Summary:
My skin problems probably aren't going to be resolved by anything short of prescription medication, so all I expected from the Mia was thorough cleaning and maybe some help with blackheads. The Mia's more than met those expectations. I'll be replacing it if/when it stops working and I definitely recommend it if you have the money - but don't expect miracles for severe acne.
Details:
I'm Asian (Filipino/Chinese) with a medium-olive skin tone. I consider my skin to be fairly strong - toners and AHA products tingle slightly but don't hurt, and I don't have any fine lines or wrinkles at age 38. My skin's very oily and there's a lot of hyperpigmentation. I have severe adult-onset acne due to hormone imbalance - milia on my chin, blackheads on my nose, cystic acne frequently on my cheeks and jawline and infrequently on my forehead (gets worse based on my monthly cycle), and infrequent whiteheads anywhere.
My current skin care regimen is Murad at night and a mild bead-type exfoliator during my morning shower, but I'm not very good at sticking to it - usually I use the Mia in the shower and just remove my makeup at night.
I've been using the Mia since mid-July more or less once a day, every time I wash my face. Here's what I've noticed:
- My skin is still oily - in fact, it almost seems like it's *more* oily because the pores are clearer. Not an issue for me since I discovered Urban Decay's Deslick in a Tube (highly recommended if you have very oily skin!)
- My pores are much less apparent, especially when I'm wearing makeup. Without makeup they still look pretty big to me, but I'm in the habit of studying my face in the mirror from two inches away. I'm comfortable that they're clear and not visible to others, especially if I blot or otherwise manage the oil.
- No or slight effect on hyperpigmentation - some darkening has faded, but it tends to fade for me over a few months anyway.
- No effect on the cystic acne.
- No effect on whitehead frequency or severity.
- The milia, which had persisted for months regardless of treatments, creams, and scrubs, are much reduced, both in appearance and amount. I can still see some bumps, but they're not white, and my chin is smoother. I don't feel like a casual observer would notice anything. This was unexpected and AWESOME - all of my reading about milia led me to believe that they couldn't be removed by anything short of a visit to a professional, so I'd pretty much resigned myself to just dealing with it for a while.
- The blackheads are gone. In the past I had cleared and prevented blackheads with a weekly Biore strip, an overnight mask applied to my nose every other night (every night was too drying), and scrubbing with an exfoliator in the morning. Using the Mia has pretty much eliminated the blackhead issue entirely.
I like the Mia a lot - my skin feels cleaner and smoother in the areas I'm not prone to blemishes. It feels sturdy & comfortable to use. Like other reviewers, I'd be happier if it paused every ten or twenty seconds to help with timing the cleaning. That feature's available with the larger Clarisonic, but frankly I don't really want anything larger than the Mia. I've had no problems with recharging the Mia only weekly.
If you decide to purchase, I'd recommend picking up some makeup remover wipes as well; it's alarming how dirty the brush looks when it's covered with foundation, and I got paranoid that all the makeup on the brush wasn't letting the Mia get my face really clean and ended up washing my face a second time.