When a box of the Skin Physics Derma Sonic Power Cleansing Brush landed on my desk, I took a look at it and was rather skeptical. Hmm … this looked very familiar. Hang on, it’s the Clarisonic in a different colour! When I unboxed it, I was shocked. The similarities are truly uncanny!

The contraption looks just like the Clarisonic down to the handle, brushes, charger and suggested amount of cleansing time. Just like the Clarisonic, the Derma Sonic needs 24 hours to charge prior to use. The only difference to the Clarisonic is that the back of the cleanser doesn’t have the 4 LEDs that the Clarisonic has. They feel the same when you hold each one in your hand (perhaps the Derma Sonic is ever so slightly lighter). Upon appearance, if you were to transfer the brand logo from Derma Sonic to the Clarisonic (and vice versa), you may not even be able to tell the difference between the two!

Now let’s talk about how the brush performs.

Detaching the brush heads from the handle is just like how you’d do on a Clarisonic: just press down and twist. The brushes are incredibly similar to Clarisonic’s as well. The Derma Sonic comes with 3 brushes: 2 face brushes and 1 body brush. The face brushes feel very similar to Clarisonic’s Sensitive brushes. Its body brush, however, has stiffer bristles than Clarisonic’s; thus it’s not that soft. As similar as the brushes are, you cannot attach Derma Sonic brush heads on Clarisonic’s brush. Trust me, I’ve tried. 😛

The Clarisonic has a timer that will beep when the brushing time of each section is up. E.g after 20 seconds of cleansing the forehead, it will beep, telling you that it’s time to move on to the nose/chin and so on. The Derma Sonic doesn’t have a timer. You’ll have to manually count the time spent on each section of your face.

Battery longevity-wise, they’re about the same. I don’t use the brush on my face daily so each charge lasted me for weeks. However, if you’re to use the body brush daily, I’d say it’s best to leave it in the charging cradle after every use.

Now if you remember, I had issues with using the Clarisonic over 3 consecutive days. My skin would be terribly dry, develop rash-like symptoms and it would peel. Most people don’t have that problem with using the Clarisonic daily (my mum and auntie sing its praises) but I can’t. As the Derma Sonic is so similar to the Clarisonic, I did not take the chance in using it daily either. I use it 2-3 times a week in lieu of a facial scrub.

So, how did it perform on my skin? Just like the Clarisonic. There’s no difference. It cleansed and exfoliated my skin very well. I like to apply a bit of facial cleanser on the brush head and then use the brush on my face and neck.

Other than the lack of a timer for the Derma Sonic, I can’t see the difference between the two at all. It would be nice to have a timer to beep me after every 10-20 seconds so that I’d know when to move to the next section of my face instead of having to do a mental countdown.

Let’s talk price point. For the same sized Clarisonic that offers 3 speeds for the face and also a Body brushing function, you’d be looking at the Clarisonic Plus system. The Clarisonic Plus comes with 1 face brush head, 1 body brush head, 3 face cleansers and 1 body scrub. The Clarisonic Plus retails at AU$265. As for Skin Physics’ Derma Sonic system, you get equally-sized brush handle that offers 4 speeds for the face and 2 for the body. The Derma Sonic system comes with 2 face brush heads and 1 body brush head. It retails at AU$119.

The Derma Sonic is far cheaper than the Clarisonic with only a difference in a lack of timer. If you’re keen on trying the Clarisonic out but not willing to fork out so much money, I’d say go for the Derma Sonic because there’s barely any difference between the two. To be honest, I wish Skin Physics came out with this much earlier because I would have gone for it. I would have saved well over $100. That extra timer and included cleansers aren’t worth that much money anyway.

Skin Physics’ Derma Sonic Cleansing Brush is available at MYER, Priceline and selected pharmacies nationally.

What I like about it: It’s just like the Clarisonic cleansing system but at a more affordable price.

What I do not like about it: Lack of timer. Just like the Clarisonic, my skin can’t take daily use.

What do you think? Not bad, right? Much cheaper than the Clarisonic too!

Note: This product was provided for editorial consideration.