In which I rave about Mario Badescu

A year and a half ago my skin got out of hand. It was a combination of hormonal crap and my trusted Clinique 1-2-3 (that I’ve been using for six years at that point) not working all of a sudden. So I tried other brands. I tried Lancôme, I tried Kiehl’s and every sample of any quality product I could get my paws on. Things (and my face) were getting really ugly, until a brown envelope landed in my mailbox.

Several months before I found myself on the Mario Badescu website filling their questionnaire and promptly forgetting about it. The envelope contained samples of products they recommended personally for me (with a handwritten consultation card and a personal letter). They sent me cleanser, toner, gentle scrub, calming mask, moisturizer and eye cream. Within a week of using that I could see dramatic results. My skin was beginning to clear and it felt like everything was on the mend. I made my order before the samples ran out and haven’t looked back (much) since.

I’m still using their enzyme cleanser and two of the toners: the aloe lotion and the glycolic lotion. The honey-almond scrub is nice, but not as effective as I’d like it to be. I’m still looking for the perfect one (that would be a separate post). I’m alternating between several of their masks, for cleaning, calming and hydrating (but also use something from Bliss every now and then).

As for moisturizers: The herbal eye cream is nice. It’s not very “active” and I’m starting to feel a need for something more dramatic. I might check their other offerings soon. The aloe moisturizer (SPF 15) is good and effective in the same way that my old Clinique DDML used to be- like letting my skin have a drink of water, which makes it a) feel good b) receptive to other creams and products I load on it. My husband likes it too.

The other creams I use are the Ginseng-moist cream (on the web site it hides inside the Protective Creams category).

But the really important point of this post is their Seaweed Night Cream. As far as I can tell this stuff is pure magic. It hydrates my skin even on the most parched winter days, it calms and it makes discomfort go away. I use it at night, for plain trips, after sun exposure and whenever I feel a need for something extra. One day I might graduate to La Mer or other heavy guns, but for now, this is the best cream I’ve come across.