Mario Badescu Skin Care Range Review


Here's a review on Mario Badescu's skin care range.

Price: Botanical Cleanser- Around P700.00+; Special Cucumber Lotion- Around P900.00+; Drying Lotion- P1,195.00; Oil- Free Moisturizer SPF 30- Around P1,700.00; Silver Powder- P745.00
Bought From: Silver Powder and Oil- Free Moisturizer were sent for a review; Cleanser, Toner, and Drying Lotion are from Essences, Powerplant Mall
Available in: Rustan's malls

THE VERDICT:


I don't know what really pushed me to try Mario Badescu, but whatever reason it was, it was divinely guided as I have found perhaps THE BEST acne solution there is. A lot of my friends in the beauty industry kept recommending this line to me and truly, they weren't doing so for no reason! And now I am one of its patrons and I would always recommend it to a lot of my friends who are suffering from pimples. In fact, I recommended it just recently to a friend of mine's sister, and she loves it too-she said that it treated her pimples fast and lightened some marks too!

MARIO BADESCU SKIN CARE RANGE IN DETAIL

Mario Badescu is world- famous for his simple skin care range that targets the most common skin problem in the world: Acne. His products are made with select ingredients and tried and tested formulations. Celebrities and regular consumers alike are fans of his skin care range. Mario's products, as I've observed, utilizes Salicylic Acid, which is perhaps the most powerful anti-acne ingredient in the world, along with Cucumber, Aloe Vera, and Kaolin to name a few, some of the products that address other skin irritations that come along with acne such as redness, dryness, and roughness.

I've the cleanser, toner, moisturizer, the ever popular drying lotion, and the silver powder so click READ MORE to read my journey with this fabulous brand!


Mario Badescu has different products depending on your skin type, but they all address acne. There are products for extremely oily skin and combination normal/oily skin, but I don't really remember if they have something for dry skin. There are also treatments that address anti- aging and chicken skin (Keratoplast line).

I got the following products for combination normal/oily skin-even if my skin can get really oily, I don't want to lose a precious amount of sebum because it keeps my skin moisturized, naturally.

Botanical Facial Gel

This is a non- foaming, refreshing, and easy-to-rinse gel that mattifies skin and gives you a cool, clean feeling. It doesn't contain soap ingredients, thus it won't leave your skin dry and taut.

Even if consistency is gel, it's thick and emollient enough to get rid of makeup and dirt residue on skin. It has this fresh floral smell that's so calming and two pea- sized dots would suffice.


Special Cucumber Lotion

This basically a toner, but it's more viscous than an average toner. It smells like cucumber and despite the alcohol content, it is not drying and takes out excess oil. It contains cucumber extracts to kill acne- causing bacteria. This is my favorite toner to date because it's pretty refreshing and gentle enough for the normal parts of my skin, and I really observed that it helped clear out my skin by removing deep- seated dirt. My cotton pad is always dirty when I'm using this product, so yay! This toner always assures me that my skin's genuinely clean before I sleep! :D


The basic cleansing products come in 236ml bottles, which can last for about 2- 2 1/2 months, respectively even if used on a daily basis. The pop- up tube dispenser is so convenient too!

Silver Powder

This is more of a spot treatment product, although consistency is the same as Aztec Healing Clay. I'm not sure if you can use it the same way as the latter though. Basically, it's pure clay powder that you apply using cotton on the clogged areas of your face such as the nose, philtrum, and chin.

I also use it as a spot treatment for my fresh zits because clay has negative charged ions, and it kills the positive ions that bacteria emits. (Oooohh..science!) It is pure and unscented as well.


Ingredients

How do you use it? Wet a piece of cotton, dip in the jar, and apply on the clogged areas of your face.

 Leave it on for around 15 minutes, that's what I do. Afterwards, you will see some white stuff coming out of the areas where you applied it-that's what it does: it pulls out grime, hardened sebum, and dirt so you can scrub 'em away easily with a soft washcloth or your preferred facial scrub, and leaves your face matte and fresh. Personally, I don't feel that it pulls out everything compared to a nose strip. That, or maybe my pores just have too much dirt inside them lol. Best for you if you can't stand the painful feeling from nose strips and if you don't have too much to squeeze out from your pores-it's just a lil' messy to use though!

TIP: Use tea tree oil in lieu of water for more anti-bacterial action!

Oil Free Moisturizer SPF 30

My favorite in the bunch along with the toner! This has a considerable amount of SPF, but it yields zero white cast on the skin.

It's very moisturizing despite the oil- free formula, and it's non- greasy too! It takes a while to set onto the skin, but once you top it with powder, it's fine already. It has a slight green tea smell to it too and is super makeup- friendly!

DRYING LOTION

Now we're down to my most favorite product in the bunch-the famous Drying Lotion! Seriously, this thing works like magic as in it literally dries up small pimples and shrinks huge ones overnight.


You don't use it like your average spot treatments that you squeeze out of the tube and apply on your zits, and it's not like your average spot treatment too. It's a unique dual- phase spot treatment with a pink powder at the base (the main spot treatment) and a beige liquid on top (activator). To use it, just grab a q-tip and dip into the solution to grab some of the pink powder, then proceed to application. Don't shake the bottle!

It yields a stinging sensation that's a little uncomfortable, honestly, but it goes away after a few seconds. If I'm going to use this product, I do so in front of a fan or air-conditioning to minimize the pain lol. The pain's worth it though as it literally banishes my zits in just two to three days (depending on the size of the zit) and leaves me with zero marks and bumps. Aside from clearing out pimples, I also feel that it deep cleans my pores! It also works on skin hives, but I wouldn't advise you to use it on hives caused by allergies!

MARIO BADESCU SKIN CARE RANGE IN ACTION

Here's my skin 3 months after using Mario Badescu. It's considerably clearer now that my makeup looks more flawless and even, thus I don't need to apply a lot anymore. I can even get away with just pressed powder on some days, especially when I don't feel like wearing makeup. I also like that it controls oil, which in turn makes my skin feel fresher and minimizes the risk of clogged pores, but it doesn't completely eradicate it-it leaves me with the right amount of oil that my skin needs. My boyfriend even complimented (who, by the way, is my greatest critic aside from myself) my skin lately and said that it looks even better now!

P.S. You can also purchase Mario Badescu at Sephora.ph.

When you find your match, keep him. In this case, KEEP IT. My skin gets used to skin care products after a month or two and it stops responding then goes back to its sad, sorry state after a few weeks, but I did not experience that with Mario Badescu. My skin got better (although I know there's still room for improvement) and what I really love about it is it helps me maintain nice skin-I get breakouts every now and then, but this line solves that pronto. In fact, it's the only acne solution that my skin responds to even after three months of religious usage. This is for keeps!

What if you stop using it? I have for a month now but you know what? My skin is still okay. Love that it doesn't make my skin dependent on it!

So there goes my journey with Mario Badescu! It's really worth trying if you have acne- prone skin, I'm telling you because it's so affordable and it TRULY MADLY DEEPLY works (at least to me)! I'm off to buy a new set of the same products, and I think I'll be adding a facial scrub and the anti-acne serum in the loot!

MARIO BADESCU SKIN CARE RANGE RATING

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Post a Comment

17 Comments

  1. OMG I NEED TO TRY THIS. I'm prone to pimples and it's really sad that some products, even though how great they are, our skin has a tendency to get overused to those to the point of it not working anymore. I'd personally want to give the toner and Drying Lotion a try. Thanks for sharing this MS. M! very very helpful stuff indeed. <3

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  2. I'm glad my acne has finally subsided, thankfully I now know what products are best suited for my skin after trying hundreds of acne treatment products. I wish Mario Badescu also has a product that particularly addresses dark scars after undergoing acne treatments. I've been hearing about that drying lotion since I was in my tween years. The drying lotion is a hundred peso cheaper than my usual acne gel treatment, thinking of replacing the one that I use asap!!

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  3. Now I want that cucumber lotion too! That's next on my list then.

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  4. Agree, Martha, your skin looks much better now! Yay for Mario Badescu. I love it too and I'm using now the Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion. It's not exactly for acne but more on making my skin look more healthy and radiant :)

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  5. Lei: The drying lotion is a must-have for me! It totally gets rid of pimples. :D

    Genefel: Yay! What I want to try is their keratoplast scrub. :)

    Arian: One of my have toners to date! :D

    Dearkaaat: That's true-wish they'd come up with a spot lightener so I can complete my MB arsenal! :)

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  6. I really want to try this! I've read this brand in a magazine, it's really good for bacne according to the article. Hope it will be available not just in Rustans:( I agree with you Madam, if a product perfectly matches your skin's needs you must cling on it...haha, it's really hard to find the most suitable product for one's skin.

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  7. Interesting.. But VMV spring clearing toner, hands down, cleared up my skin.. Best moisturizer for acne prone skin would be clinique anti blemish solutions. I swear, kutis artista with this combo..

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  8. Interesting.. I also have acne prone skin but my VMV-Clinique combo is so working for me. I use either brand's facial wash, followed by VMV Spring Cleaning Toner and then Clinique's Anti Blemish Solutions Moisturizer.
    I swear, kutis artista with this combo.

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  9. Never heard of this.
    I mean first time to hear this brand from you po.
    But wow the best solution for Acne!
    I will definitely give it a try as I have an acne prone skin.

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  10. Is it even possible that your skin will stop responding to a treatment. Ive been using epiduo for the past 3 months now, it is a benzoyl peroxide. It basically kills bacteria and dries my pimples 3-5days after daily application. But they just keep on returning back again. My face never clears from pimples. I want to change my treatment but everytime I change my treatment plan, a big zit will popped eventually and it will stay there for a month. So I think, Id better try this drying lotion because Ive been seeing this product several times even from other celebrities.

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  11. I've tried the drying lotion before, and it did my skin well. I used to hope it would remove cystic pimples because those were my real emergency skin situations, but of course it doesn't work that way. The sales associates were honest about it naman, but I was just trying to be optimistic. Anyway, for the lesser pimples, this worked wonderfully.

    When I was almost out, I decided to try the Etude House version of the drying lotion. It's still sitting at the back of my closet, but I'll test it out soon.

    If I could try another thing from the Mario Badescu line, it would probably be the silver powder. I find spot treatment products so interesting, and this one is straight out of an old time apothecary because of the way the powder looks!

    --Matromao

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  12. Jen: I think this is now my go-to brand when acne strikes! :D

    Matromao: The drying lotion worked well on my cystic zits though, but it's not an overnight miracle. :) At least it worked! :D

    Zarah: Hope you'll love it as much as I do. :)

    Gem: Hi and welcome to my blog! Thanks for sharing your have skin care products. VMV's anti-acne products are pretty good too, I must say. :)

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  13. Hi there!

    I need your advice on MB. I have been using their products for one month now. And its seems like the product has formed new cystic acne on my cheek and forehead (Never had them before) Is that normal because i thought the skin is only trying to get the oil out. Did it happen to you? Need your advice if i should stop using the products for now. Please reply me! :D

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  14. Hi there!

    I need your advice on MB. I have been using their products for one month now. And its seems like the product has formed new cystic acne on my cheek and forehead (Never had them before) Is that normal because i thought the skin is only trying to get the oil out. Did it happen to you? Need your advice if i should stop using the products for now. Please reply me! :D

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  15. cincincin: yes, it's possible for your skin to stop responding to treatments-I've written about that in a FMF post before. :) There are a lot of factors that cause this such as diet, change in climate, etc. Just read the post so you'll be enlightened. :)

    Cupcake: Hi there and welcome to my blog! Oh no, I believe you should not purge with this line-maybe you should stop using them now and revert to your previous treatment. If the cystic pimples go away a few days after re-using your previous treatment, then most probably, MB's products are the cause of your breakout.

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  16. I feel like I've used all anti-acne products available except for Mario Badescu. I'll really have to give it a go soon and cross my fingers for maximum effects! :)

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  17. Is it necessary to use all their products to achieve the effects? I'm thinking of buying just the drying lotion kasi and your review is definitely convincing me to try it asap!! Hahaha

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Let me know what you think of this post! :)