This is an epic product. My entire life I’ve heard that it worked wonders. As a young teen, I saw it advertised in the back of zillions of fashion mags. Even as a young teen, I had my doubts. Nothing could “shrink” zits. Right? Well, as an adult I’m finally using this product after hearing tons of beauty bloggers and beauty editors rave about this “magic” pink brew.
Mario Badescu looks and smells like a witches brew. It is a “gross” mix of ingredients: a alcohol, calamine, camphor, colloidal sulfur, salicylic acid, and a few other things. The “pink” stays on the bottom and the “oil” rests on top. This product isn’t visually or olfactory pleasing. The smell is really gross. It’s nose hair singing alcohol and camphor. The dry-down is sulfur. A product this gross could only be around so long only if it worked, right? Well, maybe the answer is yes, because this product has a cult following.
I have normal skin. It is usually happy. My skin rarely breakouts. I’m not bragging. I’m telling the truth. When my skin does breakout, I feel it is something that I couldn’t have predicted or prevented. However, I do get blemishes and they piss me off. Mario Badescu Drying Lotion does nothing for “those” blemishes, you know, the ones that are just unproductive and “there until they want to leave” blemishes. However, Mario Badescu Drying Lotion has worked wonders on ingrown hairs. My heritage makes me hairy; I apologist for the TMI. I wax and tweeze frequently. And this pisses my skin off. I’m too familiar with ingrowns. MB Drying Lotion helps with that. I believe it’s the salicylic acid that helps me. The company Mario Badescu recommend this product for whiteheads, I rarely get those. I’m not the “ideal” person for this product.
This formula other than smelling gross, looks gross. I dip a cotton swab in the mix. Resist the urge to shake the mixture! I apply the pink lotion to my blemishes. This, of course, is less than sexy. I don’t care what you choose to wear in your boudoir; you are going to look quite silly with pink dots on your problem areas!
I like Mario Badescu Drying Lotion. I don’t use it very often since it drys my skin out big time. I only use it on spots that I know can be sped up by this stinky wonder lotion such as white heads and ingrown hairs. I do not use it on those small, “gonna budge when I want to” blemishes. MB Drying Lotion does nothing for them. I had <meh> results using this product but I know other people that love it. It seems to work for them. If you have used this product before, what do you think?
A 1 oz. bottle retails for $17 at Mario Badescu Skin Care. Being a spot treatment, you don’t use too much of it.
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Clumps of Mascara (Brittany is so much more braver than me, showing pics on how the product is use!)
I love this product, actually. I used it a long time ago, and it was really effective on precisely the type of blemish you describe. It did have a tendency to dry out and leave gross skin crusts, which is why I think I stopped using it.
Now I use Avene Diacneal and elf Zit Zapper. An odd combination of really expensive and really cheap products that works well.
I feel like the elf zapper is similar to the MB lotion, only in rollerball form.
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I know many people that love this stuff, I don’t think it is “right” for me. The Avene that you use was recommended to me but I’m always hesitant to buy expensive skincare without sampling first.
Thanks for sharing the e.l.f. info. Somebody that likes the MB may be happy to know that there is an even cheaper product available 🙂
This has way too many irritating ingredients for me to even consider using for breakouts or ingrowns (I also have a hairy heritage).
If you’re looking for an effective, inexpensive salicylic acid (BHA) I’d suggest Neutrogena 3-in-1 Hydrating Acne Treatment in their Acne Stress Control line. It has the correct ph to actually exfoliate and no irritating ingredients. I found it through a recommendation from Paula Begoun’s Beautypedia website (no affiliation) and have been very happy.
In May, after my b-day and after deciding I’m now serious about skincare, I accidentally joined the cult of Paula Begoun. Her recommendations and house products changed my skin’s life. Her website is a valuable resource. I use it anytime before purchasing a skincare product.
As far as my ingrowns, I’m having the best results from Paula’s Choice 2% BHA liquid. I use that on my chin nightly. It got rid of the problem and is now preventing the problem even if I have a hairy heritage 😉 I will look into the Neutrogena for those random blemishes that appear without warning.
Thank you so much for the love, darling! I am soooo in love with this Drying Lotion. In fact, it’s time to scoop up more!
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