There can be only one...

Heeeeere we are! Born to be kings! We're the princes of the universe!



I don't know why I always, always have to shout that out whenever the phrase 'there can be only one' comes up. I. Just. Have to! I am immortal, I have inside me blood of kings!

 

 

Sigh! Yes, growing up, I had the biggest crush on Duncan MacLeod. If I sounded like a deranged loony to you, ("what the heck is she italicizing about??") then you, my dear, are either too young to know, or too clueless to have noticed. Either way, I feel sorry for you for missing out on Duncan. He was there before the McHotties got their big breaks. No, no McDreamy or McSteamy can ever replace McDuncan.

 

Mia 2, Top with Mint Green Buttons; Aria, Bottom with Grey Buttons

But enough about that, I'm not posting to reminisce of the era of the Immortals. Their head-chopping days are long gone... this post is a battle between two different kinds of princes- the princes of the consumer skin care products. Facial care, in particular.

The Clarisonic Mia 2 and the Clarisonic Aria. As much as I love these babies, I absotively possolutely cannot keep both! I underlined it, italicized and posted it in bold. That makes it final. Final final FINAL! Only one! And so the battle begins...

Here are their literatures :P from A Serenity

 
Mia 2 is an extension of our popular Mia family that gives you all the  benefits of sonic cleansing in a compact, easy-to-use style. Mia 2  features two speeds, a one-minute pulsing T-Timer® and a protective  travel case for on-the-go sonic cleansing. Now you have more choices for beautiful skin.

Clarisonic Aria infuses sonic cleansing with a harmonic blend of  function and form. Sleek, modern, intuitive, Aria sings with 3 speeds, a real-time battery life indicator, USB-enabled pLink charger, and a  drying stand that converts to a charging station when coupled with the  pLink charger. 

I have been using Aria the past couple of weeks, and I must say that the sight of it on its stand, beside my sink, got me giddy! The three oscillating 'strength' selection (should I say speed?) was one thing I utilized as early as second use. The default was set to the lowest speed, and it just didn't feel like it was doing anything. I should have known better, but what can I say, I'm wild and reckless, and went straight to speed 3.

 

A 2 minute session with Aria on that power level left my face tingling as if I've just gotten electrocuted! It was bliss! LOL! After a week and a half, I started to notice that this speed setting was a bit too much for my skin, especially since I was using it twice a day. My skin felt abnormally tight, and dehydrated.

It was love at first cleanse between me and my Aria, I cherished out 2 minute morning and night dates. My pores instantly seemed smaller after 2 weeks, and no new breakouts occur. Nothing apart from my usual monthly troubles.

Then, a sudden mishap drove our family to go out of town for a few days- couldn't leave my Aria behind. As I was packing, my mind kept drifting back to the Mia 2's hard travel case.

My Aria felt naked among my stuff! I wrapped her up in a towel, but that just isn't what I had in mind when we travel together. THAT SHELL, that MIA 2 SHELL, I WANT!

I googled to no avail, there just isn't a shell for the Aria. Oh, sad. But I got over it. Minor throwback, I mean how often do I travel? Once in two months? Aria will survive. Everything was back to normal. until.....

A Clarisonic Mia 2 fell in my lap! WTF! Is this a joke? Days after we got back home, the Mia 2 showed up. What to do, what to do? It came with that even niftier hard shell!

Granted that the charger sucked, compared to Aria's sleek USB-Plug outlet, that hard shell really feels like a necessity.

Mia2 does everything Aria does! Her shortcomings aren't really shortcomings. Sure, she has only two speeds/strengths to choose from, versus Aria's three, but  like I said, my skin got tired from Aria's third setting, I've really switched back to the medium setting, and now to low. Aria can go on for two minutes straight, Mia2, uhm, I'm not exactly sure. Does it? If it doesn't, well, how hard is it to press the switch again for another minute of cleansing? Takes less than a second.

Some basic comparisons, they weigh basically the same for me

They both beep when it's time to move from your forehead to nose+chin, then to one cheek and the other. They both have magnetic chargers that are quite fuss free once you tie the excess length of the cord back. And hey, Mia2 charges quicker! I only have to leave it overnight to charge. Aria takes well longer than that! They feel just as heavy to me, and texture wise, the Mia2 is a bit matte and the Aria, glossy, but not to the point that it slips out of my wet hand. They both fit the same brush heads, they're both white, and they both give me that same refreshing feeling after each cleansing session.

Oh, trouble! Time to get help! Off I went to seek advice from my dear Dalagindings. I wasn't surprised that Maria Masungit was the first to give her opinion, and really led me to my answer. She even made a chart, look! LOL!




c/o MariaMasungit

Truth is, the answer's been there all night in my head. It was just dancing around in the moonlight, a bit hard to see, but now I know.

Dear Mia 2, you are very pretty, and you cheered me up lots the past few days, but unfortunately, I am not the one for you. You belong to someone else, as do I.


Dear Aria.. will you accept this rose?


PS: I wasn't feeling this post very much. Sorry! It shows!