Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion

What’s it For: Large deep cysts when they first appear

What it Claims: Anti inflammatory that reduces cystic acne fast

Key Ingredients: Niacinamide , Zinc

Price: £16.50 - 29ml

The first thing I’d say about this is that it smells very very strongly of alcohol. Its quite overpowering sometimes, but on the whole I don’t mind it – it even sort of makes me feel comforted that there is some stuff of substance in it that will fight the blemish fight well!

It’s extremely thin in consistency so when I put it on my chin, I had to almost tip my head up so it didn’t drip on to me. I found it best to use a tiny bit at a time to avoid this. You have to shake the bottle vigorously to mix the white & clear solutions together and then a layer of it goes on any areas with large blemishes, after cleansing.

This can also be used under the drying mask, so you just put a thin layer on before the mask, then again after you have wiped the mask off. Double attack!

It dries very quickly so there is barely any rubbing in required with this one.

The ingredients are Niacinamide which is an anti inflammatory and is in products such as Freederm, and Zinc which is used for wound healing and can be found in things like Sudocrem.

I have been using this for a few weeks now, and although my skin is still blemished, they are tiny spots under the skin, as opposed to the large cysts I usually get, so it could well be down to this product. I also found that the one lump I did have at the start of using this, reduced in size faster than usual. I am using the whole Mario Badescu system though, so they could all be working in harmony. This one certainly “feels” like its doing something, but I think that’s mostly my mind because of the smell. It doesn’t sting at all, but feels quite refreshing on the skin.

Would I repurchase? At this stage, yes, I probably would – a cheaper alternative if you want it is Freederm Gel that is sold in Boots and is £4.99 so much cheaper, but this buffering lotion, although 3 times the price, has 3 times the amount in it, and I haven’t seen anything like it before which gives me hope. I have tried Freederm and it didn’t work for me.

Next, Mario Badescu Drying Lotion…………………..