Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Product Review - Mario Badescu

After reading rave online reviews on this skincare line, and seeing their superlong list of celebrity clientele (including Jenifer Aniston, cast of 'The O.C., and cast of 'sex and the city'), I had to give it a try. Their products are moderately priced (around £9-£15 for a cleanser), which I found pleasantly surprising for a celebrity loved brand.


I bought the:
Orange cleansing soap
Aloe Lotion
Hyaluronic moisturizer SPF 15


This review is based on my personal opinion, and may not reflect those of others!


Orange Cleansing Soap - all skin types

In contradiction to its name, this is a soap free cleanser. It has a creamy consistency and has a pleasant 'old school' type soap smell.

Pros:
  • Like the rest of the Mario Badescu skincare range, this product has a relatively short ingredients list. I like that they've kept things nice and simple!

  • Really good at removing makeup

  • Does not break out my sensitive skin (harsh products can cause me to break out in a rash)
  • Left my face feeling fresh and clean

Cons:

  • I found it hard to squeeze the product out of the bottle

All in all, a good product. Nothing terribly exciting, but it does the job. Gentle enough for my sensitive skin, yet thorougly cleanses



Aloe Lotion - normal to conbination, sensitive skin

A mild toner that soothes irritation while disinfecting and deep cleansing the skin


Pros:

  • I found that it does indeed soothe my skin

  • Removes all traces of cleanser

  • Left skin feeling very fresh

  • Amazingly short ingredients list (5 ingredients including aloe leaf juice and magnolia flower extract)

Cons:

  • Sadly this short ingredients list includes alcohol (the jury's still out on whether alcohol containing toners are bad for the skin, but I generaly keep my skin away from alcohol based toners
  • slight alcohol scent

Apart from the whole alcohol thing, this is a great toner. I really like how clean it makes my skin feel (though that's probably attributed to the alcohol). I would definately repurchase if it didn't contain the alcohol


Hyaluronic moisturizer SPF 15 - combination, dry & sensitive skin

A moisture retaining lotion with moderate sun protection. Spreadable, cream texture with a subtle neutral scent

Pros:

  • Small, easy to carry bottle
  • Long lasting, a little goes a long way!
  • Contains SPF
  • Did not cause my sensitive skin to break out

Cons:

  • Contains mineral oil (may act as a comedogenic substance - could clog pores)

A good basic moisturizer gentle enough for my skin. I didn't find this amazingly spectacular and probably would not repurchase.

Overall I find these Mario Badescu products really good. I didn't find it amazing though, and did not fall in love with the products. As for the celebrity following, maybe I need to use these products for longer to see its true benefits.

lip swatches

whenever I'm shopping for makeup online, I like to check out how they look like on. So i thought I'll start putting some lip swatches up too. Here is a mini review of By Terry Gloss Delectation

L-R: 9 plum berry, 5 raspberry split



Product description:

  • bursting with antioxidant, multi-protective, replenishing extracts of cherry pit oil, plum and strawberry butter
  • guaruntee immediate hydration, volume and glow

my natural lip colur:

with 9 plum berry:
with 5 raspberry split:this is the colour *loved* by the sales assistants in space.nk. Everytime I'm in the store, I see them re-applying this. Somehow it looks alot more vibrant on them than it does on me in this pic.


I found both colours strong and vibrant. The consistency was pretty thick and long lasting, but not too sticky, and the taste was nice and subtly sweet.

I also found that they made my lips look fuller.

Cons: the price

Hope you found this review useful!