In my search for acne products I have come across this company based in America. The sampling program they have is wonderful, but awful for us Canadians once we realize how expensive it is here. I was able to get samples of lotions, masks and scrubs which were honestly all amazing. I am not a fan of products like this usually but this company does know what they are doing. The ingredients aren’t perfect, but they also aren’t many which is a score to me. Most products have 20 or more ingredients while this company seems to stick with what they believe they need. They use a lot of natural oils and stuff too.
I decided this brand was worth mentioning because I have really been loving my samples. Not only that, I found a place that shis Mario Badescu products for free to us Canadians! I was really stoked on that because you don’t see that too often. You can also get some of them on Amazon. This makes buying these products a little more feasible because they are already quite expensive. There are other sites I found from Amazon with free shipping, but the prices are more so you are basically still paying for the shipping. (www.fragrancesandcosmeticsco.com and http://www.amazon.ca/s?me=A3BGW6URLT92CN [couldn’t find a site for that one] )
What I received and how I feel about it:
Collagen moisturizer: This stuff is pretty nice but I personally wouldn’t buy it. It seems to tighten the skin a little but I find it too greasy despite it being a thin cream. I have tried the aloe moisturizer and I like it a lot more.
Hyauluric eye cream: I am not big on eye creams and I don’t really understand them but I like this one better than the chamomile because it seems to help when my eyes feel heavy and tired from pressure. The chamomile is nice because it is soothing and a thicker cream.
Drying Cream: I am still not sure how I feel about this stuff. It does seem to help with pressure again, but I am not able to compare it to the drying lotion. It seems silly to have all these drying products as they have very slight differences in ingredients. I am going to be buying calamine lotion and mixing up my own drying something or other and see if that seems to help. That is one if the main ingredients in these drying things so I believe that’s a better option.
Drying mask: I liked it, but again probably wouldn’t actually purchase. It does seem to tighten my pores more than my Derma E mask, but the smell of the sulfur is HORRIBLE in this one, it smelled like my face was burning gasoline and I can still smell it. It also seems to leave a residue. If anything, this would be a product I would use one a week or less.
Azulene calming mask: I really liked this, I believe it is because of the balsam of Peru. Now, i have read that calamine is similar or contains Balsam of Peru, but I can’t really confirm that. It’s something I’d like to try because it is much cheaper than buying the essential oil. One day I am going to splurge on this but the main reasons it is nice is due to the balsam of Peru and azulene, which is a chamomile extract. These are both more expensive products but buying a thing of clay, and two extracts would probably be akin to the 25-30 or more you would spend on this product and you could make at least double or triple the amount.
Enzyme cleansing gel: This is another product I really like and will buy in the future. It reminds me of oil cleansing but it sorta perks your face up. I like it for a quick clean when my face feels tired or before exfoliating.
Strawberry face scrub: I expected to love this, but I was a little disappointed. It was okay, but I wouldn’t pay their price for it. I liked that it soothes and moisturizes making it less harsh than some exfoliants, but it wasn’t really for me. It left my face feeling…greasy is the best word but that wasn’t even it. Either way, I wasn’t keen on the feeling.
Botanical Exfoliating scrub: I liked this one better. It was more a gel type cleanser with micro-beads. It isn’t the best one I’ve ever tried though. Still, it is the best one I have come across for feel and ingredients combined.
livepureandsimple 