After a recent magazine interview with Martha Stewart in which she says she swears by Mario Badescu skin care, I naturally got dozens of requests from readers like you wanting to know more about the line. Since I was already curious about it myself, I was happy to oblige :)

I called the spa number and spoke to a Skin Specialist to figure out the best MB products for my skin. The woman asked me some questions, quickly labelled my skin "combination" and created a regimen for me. These are the products I was recommended:

Orange Cleansing Soap "for all skin types" ($12 for 8 ounces)
Considering the number of products I've tried, I would say I've learn quite a bit along the way. If you have sensitive skin like I do, learning to understand an ingredient label can be a big help. I've discovered that there are quite a few ingredients that are infamous for irritating acne-prone (but not oily) skin like mine - and this cleanser is no exception. The second ingredient after water is stearic acid, known for its pore clog-ability. If you have a tendency towards breakouts, you've got quite a blackhead-fest here.

In terms of cleansing power, Orange Cleansing Soap does a fair job of removing an average amount of makeup, but you have to be careful around the eye area - it can really sting. Personally, I can think of several other gentler cleansers that I'd much rather use (Garden Botanika Skin Renewing Cleanser, Biore non-foaming gel, BeneFit All Types Wash, RoC Cleanser + Toner In One).

Cucumber Cleansing Lotion "for combination and dry skin types" ($15 for 8 ounces)
I have never been a fan of alcohol in toners (too drying), so when the skin care specialist at MB recommended this one for me, I questioned it. She insisted that my skin needed it to keep the pores clean. Far be it for me to argue with a "specialist", but this is simply not true, and definitely not what my skin needed. It left me feeling very dry and uncomfortable :( The one slightly redeeming quality about this toner is that it has real, honest-to-goodness cucumber bits floating around in it. If they could just leave the alcohol out, they might have something good here. Maybe I should make my own cucumber toner at home? :)

Hyaluronic Eye Cream "for all skin types" ($18 for .5 ounce jar)
This was one of the few MB products that I really liked and didn't have any kind of adverse reaction to! This is an emollient cream with carnation oil, aloe, and hyaluronic acid to really moisturize the dry areas around the eyes. My only advice is to be careful how close you get this cream to your eye as it can creep in and make your eyes feel filmy and your vision temporarily cloudy. Otherwise I liked this cream very much.

Oil Free Moisturizer SPF17 "for combination, oily, and sensitive skin types" ($17 for 2 ounces)
Again, I have to mention the surprising ingredients in products that claim to be for combination, oily, and sensitive skin. This lotion is oil-free and does have a nice, silky feel, but it contains cetyl alcohol, glyceryl stearate, stearic acid, myristyl lactate, AND triethanolamine, all of which can contribute to major breakouts. I would definitely not recommend this lotion to someone with any sort of acne problem.

Seaweed Night Cream "for combination, dry, and sensitive skin types" ($18 for 1 ounce jar)
This very emollient cream gave me some much needed relief from the drying cleansing soap and toner, but truly good skin care should not put the skin into a cycle like this - drying it out with one thing and replacing the lost moisture with something else. Everything should work independently and be gentle on the skin.

I have to (again) point out possible breakout problems with this cream for those of us who get pimples even in dry areas (hormones can do crazy things to your skin!). This cream has stearic acid and isopropyl myristate, both of which rate high for pimple possibility. I would not be concerned about this were the cream not labelled (in part) for combination skin. For someone with dry skin and no breakout tendencies, this cream is a fine choice.

Almond & Honey Non-Abrasive Face Scrub "for all skin types" ($15 for 4 ounce jar)
This has to be the most abrasive "non-abrasive" scrub I've ever tried! This is not a bad scrub, just poorly named. Oatmeal, kaolin clay, and corn meal provide the texture, while honey, almond oil, and algae extract soothe and moisturize. The only ingredient I find completely unnecessary is PVP (a plastic resin often found in hairspray), which leaves a strange waxy film on the skin. Definitely not my idea of clean.

Strawberry Tonic Mask "for combination, oily, and sensitive skin types" ($18 for 2 ounce jar)
This is a basic kaolin clay mask with some strawberry extract thrown in for color. Like the scrub, this also has PVP, so there is a strange filmy feeling on the skin after you rinse the mask off. I can think of several other clay masks that I like better (Beauty Without Cruelty, Queen Helene Mint Julep, Estee Lauder Almond Clay Pack, Better Botanicals Refining Facial Mask).

At first, I wondered if I just got the wrong products for my skin; considering how hit-or-miss products can be, this can easily happen. However, after reading over the ingredients of more of the products featured on Martha Stewart's site (http://www.marthastewart.com) - she sells them through her Martha by Mail online store - I know that most of these products simply could not work for me. Almost every moisturizer and mask have the pore clogging ingredients I mentioned above plus others. If you are at all concerned about breakouts, regardless of your skin type, this is a difficult line to work with.

For more information on Mario Badescu products, check out the website at http://www.mariobadescu.com.

I'd like to thank the Sage Skin Care site for their comprehensive guide to acne-causing ingredients, located at: http://zerozits.com/article6.shtml#inglist.

Spring has sprung, and that means it's time to rethink your makeup look and consider adding some fun new colors. Learn about all the latest spring collections in this month's new Feature, "Colors in Bloom", brought to you by our Panelist Lisa.

April Feature: Colors in Bloom - Spring 99

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