I’m human. I make my fair share of mistakes. 🙁
As a blogger who does reviews I receive a lot of items throughout the course of a year to review. I’m very diligent about keeping my spreadsheets up to date. Every now and then something slips by “under the radar” and I don’t realize it until long after I should have posted something. Such is the case with my review for some Mario Badescu products that I was sent to review. So this review is a long time coming. Since I received the products months ago I no longer have the bottles to take pictures of (I checked the cabinets and they are all gone). My husband and children used them too and once done with them they recycled the bottles.
First let me give you a little background about Mario Badescu. I feel it’s important to know this information so you can understand the products better.
Mario Badescu Skin Care is a 46-year-old luxury skin care line founded by the late, Romanian-born Mario Badescu. Mario Badescu spent many years developing and testing his innovative products before opening his iconic Manhattan-based salon. Today, Mario Badescu Skin Care produces some of the finest botanically-based skin care products in the world. Sold online and in high-end department stores and beauty boutiques, this highly respected, international brand still continues to hinge its reputation on providing the same type of customized, personalized treatment and care that made Mario Badescu’s salon famous nearly 50 years ago.
At Mario Badescu Skin Care, a complete, personalized skin care program is customized for each client—whether through our online skin analysis, over the counter, or at our salon. Putting their skin in our hands means that clients receive the exact skin care products necessary for their particular skin type and concerns. We ensure that each client gets exactly what their skin needs and with the most effective, gentle ingredients possible, including fruit extracts, seaweed, high quality vitamin oils, aloe vera, chamomile, and caviar.
Despite that Mario Badescu Skin Care is now a world-famous, international brand, the company will never allow itself to lose the personal customer service for which it has become famous.
What stood out to me the most what that they used effective and gentle ingredients that were “natural” such as seaweed, fruit extracts and even caviar. I’m all for natural products, the more natural the better.
I was sent the following products to review.
- All Purpose Egg Shampoo
- Hair Rinsing Conditioner
- Pre-Shave Conditioner
- Shaving Cream
- Protein After Shave Lotion
- Enzyme Cleansing Gel
- Special Cucumber Lotion
- Drying Lotion Oil Free Moisturizer SPF 30
As I mentioned in the beginning of my post, this review should have been done a long time ago, so the products are not as fresh in my mind as they should be, but a few of them I certainly remember and won’t soon forget.
I specifically requested the All Purpose Egg Shampoo. Growing up my mom used to always buy an egg shampoo to use in my hair when I was a little girl. I thought it was made by Landers, but I’m not sure. They stopped making the shampoo a long time ago. After it was discontinued my mom would use real eggs in my hair. They left my hair feeling super soft and shiny. The only problem with real eggs is that if you don’t rinse them out completely your hair can look (and feel) greasy.
When I heard that Mario Badescu had egg shampoo I was excited to give it a try. Just like the shampoo I remember from my youth, the Mario Badescu left my hair very soft and shiny. I guess it has to to with the protein in the eggs. I loved how my hair was touchably soft. I found myself constantly running my fingers through my hair.
Along with the All Purpose Egg Shampoo I also received a Hair Rinsing Conditioner. It has a really pleasant scent (I do remember that about the product). You can use it as a daily conditioner or leave it in for up to 30 minutes for a deep conditioning. I only used it as a daily conditioner. I like that it was very light weight and didn’t weigh my hair down. I have very thick and course hair and it handled my hair very well. I think it would be fine for all hair types.
My husband was the recipient of the Pre-Shave Conditioner, Shaving Cream and Protein After Shave Lotion. As per my husband, he didn’t really notice much of a difference using the Pre-Shave Conditioner. It’s suppose to condition your facial hair to prepare it to be shaved. It’s also suppose to help soften facial hair. My husband have VERY course and thick facial hair. He said that he didn’t notice any difference using the Pre-Shave Conditioner. He said his facial hair remained the same.
He did say he liked the shaving cream. It’s not foam or gel, but an actual cream. My husband said the razor gently glided across his skin and he didn’t have any nicks like he often does. Often when he shaves his face feels raw and sore (he often says it feels like he shaved using sandpaper). With this Mario Badescu shaving cream his face felt soft and conditioned. Even after he rinsed it off his face he said he loved the way his skin felt.
My husband also used the Protein After Shave Lotion. He said he re-inforced the feeling his skin had after he shaved with he shaving cream. He said the lotion was soothing and left his skin soft. My husband also has breaks out from time to time and this did not aggravate his skin or cause break outs.
My kids were the ones that used the Enzyme Cleansing Gel, Special Cucumber Lotion and Drying Lotion Oil Free Moisturizer SPF 30. Both of my kids deal with frequent break outs (compliments of out of control teenage hormones). We’ve tried so many different products to help keep their break outs under control. Some products work, others don’t. I can’t tell you how many products don’t work.
To be honest with you, I personally didn’t use these products, nor did my husband. My kids did. My kids don’t remember anything about them. 🙁 I asked both of them if they remembered them and they didn’t. Since I didn’t personally use them I am unable to make any comments or assumptions about them. I have to apologize for being unable to give you a review on these products. Please note that Mario Badescu offers several acne related products.
I believe we’ve used the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion before. It wasn’t a part of this review but I KNOW we’ve used this product before. It works great for pimples. Simply dab a little bit of the product on a pimple using a Q-tip and let it dry. Usually it only takes 1-2 tries and it dries up the pimple. We (my kids and I) use it at night so when we wake up the morning the pimple has reduced in size and dries up. Be forewarned though, use it sparingly and don’t over use it because it will dry up your skin and you’ll have a dry patch where you used the product. It really does help to get rid of pimples quickly.
In addition to these products Mario Badescu offers night creams, bath & body products, sun products, masks, moisturizers and much more.
One thing you might notice about the packaging is that it’s very simple. It almost looks like packaging you’d find on home made products. In fact my husband was a bit “iffy” about even trying the products because he thought they were hand made/home made. There is a good reason for the simple packaging. Mario Badescu uses simple packaging because they rather focus on the products themselves and not the packaging. Often companies spend way too much time and effort creating packaging with all the “bells and whistles” instead of focusing on the product it’s self. You are buying the products for the product it’s self – not the packaging – so why focus on the packaging?
If you are interested in learning more about the products and seeing what else Mario Badescu offers visit www.MarioBadescu.com. You can also find them on Facebook and on Twitter.
Kimberly
*I received free product samples in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way.
Rachel says
I have heard of these before but never tried them. I have really dry skin during the winter and this sounds like a perfect solution.