it's a mehhh marrrio!!!!

Hey guyys!! Finally a real post whoo hoo. Sorry I've been gone and blegh I'm not so sure how well this post is going to work out since my semi-slow computer makes my life a little difficult. But it can't help it that it's the size of two iphones put together. le sigh. SOOO first off let's start with my recent procurement of Mario Badescu products. I followed everybody's advice namely Francesca and went to http://www.mariobadescu.com/ and filled out their consulting questionnaire and true to form they sent me a small trial set of things including: enzyme cleansing gel, special cleansing lotion "c", collagen moisturizer, ceramide eye gel, drying mask, and drying cream. So from there I ordered the full size of the enzyme cleansing gel, special cleansing lotion, drying cream and two other recommended products that didn't have samples drying lotion and buffering lotion. ANDDD with each purchase of mario badescu you get three more supple sized samples and I chose caviar night cream, strawberry face scrub, and cucumber toner mask. I loved all the products but there are reasons why I chose not to get the full size moisturizer, eye gel, and drying mask. But let's start with the good:

Their words:
Enzyme Cleansing Gel: Our Best Selling Daily Cleanser. This non-foaming, gel cleanser thoroughly removes the day’s make-up, dirt and oil without drying the skin. Papaya and Grapefruit Extracts are exfoliating Alpha Hydroxy Acids that help prevent dulling build-up that can cause blackheads and pimples.
Ingredients: Deionized Water (Aqua), Glycerin, Papaya (Carica Papaya Fruit) Extract, Grapefruit (Citrus Grandis Fruit) Extract, Monomide, Triethanolamine, Methylparaben
Good for these Skin Types:All Types

My words:

Basically I don't care how my cleanser works be it foam, gel, liquids whatevs my biggest thing is how my skin feels afterwards. And this stuff made my face feel... balanced. Which is HUGE for me.. I always feel dry here and oily there and weirdly yucky in between. I liked how this worked for me and I felt clean but like the gel went further than cleaning, it balanced out my face. Plus i love how there's only seven ingredients. whoohoo.

$12.00 for the 8 oz jug. Pretty decent size since a little goes a long ways.

Their words:
Special Cleansing Lotion "C": Our Special Acne, Oil Controlling Formula with Sulfur is an aggressive astringent that will cleanse the skin of surface greasiness. One of our best acne fighting products that deep cleans, disinfects and dries up acne affected, oily skin and removes build-up that may cause future pimples.
Ingredients: Deionized Water (Aqua), Isopropyl Alcohol, Camphor, Sodium Sulfate, Cucumber (Cucumis Sativus Fruit) Extract, Gum Benzoin, Nonoxynol-9, Boric Acid
Good for these Skin Types:Combination, Oily

My words:

So upon reading aggressive, astringent, sulfur, disinfects, etc... I immediately had bad feelings about this. BUT they were all undeserved because this cleansing lotion... which is a fancy name for toner did not strip away the moisture and make me feel raw in fact it did the opposite. While doing its magical cleansing it still made my skin feel soft afterwards. Me likey!!!!!

$15.00 for an 8 oz jug, also easy to make last a long while.

Their words:
Drying Cream: Acne cream that conceals! Drying Cream is an effective treatment to dry up small under the surface bumps and pimples. Just a few dabs smoothed on the erupted areas prevent pimples from getting larger and spreading out of control. Aloe rich cream conceals and heals erupted pimples.
Ingredients: Deionized Water, Zinc Oxide, Aloe, Beeswax, Cetyl Alcohol, Lemon Extract, Colloidal Sulfur, Ervol, Octyl Palmitate, Ichthammol, Polysorbate 80, Titanium Dioxide, Polyglycerylmethacrylate (and) Propylene Glycol
Good for these Skin Types:Combination, Oily

My Words:

i LOVE this stuff. it's a spot treatment that you can apply night and day to your pimples and the color conveniently tones down the redness so that it works while being concealed. You can apply make up over it or not. This stuff works really well to alleviate the pimple's pain and get it healing quickly!!!

$12.00 for 0.5 oz jar which is decent sized and will definitely last me a hell of a long time especially if the other stuff keeps working as effectively there won't be as many pimple to cover!!!!

Their words:
Drying Lotion: Our best selling Pimple Healer, Drying Lotion is an excellent Acne spot treatment made with a blend of Calamine and Salicylic Acid to clear up and soothe unsightly whiteheads overnight. A dab of this lotion will heal and dry pimples quickly.
Ingredients: Isopropyl Alcohol, Deionized Water (Aqua), Calamine, Camphor, Colloidal Sulfur, Salicylic Acid, Glycerine, Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Talc
Good for these Skin Types:All Types

My Words:

So I just got this stuff last night so I'm not sure how effective it is but I can already feel it working. It's for white headed pimples and I only had one of those tonight to apply this lotion on to but boy did it burn like hell. For the first five seconds I thought it was pretty painful. But I'll update on these results. It's kind of hard to use as you're not supposed to mix it up like I did on accident... when it settles it looks like this:

and you're supposed to get a q-tip and basically only use the pink stuff(calamine lotion) while soaking it up in the oil layer first but damn that's a pain. We'll see how much I like it and if it was worth the $17.00 I know it sure will last a while except maybe if I keep wasting it by getting too much out on my q-tip. Slight design flaw there Mario. You may need to consult Luigi on this one... or better yet Princess Toadstool. (... I need to go to sleep lol)

Their words:
Buffering Lotion: Specifically designed to treat deep, cystic blemishes. Sulfur based solution allows the lotion to be quickly absorbed into the skin, treating the source of the deeply rooted pimples. Excellent acne treatment containing Allantoin to calm and soothe inflammation and promote healing. Best when used before and after Drying Mask.
Ingredients: Deionized Water, Isopropyl Alcohol, Sodium Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Hydrolyzed Serum Protein, Hydrolyzed Yeast Protein, Pyridoxine, Niacinamide, Panthenol, Propylene Glycol, Allantoin, Biotin
Good for these Skin Types:Combination, Oily

My words:
I'll admit I'm a lil' iffy on this one just because cystic pimples tend to kick my ass. I get a lot of them from stress and lack of sleep so I'm hoping to the beauty goddesses that this one works. I've only got it today so I tried it on my four... yes FOUR cystic pimples, and it's also for breakout areas so the mini breakout area on my cheek too. and uhm... its oily. ... Yeah i know that was my first reaction too. I'll trust Mario on this one and we'll check back in a few days to let you know. This one was also 17$ for a 1 oz jar.

My samples!!!
Strawberry Face Scrub is the only one I've used so far. I used it tonight to wash my face and it smelt delicious and it felt really soft too while still exfoliative (if that's a word which it probably isn't). So I'll just put up the website's descriptions:
Strawberry Face Scrub:
Made with real Strawberry seeds that gently buff away flaky skin while natural AHA’s break down dulling build-up to unclog pores and prevent blackheads. It improves skin's overall texture by revealing healthy, glowing skin.
Ingredients: Deionized Water, Stearic Acid, Strawberry Extract, Seamollient, Propylene Glycol Dipelargonate, Polyglycol Ester, Myristate DEA
Good for these Skin Types:All Types
$15.00 for 4 oz
Cucumber Tonic Mask:
Purify and tighten pores with this cooling, refreshing, mask. Made with soothing Cucumber Extract and oil absorbing clays. For maintenance on normal, combination and oily skin, this mask keeps skin looking smooth and healthy.
Ingredients: Deionized Water, Kaolin, PVP, Wheat Starch, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Sorbitol, Polysorbate 80, Cucumber Extract
Good for these Skin Types:Combination, Oily, Sensitive
$18.00 for 2 oz
Caviar Night Cream:
Luxurious blends of protein-rich Caviar Extract and Cocoa Butter create this moisture replenishing night cream that is Collagen enriched to help preserve skin’s firmness and elasticity.
Ingredients: Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Polyglycerylmethacrylate, Ceresin, Sonojell, Cholesterol, Ceteareth-20, Beeswax, Stearic Acid, Deionized Water, Dimethicone, Collagen, Actigen of Caviar, Cocoa Butter, BHA, Propylparaben, Cetyl Alcohol, RNA, Methylparaben, Imidazolidinyl Urea
Good for these Skin Types:Dry, Sensitive
$20.00 for 1 oz.

Also for the Holidays, Mario gave every customer who ordered something over some amount of money a holiday gift bag. See, when I ordered I didn't know about this so when I got this I was very pleasantly surprised. :) And it was quite generous too.

They came in a little green travel bag that was pretty cute

And I got Seaweed Cleansing Lotion which I tried tonight and it smells fresh and is basically a toner but also didnt strip my natural oils away but made me feel clean too :).
This is a non-drying, non-alcohol toner that cleans and disinfects dry and sensitive skin. Mild Witch Hazel formula removes pore clogging debris and anti-inflammatory Seaweed and Aloe Extract soothe sensitive areas.
Ingredients: Deionized Water (Aqua), Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice) Gel, Bladderwrack (Fucus Vesiculosus) Extract, Witch Hazel (Hamamelis Virginiana Distillate), Seamollient (Algae Extract)
Good for these Skin Types:Combination, Dry, Sensitive
Super Rich Olive Body Lotion:
Creamy, rich, Olive Oil based lotion restores lost moisture and leaves the skin feeling soft and silky without being greasy. Quickly absorbing with minimal fragrance so it is perfect for both men and women. A must after bath or sun to revitalize dry skin.
Ingredients: Deionized Water, Olive Oil, Stearic Acid, Isopropyl Myristate, Cetyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Quaternium-60, Oleth 3, Triethanolamine, Propylene Glycol, Imidazolidinyl Urea, Propylparaben, Sodium Benzoate, Quaternium-15
Good for these Skin Types:All Types
and the enzyme cleansing gel I already have but now I have a travel size too!! Yay for me :)

All in all, I really enjoyed shopping with Mario Badescu. Yeah their prices were a lil' hefty but really? can anyone put a real price on beauty? lol. I think their prices are well worth it except for these lil' ones: The collagen moisturizer I don't think was worth the price. It has SPF 15 but my Hope in a Jar has 20 and after a week's worth of the collagen I still loved my Hope better so I decided not to waste the 22$ for 2 oz. Also I didn't get the ceramide eye gel not because I don't like it, in fact I do, it's reduced my dark circles a little bit each night. But I didn't get it because when they sent me a sample, they sent enough to lastme quite awhile!!!! It's just... I use the gel every night aruond my eyes but you know how it is with eye creams and gels... you only use a little bit. As for the drying mask. Holy cow that was some intense stuff. I didn't think my face could handle even once-a-week of that stuff. It was extremely drying. So if you don't mind that check it out!!!

oh p.s. the current loves of my life:

Kkotboda namja: based off the japanese manga hana yori dangoo and there was also a taiwanese remake called meteor garden, both of which I've never watched but I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IN LOVE with this show. I am ADDICTED +++++ some. Especially since I love Kim Hyun Joong. Ever since "we got married" I can't get enough of him. If you havent checked out this drama yet I insist you'll love it. It's on youtube.com. This user ratoka26 has eng subs. Check it out!! And...:

I am in love with Edward Cullen. sometimes I hate bella bbut right now I'm in love with this series. I read the first three books in three days. I could not put it down to go to sleep let alone my classes. I know bad bad bad!!! But oh so good too I'm reading Breaking Dawn this weekend and I am tooo excited. I haven't seen the movie yet but that's how I am. I love reading books first so the movies can't screw up my conceptions of the characters and how I want them to look and be.

Anywhooo, time for sleep!!!! Have a good weekend ladies and gents.