Review: Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion

 

In my late teens & early 20s my skin took a nosedive from stress, poor sleep and inconsistent diet.  My blemishes were mainly small bumps and the type with whiteheads that resolved relatively fast with OTC treatments or by (I know, I know...) being popped & drained.  Occasionally I'd get cystic acne on my lower cheeks, the deep and painful type that lingered for weeks because they had no whiteheads that could be popped.  They stayed around for ages and couldn't really be hidden with make-up, either, because of their large, elevated appearance.  These cystic bumps were awful but so infrequent I didn't bother searching for targeted treatments, just better make-up techniques.

In my late 20s I finally got most of the smaller bumps and whitehead blemishes under control through BHA serums, cutting dairy out of my diet and a healthier lifestyle.  However, the cystic bumps remained and after trading school stress for work stress, I found they even periodically dominated the lower half of my face in really disruptive breakouts.  It seemed like a crap deal to me that graduating school didn't relieve my skincare problems so I finally motivated myself to investigate what products could actually help cystic acne.

Mario Badescu's Buffering Lotion came up frequently in my search and had fairly good reviews so I decided to give it a shot.  My conclusion after a year of use is that it helps a significant amount but isn't quite holy grail status for my particular skin.

The 1 oz product comes in a clear bottle with a dropper tip that needs to be shaken before use to mix the white sediment and clear-ish liquid.  Some of the sediment tends to stick to the bottom of the bottle so a really vigorous shaking is necessary.  Even though it's labelled a lotion, the texture is extremely runny and needs to be applied to a clean finger before transferring to the face.  I suppose it's possible to squeeze it directly onto the face, but the tip has a large-ish hole and I also feel like I'd be contaminating the tip.  The ingredients include alcohol, a known skin irritant, but nothing else alarming:

Deionized Water (Aqua), Isopropyl Alcohol, Sodium Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Hydrolyzed Serum Protein, Hydrolyzed Yeast Protein, Pyridoxine, Niacinamide, Panthenol, Propylene Glycol, Allantoin, Biotin

The alcohol probably accounts for the unpleasant smell but it fades quickly and I'm willing to put up with bad odors if an acne treatment works.  I applied this buffering lotion on a clean/toned face and also experimented with using it after moisturizing.  The outcomes were better if I had less products on my face in addition to this one, which makes sense.  Even though this acne treatment is for cystic types, I applied it everywhere to see what the results would be like.  I found for smaller pimples this lotion dries out the skin a bit but nothing else really happens.  These spots resolve at the same pace as if I didn't use anything on them. 

However...

The buffering lotion shines the most when it comes to the larger, cystic bumps it's designed to treat.  If I can apply it early on when they begin to just form, I can arrest their progression at a stage where I feel a lump under the skin but without pain.  The inflamed area still exists but it isn't sore to the touch and that's something I can definitely live with.  (I'm naturally a side-sleeper and it's annoying to have to shy away from my pillow to avoid pressing on tender cystic breakouts.)  

Even though the instructions say to use overnight only, I apply in the morning as well (2x/day total) for better coverage.  The key is the early intervention.  If the cystic bump is already well-formed and at the painful stage, the buffering lotion doesn't seem to do much.  This is unfortunate because I don't always meticulously inspect my face for impending cystic breakouts and I rarely touch my face so wouldn't naturally feel them by accident, either.  If I don't regularly check myself in the mirror throughout the day I sometimes miss the important window for applying this buffering lotion.  I still continue to use it on those erupted cystic spots, just in case, but this acne treatment requires good timing on my part to be the most effective.  Overall, the length of time needed for the cystic spot to heal appears slightly improved with this lotion (like 2 weeks versus 3), but not by a holy-grail-type amount.  The main benefit I get from this product is the reduction in swelling and pain which leads to easier make-up application and a happier me. =)

At $19 a bottle Mario Badescu's Buffering Lotion is not cheap, but a little goes a long way and I still have a third of the bottle left after one year of use.  I plan on repurchasing in the future unless I find something more effective before then!

Summary

• Packaging:     4/5 (transparent; easy to use; okay dropper tip)
• Smell:             3/5 (smells like rubbing alcohol but fades fast)
• Performance:  4/5 (not too drying; needs early/diligent application to work)
• Value/Price:   4/5 ($19 for 1 oz but very long-lasting)
• Recommend? Yes (for cystic acne)
• Repurchase?  Yes (unless something better comes up!)