Mario Badescu Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion Review
Dry skin is no fun but it doesn’t always have to be a pain in the butt. Not when you have the right tools! I always surprise people when I tell them my skin is seriously dry because I never walk out the door. But that’s only because I take moisturizing and exfoliating very seriously. Especially exfoliating. Some people are lucky enough to only have to focus on exfoliating once or twice a week but removing dead skin cells is a huge focus of mine. So much so, that I exfoliate daily. Yes daily. I can’t be walking around with dry, crusty skin under my makeup, girl!
It may seem drastic if you were blessed with normal skin but my dry (and even oily) gals know that staying on top of your exfoliation game is key to a flawless complexion. It really cuts down on the flakes, dry patches, dullness and even softens the appearance of fine lines. All of which makes for a rather sucky makeup application and you know I’m not having that. Last year, I started using the Pixi Glow Tonic Exfoliating Toner to help wipe away all of my dry skin problems and it worked. My skin was clear, even, glowing and breakout free. The more I used it, the better my skin looked.
The downside was that the Pixi Glow Tonic comes in a small 4 oz bottle that’s easy to run through like water when you’re using it day and night. I even picked up the mondo sized 8.5 oz bottle when I went to Gen Beauty LA but, of course, I ran through it too. It was then that I noticed that the Pixi Glow Tonic was kinda expensive for a drugstore toner. The small 4 oz bottle at Target will set you back $15 while the online only 8.5 oz bottle is more pricey at $29. The Pixi Glow Tonic may be secretly formulated with unicorn tears but I was curious to try something similar at a cheaper price tag.
And I did just that with the Mario Badescu Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion. The Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion isn’t exactly like the Glow Tonic but it works rather well at keeping my dry skin soft, supple and radiant. It’s a natural based toner formulated with grapefruit extract that acts as a natural AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) to break down dead skin cells and all the oil, dirt and makeup left in pores. The Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion also includes Aloe and Linden extracts to soothe as well as glycerin to help boost and bind moisture to the skin. The result is an incredibly gentle exfoliation that leaves my skin feeling smooth, soft and radiant–like the Pixi Glow Tonic. The major difference between the two seems to be that the Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion is more gentle. The Pixi Glow Tonic includes 5% glycolic acid which provides a more intense exfoliation. Part of me wishes Mario Badescu threw in a little glycolic acid in the Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion but I’m not mad that he didn’t because I think it works just as well as the Pixi Glow Tonic. It’s just not quite as potent. It takes a few more uses of the Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion to really have that “aha moment” but the results are almost the same after a while. My fine lines are less apparent, my skin doesn’t feel as dry, my complexion seems more even and my skincare products absorb much better. Just like when I use Pixi’s Glow Tonic.
The biggest win the Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion has over the Pixi Glow Tonic is definitely the price. For $15, you get double the amount of product as the Pixi Glow Tonic for the same price (8 oz versus 4 oz). I’ve been using the Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion for over a month and I’m not even halfway through the bottle. Whereas, I’d probably be nearing the end of my Pixi Glow Tonic. Overall, I think the Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion is just as effective as the Pixi Glow Tonic. It’s just missing that extreme exfoliation of the glycolic acid which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you have super sensitive skin. If you’re also a big fan of the Pixi Glow Tonic or just looking to even and smooth your complexion then I recommend checking out the Mario Badescu Alpha Grapefruit Cleansing Lotion. It’s a dry skin miracle!