Whitening Mask

11 Reviews

1. 

   innocentMagpie8

   Reply

   WOW. This was bad.
   Left it on for 10-15 minutes, and SHOOK!!! Once I rinsed it off, 2-3 pimples formed within that time frame. I was shocked. I tried it another night and the same thing happened. I thought I was delusional, but another review says the same thing!!!!!! This also left and super yucky waxy film that was hell to rinse off.

2. 

   gloomyCaviar0

   Reply

   Now this is a surprise! I used it to help brighten my complexion and lessen acne marks and instead it completely flattened a few existing acne bumps that have been plaguing me this past week, and that too literally within minutes! Since then I’ve applied a second time and my skin has almost totally cleared! I have no idea what is in this that’s causing it but a great surprise nevertheless. As for acne marks, I’ve yet to see any difference, still early days. Complexion however has massively improved, I saw it straight after the first use. My skin tone has a yellow undertone that can easily turn sallow. The only thing that can rectify that is a good whitening or brightening product. This mask has many of the best whitening ingredients: Licorice, Kojic Acid, Scutelleria etc so it comes as no surprise to me that it works. I apply for about 10 minutes, by which time it starts to feel very tight on my skin (it is a clay mask afterall) and then wash it off. But I have to agree with some of the other reviewers here – this mask is a real pain to remove! It leaves a oily film which only comes off with a good cleanser. Wax is one of the ingredients so I guess that’s why! Despite that I’m really liking how my skin looks after using this and will 100% repurchase.

   Selena x

   ~ My HG list ~

   (As I’ve sampled 100s of skin, hair and m/u products over the last decade and a half, I thought it might be useful to share my top 10 must-have products, subject to change if and when I come across something more effective. I love constantly trying out new stuff – usually sample sizes via e-bay, also plenty courtesy of a friend who works at Sephora)

   1. Hair Loss Treatment: ‘Divine Herbal’ – Hair Oil
   2. Lip Balm: ‘Nuxe’ – Reve De Miel Lip Balm
   3. Pigmentation + Anti-Ageing Treatment: ‘Divine Herbal’ – Facial Treatment Serum
   4. Cleanser: ‘Paula’s Choice’ – Skin Balancing Cleanser
   5. Concealer: ‘Mac’ – Studio Finish Concealer
   6. Lash Growth Serum: ‘Divine Herbal’ – Divinelash
   7. Foundation/SPF: ‘Juice Beauty’ – Stem Cellular Repair (warm glow)
   8. Face Scrub: ‘Sisley’ – Botanical Gentle Buffing Cream
   9. Moisturizer: ‘Lush’ – Enzymion
   10. Hand Cream: ‘Origins’ – Make A Difference Rejuvenating Hand Treatment

3. 

   truthfulUnicorn1

   Reply

   This didn’t work at all for me. I have hyperpigmentation issues caused by acne and was hoping that this could help to lighten the pih (post inflammatory hyperpigmentation). Only at the first use I noticed a slight difference, but afterwards nothing at all. The packaging is also horrible, because you have to dip in your fingers every time you use it which just spreads bacteria. It also left like a weird sticky residue on my face every time I used it, so I always had to remove that afterwards which you do not expect from a mask. Thankfully it did not cause any breakouts for me, that’s the only pro for me! And yes I do use sunscreen everyday (SPF 50), so that’s not the issue either.

4. 

   betrayedCod2

   Reply

   I have very bad acne scar due to sudden hormonal break out. This product gave me a shock!! The scars just fade away !! I love this!

5. 

   giddyGelding7

   Reply

   Starting using this about 4 days ago and I love it. My acne scars are starting to fade drastically.

6. 

   jumpyCaribou2

   Reply

   I was beyond excited to test this product out on some of my old acne scars. I have acne prone skin, but at the time of application, my skin was–and had been–completely clear. I followed the directions and did not leave the mask on longer than instructed. I noticed there was a waxy residue after having removed the mask. As such, I used a gentle wash to remove it. My skin immediately looked brighter, I was so excited! Could this be a cure for my unfortunate scarring!? There was a big surprise the next day–and I mean huge. I had broken out in cystic acne everywhere I had applied this mask.

   At the time, I had no clue what caused the break out. I’ve been dealing with acne for ages, I use all of the best products, have an incredible diet, get preventative laser treatments with my dermatologist and wash my pillow cases bi-weekly. I had been doing everything right–that is, until I tried this mask. After realizing that the only thing that had changed was the use of this brightening facial, I decided to check out the reviews. I’m relieved to know I’m not the only person who has experienced horrible break outs after using this mask.

   While this may work for people with less acne prone skin, it has had devastating results for mine. I will definitely never be using this product again! With that said, Mario Badescu does have some other really nice products–just not this one!

7. 

   murkyPup8

   Reply

   I really liked this mask but be careful to make sure the jar is closed air tight – it will dry out and be un-useable!

8. 

   emptyLion5

   Reply

   I haven’t noticed any difference after using this for more than 1 month now. The peeling effect is a bit drying for my comb. skin.

9. 

   forsakenTermite0

   Reply

   I actually LOVE this product! I am trying to fade some discoloration and scars left over from a bout of hormonal acne in my late twenties and so I picked this up at Ulta. It doesn’t break me out, granted I have pretty tough skin and I don’t have any active acne right now, so I am really just using it to even my skin tone. What I love the most is that you just need such a tiny amount, so this product is worth the money to me. I have half the jar left and I have been using this three times a week for the last two months!

   I feel like my skin is soft and bright after using this, and when used in tandem with the grapefruit toner and the glycolic resurfacing complex, I have seen an improvement in my skin for sure.

   That sucks that this company is not being totally transparent about what’s in their products, and I can imagine that it would be devastating to have sensitive skin and be hopeful that something would work as intended, only to have it blow up in your face, but if you have normal to oily skin this is a great product!

10. 

    ecstaticSheep6

    Reply

    THIS MASK was one of the worst masks I have ever used. I was excited and hopeful to try this because I have awful acne scarring and discoloration all over my face from years of acne and not using sunscreen. This masks promised to even out skin tone, brighten, and fade the appearance of acne scars and dark spots. Well it did none of the above and on top of that, every single time I used it, and then washed it off I would have a fresh new ZIT. I’m serious, I would put the mask on, leave it on for the recommended amount of time, rinse it off and BOOM, brand new painful zit. It was sort of incredible that a mask could make me break out as quickly as this mask did. I read on a Make Up Alley review that they have changed the formula in recent years, and that it used to contain much more natural ingredients, now, it clearly does not. But they boast only the natural ingredients on the packaging and promotion of the product, so beware. I literally threw it out, my skin is always problematic but Mario and his whitening mask did not help.

11. 

    grudgingSnail1

    Reply

    I wrote a review of this a long time ago. It used to be my HG product to keep my skin smooth and clear. I have very sensitive skin, and a few years ago this was the product my dermatologist recommended to help sooth and heal my blemishes, prevent further breakouts, hydrate and lighten hyperpigmentation. Below is the original ingredients list (I’ve uploaded a picture of my old jar with the original ingredients).

    Deionized water (Aqua) ,Kaolin, Balsam (Myroxylon Pereirae Resin) Peru, Wheat (Triticum Vulgare) Starch, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Sorbitol, Kojic Acid, Mulberry (Morus Alba Root) Extract, Licorice (Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root) Extract, Grape (Vitis Vinifera) Extract, Scullcap Extract.

    I ran out of this product a few months ago and was out of the country. Over those few months my skin was okay, but not excellent as it used to be. I was scraping the bottom of my jar and carefully mixing in little bits of water to stretch the last few remnants. It was quite tragic, romantic even as I nursed the last scrapings of my whitening mask.

    Once I returned home, I immediately marched out (virtually) to amazon.com and reordered a jar. It arrived in two days (yay for Prime!) and I ripped open the packaging like a child on Christmas convinced they’d received a Red Rider BB Gun, but without the potential health hazards.

    I’ll admit I threw caution to the wind. I cleansed my face, opened the jar and spread the soothing, creamy white mask over my face. Ahhh…bliss…

    I rinsed it off and then went to sleep, dreaming dreams of waking up to my smooth, polished skin once again. It’d been a long few months.

    I woke up to a nightmare. My skin had broken out in angry red bumps and cystic pimples I hadn’t experienced in my entire life. It was disgusting. Horrified, I reached for my Mario Badescu Whitening Mask. Surely it would save me!

    I glanced at the ingredients list, really just by accident. Also it looked bigger, and I’m easily distracted. There I discovered, to my horror, that Mario Badescu, my savior of skin, my long sought holy grail of awesome skin saving amazingness, had betrayed me.

    The new ingredients:

    Aqua (Water, Eau), Kaolin, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Starch, Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Dimethicone, Cera Microcristallina (Microcrystalline Wax, Cire Microcristalline), Sorbitol, Paraffinum Liquidum (Mineral Oil, Huile Minerale), Propylene Glycol, Cera Alba (Beeswax, Cire d’abeille), Cellulose Gum, Kojic Acid, Tocopherol, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Rhizome/Root, Morus Nigra Rot, Scutellaria Galericulata Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Fruit Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Polysorbate 80, Methylparaben, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Seed Extract, Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract, Sodium Chloride, Parfum (Fragrance), Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Benzoic Acid, Magnesium Aspartate, Panthenol, Potassium Aspartate, Potassium Hydroxide, Propylparaben, Sarcosine

    Et tu, Mario?

    That, in case you don’t suffer from extreme sensitive skin, is a list from hell. There’s mineral oil, parabens, sensitizing oils like evening primrose, waxes, and fragrance (of all the damn things).

    Sensitive skin can’t take things like mineral oil, and many oils cause it to react with what looks like breakouts but technically (according to my dermatologist) is closer to small boils.

    Now, I’m not saying MB is responsible for my recent insane breakout (which has healed after several visits to my dermatologist and some custom made masks). I should have read the ingredients carefully, even though I’ve used it before. It had been a long time, and I shouldn’t have assumed the product would be identical.

    However, I’m frustrated that Mario Badescu has shifted from their focus on loads of active ingredients and minimal fillers to a product that resembles something I could buy in WalMart, but twice the cost. When I originally looked at the ingredients on MB’s site they were still listed as the original (a week or so ago). At the time I spoke on the Speak to a Live Skin Care Specialist Now! with someone and asked if I might have purchased a knock off due to all the strange ingredients. They said no, I had purchased from their legitimate Amazon store. I asked about the new ingredients, and was told they had revised their several of their formulas recently. As of today, the ingredient list has been updated.

    That Whitening Mask was my savior as a teenager and into my early twenties. It took me from easily irritated skin to the complexion of a Barbie Doll. Okay…maybe like Barbie’s brunette, much paler friend. But it made me look like a porcelain doll, and my skin was never irritated or broken out while using it.

    It was amazing, and perfectly formulated for people with sensitive skin.

    Now I have only the memory of those glorious days. Just me and my jar of Mario Badescu Whitening Mask, flitting together through fields of poppies, hand in…jar…or whatever…

    All that is lost to time. Slathered in mineral oil and doused in parabens. Like gremlins exploded from the poppy fields and crapped all over our picnic.

    Yeah.

    I’ve switched over to making my own masks, sourcing ingredients from a few cosmetics sites and natural skin care sites. That’s helped, I’ve managed to get back to my original, pre-betrayal complexion. But I still miss Mario…how we used to be…happy, monogamous, sweet smelling like a a fresh spiced cake out of the oven…

    Now I’m hungry.

    *Ahem*

    Needless to say, I will not be purchasing any products from Mario Badescu again. I will not be recommending them to friends, family, or even enemies (as I used to).

    It’s over, Mario. So over.