ProductWhores

Body Soap I Can Live Without

I love flowers in vases and in fields and in gardens and I even like drawing them on paper during especially boring meetings.  What I don't love is flower scented body products.  A.H.A. Botanical Body Soap by Mario Badescu wasn't just disappointing because it smelled somewhat of wild flowers (and I say "somewhat" because it wasn't even flowery-enough for people who do like flowers), but because it also didn't leave my skin feeling soft nor exfoliated at all.  It picks up quite a lather, but that's about as far as I can go with my praise.  I spent the whole time I was loofah-ing (yes, I just made that a verb) wondering if I was going to be stuck with the nasty scent on my skin all day.  Answer to that, the scent goes away soon after you step out the shower.  So, even if you are a fan of flowery soap, you'll be disappointed at the staying-power of this stuff.  You're better off hitting up BBW and buying one of their flowery shower gels - at least you know your skin will actually be soft and smell like whatever wild plants you want it to.

Hair Tangling Conditioner

Mario Badescu really needs to stick to face care products.  I just tried the Hair Rinsing Conditioner and I have to say it is, hands down, the worst conditioner I've ever tried.  No conditioning whatsoever.  They claim that the conditioner gets out tangles in all hair types and eliminates dryness.  Clearly whoever wrote that up had not tried this product.  Either that or the person has little to no hair.  This conditioner actually made my hair so tangled I had to slather on twice the amount of leave-in conditioner I usually use.  Aside from the sheer lack of conditioning, it doesn't even smell that good and is runnier than I like my conditioners to be.  All around a horrible product.  Sorry, Mario, I really hate to speak so badly of you, but for this money I would've rather bought a pizza.

Scrub a dub dub

I love strawberries.  On ice cream, in salads, by themselves, it doesn't matter because I just love them.  I even made my brother's girlfriend buy me a cute stuffed seal dressed as a strawberry when she was in Japan.  Anyway, enough about my boring obsession.  The real point here is that I had to try Mario Badescu's Strawberry Face Scrub and it was love at first scrub.  The exfoliator smells of fresh strawberries and actual strawberry seeds do the exfoliating for you.  (Who knew my beloved strawberries could handle that task.)  While the scrub may not feel like it's sloughing off dead skin, after using the scrub for a week I noticed a big difference in the texture of my skin.  My face looks and feels fabulous and I owe it all to the deliciously sweet strawberry - oh, and I suppose to my bud Mario.  So you can eat strawberries and make your skin soft?  The wonder fruit truly is a multi-tasker.  I'd like to see a tangerine try that one.  Yeah, I didn't think so.

Super Mario

The name Mario will always remind me of two things - the summer I spent glued to my television set trying to solve Super Mario Bros. and "Saved By the Bell's" A.C. Slater, AKA Mario Lopez. Sad as it is, those are my points of reference. So I guess it's good that Mario Badescu exists because it gives me another Mario to add to my strange little list. One of my favorite products that he makes is the Facial Spray With Aloe, Herbs And Rosewater. It's a portable little spray that refreshes and rehyrdates your skin whenever you spritz it on. It's perfect - it doesn't mess up your makeup, it smells good and it's a great little pick me up when you're walking around (or sitting in smoggy L.A. traffic). I sprayed it on my sunburned face in Costa Rica (when I wasn't slathering it with aloe) and it really helped, but it's also great in my daily life. It comes in two sizes, 4 ounces and 8 ounces, so you can throw the smaller one in your purse and keep the bigger one in your bathroom. And it's cheap too - the sizes are only $7 and $12, so it won't break the bank like those other refresher sprays. (Yeah, Evian, I'm talking about you. It's shocking how much they charge for what's literally water with a spray nozzle). Just make sure when you spritz the facial spray on, you keep your mouth closed. It sounds obvious, but I've accidentally swallowed it a few times and it's not the most pleasant drink in the world. It still tastes better than Red Bull though. That stuff is just nasty.

No More Oil

I love Mario Badescu. Their (or is it his? Is this Mario a real person? These are the things I think about late at night when I can't sleep, people. it's sad, I know) drying lotion is one of the best inventions of the twentieth century, as far as I'm concerned. So when my fellow ProductWhore gave me a bottle of their Eye Make-Up Remover Gel (Non-oily) to try with the disclaimer that she hated it, I was just excited to get the free product. I figured surely I could find something to like about it. Yeah... I was wrong. It pretty much failed me in every category. It did remove my eye makeup, but it took multiple cotton pads, as opposed to the one my normal remover needs. Plus, I'm pretty sure that all the rubbing I had to do to get my mascara off gave me wrinkles around my eyes. (Either that or I'm getting older and I refuse to believe that could be true). And if this is their version of non-oily makeup remover, I'd hate to try their full oil version because this stuff is slippery. It stayed on my face until I took it off with soap and water, and even then, I was still sliding around on my pillow when I got into bed. All in all, I think this only proved to me how strong my love affair with my trusty Neutrogena eye makeup remover is. Even if I get bored and feel like straying, I promise I won't ever cheat on it again.

Not Scrub-y Enough

While I’m a huge fan of Mario Badescu, the Almond And Honey Non-Abrasive Face Scrub is one of their products that I’m not psyched about.  I understand that it’s made for sensitive skin and that it’s supposed to be a gentle exfoliant, but I hardly feel any sloughing at all when I use it.  Unless I position the cream exactly on my nose, to where the almond pieces do their work on my blackheads, I usually feel nothing when I use it on my face.  I’ve been using it religiously for a month now and, while my face is very soft, it was just as soft before I started using this product (because of their Orange Cleanser and Collagen Moisturizer).  Therefore, you can do the math:  Almond and Honey product not useful.  They do offer other exfoliators that I’m going to try.  Hopefully one of them will actually help decrease the nastiness on my nose.  I wonder if blackheads could be genetic?  If so, I have a phonecall to place to my mom. 

Rolling with Cream Peel

I have to start off by saying that I have a passionate love affair with Mario Badescu.  The day that Mario made his way into my bathroom, has to be my face’s favorite day.  Never before has my skin been so soft, glowing and clear.  He has even helped me to get a good stronghold on those damn blackheads that infest my nose!  I decided to try his Rolling Cream Peel with A.H.A. and for the first time, I have mixed feelings about a Mario product.  The instructions are very simple:  After cleansing your face, rinse and pat dry.  Then you are to apply a thin layer of this cream and massage until tiny rolls appear.  Remove the remainder of the residue with a toner.  I followed exactly what Mario wanted me to do and upon applying the thin layer I found myself having to massage my skin FOREVER.  Seriously it was as if time stood still until I saw the rolls appear.  Actually, as I was massaging I was thinking about how it takes about the same amount of time for stovetop pudding to bubble.  (big shocker, I had food on the brain)  Anyways, when the rolls finally started happening I quickly realized I had better get my face over the sink because little clumps of the stuff was falling all over the floor.  Also, my fingers were a bit tired and raw from all the massaging, so overall not the most pleasant face-scrubbing experience.  The after effects of this cream are great – my skin is very soft and looks fabulous – however, I got the same results from using their face scrub.  So, to avoid the mess, the waste of time and the raw fingers, I would stick to just using their scrub.  Then, with all the time I’ve saved, I can go make my chocolate pudding.  Yum, chocolate pudding.