For Glam.com’s The Future of Beauty series.

There was a time not too long ago in the world of beauty, when if you wanted a professional grade facial using the latest skincare and beauty gadgets you would need to book an appointment with a dermatologist or professional esthetician. You’d go off to your appointment and get your face cleansed with a motorized machine or zapped with a professional-grade laser thingamajig, and return home feeling refreshed and beautiful – most likely having made a follow-up appointment with the magician skincare professional who helped you feel that way to begin with.

Bellas, those days are over. We’ve already discussed which at-home devices are there to fit your various skincare needs, but the questions remained.

What do licensed skincare professionals think? Are these DIY doohickeys worth the money or is it better to just actually go old school and skip the gadgets? Is there one beauty tool that every woman should own?

For answers I reached out to Dr Nadia Chaudhry of HOPE Integrative Health, a specialist in laser and cosmetic dermatology. When it comes to at-home beauty tools, she recommends one of my personal favorite things EVER.

“I absolutely love the Clarisonic cleansing system for all skin types, but especially for oilier thicker skins with pigmentation and acne. It’s great for elbows and knees, too ! Another tool for prevention and treatment of aging and improving skin texture over time are home light based devices, like the Omnilux New-U.” The Omnilux New-U targets crow’s feet, fine lines, and sun damage and retails for $195.

If you’ve been reading Afrobella for a while you already know, I love the Clarisonic. I have the same skin issues Dr. Chaudhry described, and it has definitely helped me to keep my skin clean in a way that I wasn’t able to before. I love it for my face, the back of my neck, and the parts of my back that I can reach. Now I’m about to try it on my knees and elbows!

Of course you can have clean, beautiful skin with the use of great cleansers and topical exfoliants and an old fashioned face brush, but the Clarisonic has helped me deep clean my skin, exfoliate the flaky, dead layers, and has pretty much eliminated the blackheads I used to be plagued with on my nose and chin. It’s the single most popular at-home beauty device for good reason. It isn’t cheap, but it works. Click here to buy if you’ve been meaning to get one for a while.