gentle action which should still energise the face and body but not upset delicate or irritated skin.
PulseLift Massage - This is ideal for people whose skin is starting to show signs of ageing. It uses a faster and more of a pulsed massage motion that should stimulate skin and improve the blood circulation.
Exfoliate - This is to be used on the body e.g. legs and arms, to aid in the removal of stubborn dry and dead skin cells. The Body Cleanse Brush Head should be used on this mode.
Deep Clean - this mode should help improve results in comparison to your typical cleansing routine. When used along with your normal skincare routine it should help to "achieve softer, tighter and more purified skin whilst also helping to diminish the appearance of enlarged pores and wrinkles".
One of the more interesting claims from Magnitone is that if used regularly, the Magnitone Pulsar "will help to noticeably increase blood circulation, which can provide skin cells with oxygen and vital nutrients for skin metabolism and natural collagen turnover". (Wow! Is there anything this cannot do?!)
In The Box
The Magnitone Pulsar Cleansing System consists of the cleansing brush itself, a charging cradle (mains adaptor supplied), a warranty card, the instruction manual and two types of brush heads. The first brush head is the one that I think most people would mainly use. This is the Active Clean Brush Head. This is what you would mainly use for cleansing your face on a daily basis. In comparison to the Body Cleanse Brush Head, I found it to be softer and the bristles to be more close-set, with a smaller surface area.
The second brush head that was included was the Body Cleanse Brush Head. The larger surface area and wider-set bristles definitely made it ideal for whizzing around my body quickly and effectively.
The Magnitone Pulsar itself is waterproof and the clever people at Magnitone designed it with a rubberised texture. This gives more grip, which is handy if you plan to use in the shower or bath.
For people who have sensitive skin, fear not! A Sensitive Brush Head can be purchased separately (here). The lovely people at Magnitone sent me the sensitive brush heads as well, but as of yet I have not needed to use these.
How To Use
Facial Cleansing
- Rinse skin with warm water.
- Wet brush head with warm water.
- Apply your cleanser to your skin or active clean brush head.
- Turn the brush on and use the mode selector button to choose your desired setting.
- Without applying any pressure, move the brush in a slow gentle circular motion over your forehead and centre of eyebrows for 20 seconds.
- Repeat this for 10 seconds on each cheek moving from ear to lip and around the neck and ear area.
- Repeat this for 20 seconds on nose, chin and around the mouth.
Body Cleansing
- Change the brush head to the body cleanse brush head.
- Using the same method as before, rinse lower or upper legs or arms with water and lather up.
- Turn the brush onto desired setting.
- Using the same technique, use for 20 seconds on each area.
- If using on dried or harder patches of skin (e.g. knees and elbows), select the Exfoliate mode and use the same technique for 30 seconds on each area.
Hair Removal
- Change the brush head back to the active clean brush head.
- Rinse armpits or bikini line with warm water and lather up.
- Turn the brush onto Sensitive or Deep Clean mode and using the same technique, use for 15 seconds under each armpit and 10 seconds on bikini lines.
Product Maintenance
After using, the brush head needs to be removed from the Magnitone Pulsar and rinsed with warm water. This must be left to dry before replacing the brush head protection cap.
It takes 24 hours for the Pulsar to fully charge, but you can do a quick charge for 75 minutes.
The brush heads should be replaced every 3 months. This is to prevent any skin abrasion which could happen when the bristles have started to splay.
My 7 Day Experience
The first thing I did when I received the Pulsar was open the box and turn it on.... It didn't switch on. It is supposed to come part charged so you can start using straight away. This didn't bother me in the slightest, as I wasn't going to start using it until the next day anyway.
When charging, don't forget to place the Pulsar into it's holder with the brush head side facing (backwards)away from you. It is my automatic response to put the Pulsar into it's holder similar to an electric toothbrush, with the bristles facing (forwards) towards you. By all means do that, if you want to use the charging holder to display your Pulsar when not in use, but you won't get very far if you plug it in to charge!
The next thing I did was to read the leaflet and instructions. Both of these were informative and concise. Once you've got your head around which button is for which mode and how long to use on each area of your face or body, then you can pretty much get started.
I use Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish lotion (here) for cleansing everyday, so I stuck to this, replacing the muslin cloth with the Pulsar. I normally cleanse in my sink, but I decided it may be easier for me to use this in the shower. The main reason for this was simply because it would be easier to clean up in the shower if there was a lot of splatter. Using the Pulsar in the shower was brilliant and didn't slip out of my wet hand at all. This didn't take any longer than my normal cleansing routine, if anything it was quicker.
In the evenings, I cleanse before brushing my teeth, so I carried on in the same way. This time, I was using the Pulsar at the sink but found there to be no real splatter. This may depend on what cleanser you use but with a cream cleanser, and for the amount I use, there is never a vast quantity of foam to actually splatter. I did find that after rinsing the brush head and switching on to start my cleanse, the water that comes out of the brush head drips down my forehead and into my eyes. This is something that I would expect to happen, so I did have the sense to close my eyes!
It does state that in the first few days of use, your skin may purge. Mine certainly brought underlying imperfections to the surface, but I haven't noticed any further spots appear in the 6th and 7th day of testing. I have quite oily skin in my t-zone and this is where I quite often get the dreaded blackheads making an appearance. Since using the Pulsar I haven't noticed any new blackheads popping up on my chin or forehead.
Using the Body Cleanse Brush Head was brilliant. I suffer from dry patches of skin on my upper arms and have been prescribed cream from my Doctor for it in the past. I do love using body scrubs, my torso and legs love them, but my arms certainly do not. The exfoliating particles are way too abrasive for my arms and end up making them red and sore. Using the Pulsar, with my current shower gel (NSpa coconut), on the Exfoliate mode was so soft on my arms that I actually thought it wasn't doing anything. How wrong I was! After putting on my body butter (S&G Sugar Crush) my arms felt smoother and less inflamed, in comparison to how they feel after using a body scrub. My husband will also like the fact that there is less mess left in the bottom of the shower compared to the aftermath of me using a body scrub. *Looks sheepish*. I've only used the Pulsar on my body twice, so far, but I'll be happy if I still get a continuation of these results.
I didn't use the Pulsar on my armpits but I did use it on the edges of my bikini line. I don't frequently get razor rash on my skin or ingrown hairs in this particular area, but there have been occasions when I have. When using the Pulsar in this area it didn't feel abrasive and so far I've not had a rash or any ingrown hairs.
End Results
The easiest way for me to see how effective my 7 day challenge was, will be to compare my results to the 10 amazing benefits they claim the Magnitone Pulsar can show after 7 days of use...
- More effective deep cleansing and removal of impurities.I feel this has given me a deeper cleanse, and my purge feels like evidence to the removal of impurities.
- Can help increase collagen in skin.I'm not really sure if this has increased collagen or how I would notice a definite increase.
- Softer, smoother and clearer looking skin tone.My skin does feel a lot softer and is beginning to look clearer after my purge. My husband even commented on the softness!
- Firmer, tighter feeling skin texture.I'm only 28 and have pretty good skin that isn't saggy so this doesn't really apply to me.
- Can help diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.Again, not really applicable as I'm lucky to have not really got any wrinkles yet.
- Noticeable increase in blood circulation to the skin.This is hard to know for sure, but my skin feels invigorated after cleansing, and I look slightly flushed after cleansing, which could be to do with blood circulation, but I don't know for certain.
- Helps reduce appearance of visible pores.I didn't have exceptionally large pores to begin with, and I haven't noticed a change in this really.
- Gentle exfoliation of dry skin for silkier arms and legs.I definitely found the Pulsar to exfoliate in a less abrasive manner, which is definitely helping the dry skin on my arms.
- Helps reduce razor rash and irritation after hair removal.So far, I've had no rash or imperfections appear, so fingers crossed this is working.
- Enhanced moisture and nutrient absorption of your regular skin products.I can't say for definite if it's because of the Pulsar, or if my face is just dehydrated at the moment from the season and central heating, but my skin is really drinking in my serum and moisturiser.
Although I can't say I saw a difference in all of the 10 benefits, I think I will definitely continue to use the Pulsar on a daily basis. I still need to remove my eye make up separately and feel better using a micellar water (here) to remove a majority of my make up before I use the Pulsar. I think I will find myself using it every evening, and using my muslin cloth in the morning. This is mainly so I can get rid of any possible remnants of eye make up in the quickest way. I wouldn't say it will solve everybody's skin problems nor can it be used as a complete cleansing system for the face. What I can say is that it has really been a godsend for softening and clearing my skin on both my face and body.
Have you used the Magnitone Pulsar? Have you felt the benefits of using a facial cleansing brush? I'd love to hear your opinions!
All products mentioned in this blog were purchased by myself apart from the Magnitone Pulsar which was sent to me for review.
