Mario Badescu Botanical Exfoliating Scrub has been a lifesaver this winter!

We all love a good exfoliator, don’t we? That soft, smooth feeling of the skin after a good exfoliation really does feel incredible. Even how your makeup feels and sits on your face after exfoliating is different. I don’t know about you but growing up, the exfoliators I used were chunky scrubs with plastic micro beads. Not only are microbeads really bad for the environment, but there is actually more effective ways of exfoliating your skin- with natural ingredients for a physical exfoliation, and chemicals for a chemical exfoliation. When it comes to physical exfoliation, I’ve been using the Mario Badescu Botanical Exfoliating Scrub recently and have been thoroughly impressed!

Personally I love to use a physical exfoliator once a week, as it really leaves your skin feeling polished. And try to stay away from drugstore ones that contain the plastic microbeads as mentioned as above. On top of being bad for the environment, they can be too abrasive on your skin as well.

Mario Badescu Botanical Exfoliating Scrub

The Mario Badescu Botanical Exfoliating Scrub has a very thick, gel like texture that contains finely ground Ecuadorian Ivory palm seeds. Because the gel is very thick, it prevents the particles from being too abrasive.

What Mario Badescu says about the scrub:

This gentle, gel-based formula sloughs off the dulling dead skin cells that can lead to breakouts or cause skin to look lifeless and aged, helping you to achieve clearer, younger-looking, more radiant skin.

Key Ingredients: Aloe Vera, Coconut, Ginger, Ginkgo, and Green Tea Extracts

The exfoliator aims to:

• Banish dullness and reveal a more radiant complexion
• Gently polish, refresh, and help prevent pore congestion.
• Refine uneven skin tone and texture
• Hydrate and invigorate skin

Packaging: Simple white and green. Most Mario Badescu products are packaged very similarly!

The Mario Badescu Botanical Exfoliating Scrub is definately not too harsh on the skin. I find this is always hard to balance because at the end of the day, it is an exfoliator and it needs to have a certain level of abrasiveness. This scrub gets the balance right though. Your skin’s texture will definately feel more smooth afterwards, but it also won’t feel stripped or tight. In fact, my skin feels incredibly soft afterwards.

In fact, this product even has the “Husband Approved” stamp. Every now and then he tries and gravitates towards some of my skincare products. Because he is a guy and not fussed about the packaging, scents etc- he only rates products on how they make his skin feel. And he loves this product a lot!

How your skin feels after using this product

I find my skin immediately feels softer – it really helps to smooth out the skins texture a lot. I always struggled with the idea of a product “banishing dullness” because I wasn’t sure what that actually looks like or when you’ll know if a product does that. But this product really does leave your complexion looking brighter or fresher- for lack of a better word! So maybe I finally know what banishing dullness looks like.

A little more about exfoliating

Exfoliation is the removal of dry/dead skin cells on the surface of the skin. I think it is one of the most important aspects of your skincare routine. On top of helping with skin problems, it also increases blood circulation, which in turn helps you to achieve healthy, glowing skin.

One thing to be careful of is over-exfoliating.  If you exfoliate too much, your skin will feel raw and you can compromise your skin barrier.

Benefits of Exfoliating

When we think of exfoliating we immediately think okay it’s great for getting rid of dead or dry skin. But how exactly does exfoliating help your skin?

• Improved skin texture – helps the skin renewal process
• Assists with declogging pores / minimizes pore
• Improved Moisture absorbition- When layers of dead skin cells build up, it’s difficult for your new skin to properly absorb the products you apply
• Can help with pigmentation- Exfoliation is beneficial for breaking up pigmented cells, encouraging them to fade. Obviously this will be no “quick fix”  – pigmentation is very tough to fix and a long road. This is just one step that can assist the problem.
• Gives your skin a healthy, more even appearance

So as I mentioned in the top of the post, when it comes to exfoliating you have two choices between chemical and physical. They’re both important and have different functions! So when it comes to physical exfoliations, I really can recommend the Mario Badescu Botanical Exfoliating Scrub. It’s especially great for sensitive skin that needs exfoliation without being too abrasive. Trust me – your skin will feel so soft afterwards!