Thursday, March 20, 2008

The case of the mysterious ingredients: Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel


My original plan for today was a review of another cleanser. A pretty good one, actually. But the list of ingredients ended up annoying me, and besides, lately I've gone back to using an old standby, Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel. I've been using it on and off for nearly four years and it never disappoints. It removes layers of makeup, sweat and city gunk, doesn't make my skin feel stripped or parched and has a short and sweet list of ingredients, if you don't mind a little paraben with your papaya. From the Mario Badescu web site:




Deionized Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Papaya (Carica Papaya Fruit) Extract,
Grapefruit (Citrus Grandis Fruit) Extract, Monomide, Triethanolamine,
Methylparaben

They don't list which monomide is used here (monomides are stabilizers for detergents that are water-based and contain over 10% of materials that tend to decompose. In other words: a preservative, just like our friend, methylparaben). The other chemical here is used to balance the gel's pH.

Something that isn't listed here is fragrance. However, what I smell from my bottle is neither papaya nor grapefruit. I like this cleanser a lot, but I'm beginning to suspect that the gel contains a bit more than meets the eye, and it bothers me. I sent an inquiry to the Mario Badescu people, so hopefully I'll know more soon, and so will you.

Mario Badescu is a NYC salon and spa. Their products are available at Nordstrom, Henri Bendel and Fred Segal and several locations worldwide. I originally got some free samples years ago, long before starting this blog and have kept buying from them ever since.

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