The Clarisonic Brush is a great gentle exfoliator that is now an indispensable part of my skin care routine. I've been asked to give a little tutorial on how to use it. I myself am entirely self-taught (or deluded) so here goes - but do wade in with comments if you've picked better habits.

The first thing to do when you get your Clarisonic brush is to ditch the cleanser that it comes with. I can no longer remember what is in it, but it isn't going to be the thing that gets your complexion glowing. Replace it as soon as you can with the cleanser or your choice.

The Clarisonic can be used on dry skin, or damp skin with a cleanser. I prefer to use it on dry skin and follow by washing my face and neck. There are now three brush heads available (us early adopters only had two to choose from). I use the white one on my face and neck and the gray one on my body. The new blue brush is for sensitive skin. Even though sensitive is my middle name, I've never felt and discomfort from using the white brush on my tender cheeks.

And the thing is, don't be all tentative about it. My first experience of the Clarisonic was in a spa and the esthetician took to it with a firm hand. The idea is to be deliberate, but brief. Brushing your entire face and neck should only take about 60 seconds or so.

And no lingering, keep moving over the face. You can go back and forth if you need to, but don't keep at any one area or you might get sore and inflamed. And anyway, don't forget the brush head is spinning away (well oscillating to be precise) at oscillating back and forth at a sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second. So you don't need to scrub!. It's hard to say what I mean by firm and deliberate, but the closest I can come to is that it's a similar pressure to rubbing your skin with a washcloth.

Concentrate on brushing sections of your face: across the forehead, upwards along your cheeks, the chin and over your nose. Making sure that you brush your nose area thoroughly to get at those enlarged pores is the only uncomfortable part of the process - at least for me - as it really tickles.

Swapping the white head for the gray you can continue on your body - dry or wet, as you prefer. I think the real reason I use it in the shower is to save time.

I use my Clarisonic on my face about five times a week - the other days I usually use an exfoliating cream or mask. I alternate days when I use it in the shower: body scrub one day, brush with Japanese Charcoal Cleanser the next.