Product recommended by Oprah shows promise with helping skin

When Oprah Winfrey announced that she liked a special at-home skin cleaning brush that has sonic technology, many people here bought one.
 
But, does this technology work? And what about the less expensive versions now on the market?
 
With fair skin and blue eyes, Liana Drouilhet, 40, now regrets the years of outdoor sun tanning.
 
"It was terrible but I did," said Drouilhet. "And then in college, I paid for it because I went into the tanning beds and I paid for it because my skin was like leather and ever since about 10 years ago I have done all that I can to reverse the effects of sun damage."
 
Along with wearing her sunscreen to protect from the number one cause of skin aging and skin cancers, she is also using this little at home machine called Clarisonic.
 
"It's helped with breakouts. It's, my face just looks a lot shinier. It looks healthier and again, when I put on the other products, it all just goes into my skin a lot easier," said Drouilhet.
 
 Touro Dermatologist Sharon Meyer likes the results she sees with the Clarisonic. She uses it herself and sells it to patients.
 
"It is basically a cleansing tool to get the sebum (oil) off your face so that medicines that we use to treat acne or to treat aging will hopefully penetrate better," said Dr. Meyer. "There actually, there was a study, unfortunately it was put out by this company (the makers of Clarisonic) , so I think there really are other unbiased studies." 
 
The makers of Clarisonic say that the product is proven to clean twice as effectively as your hands with soap and 10 times better using water alone. They say it removes six to 10 times more makeup and is very gentle on the skin, leaving no break in the skin barrier and allowing even people with rosacea to benefit from it. And the company says because anti-acne and anti-photo aging medications and creams such as vitamin C serums absorb much better after using Clarisonic, there is a reduction in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Skin tone and pores and texture they say are also improved. And men report a closer shave with softer skin and less irritation.
 
"The brush is so gentle that I haven't seen any irritation at all," said Dr. Meyer.
 
And doctors say that is very important especially when it comes to the popularity the Clarisonic has with teens. Dermatologists say scrubbing puffs and hard granular washes actually worsen acne and other breakouts.
 
"There's a risk in cleaning the skin too deeply. If you over clean skin you can actually make the oil glands more active and produce more acne. We learned this years ago with people using lots of alcohol on their skin, witch hazel that sort of thing," said Metairie Dermatologic Surgeon Dr. William Coleman.
 
"You're not going to correct acne alone by being really, really clean. You can be very, very clean and still have acne," explains Dr. Lupo.
 
But what some doctors like about regular use of the Clarisonic, is that is reminds teens to remember to use their acne medication afterwards and adults to use their prescription retinoids and vitamin C for anti-aging after they gently exfoliate.
 
"It does seem to get rid of make up better, at least according to their internal studies, and therefore because it's a bit of an exfoliator, will be able to increase the penetration of your medications," said Metairie Dermatologist Dr. Patricia Farris.
 
"Exfoliation for photo damage, in my opinion, is underemphasized because exfoliation allows your active (ingredients in medications or creams) to penetrate better," said Dr. Lupo.
 
Dermatologist Dr. Mary Lupo also likes the much less expensive Neutrogena versions of the cleansing tool as well. Instead of a brush, the Total Skin Renewal and the Wave have changeable pads that vibrate. Dr. Meyer says she feels the Clarisonic, with a brush that oscillates 300 times per second, is better. Still some doctors want more science.
 
"There's no scientific evidence that any of these sonic devices really does anything positive for the skin," said Dr. Coleman.
 
"The company itself has done some interesting studies, now these are all internal studies and they are not large studies," said Dr. Farris.
 
For now, Liana believes it is enhancing the work of her sunscreens and creams that her dermatologist tells her to use.
 
"People have noticed my skin. I've noticed that my pores are smaller which I've always had a problem with. That and just overall its been fantastic for me. I love it,"  said Drouilhet.
 
The Neutrogena Wave costs around $15. The Neutrogena Total Skin Renewal costs around $30. And the Clarisonic brush costs in the $200 range.
 
(Editor's Note: Dr. Patricia Farris is a spokeswoman for the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery and is no relation to Medical Reporter Meg Farris)