Mario Badescu Drying Lotion - The Harry Potter of Skincare

"Evanesco!"

For anyone not obsessed with Harry Potter, that's the "vanishing spell." i.e. - it makes things disappear. Which is exactly what the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion does. If you have a zit that's just starting to peak out from under your skin's surface, or if you have a fully-formed whitehead, this stuff will make it vanish. It's $17 at Sephora, but this little jar will last you many, many months. Just dip a q-tip all the way to the bottom of the bottle to pick up the pink sediment, and dab a dot of the product on every spot. (This is best if done before bed because you'll have pink dots all over your face.)

The minute I see or feel a zit starting to form, I attack it with this product. It may take several days of applying every night for the spot to disappear, but if you put the drying lotion on right away, you'll prevent the spot from forming into a full-fledged zit.

If you don't catch the spot right away, the zit may pop out from underneath the skin. Like recently, I was on vacay and forgot to bring this stuff with me (gasp!). I felt a pimple starting to brew, and sure enough, because I didn't put any Drying Lotion on, it became a nasty zit. And sadly, when a zit is in in it's finest form, I haven't found this product to not be super effective. I'll put it on the formed pimples anyway, because, what the heck, but I'm not sure it does much.

When that zit comes to a head, though, this product can come back to the rescue! If you have any whiteheads, the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion will help dry them up quickly. Which is great if you're like me, and have all the urges to pop pop pop.

So, moral of the story, this is my holy grail skincare product. I use it every night. Even on spots that might not be anything. But you never know what might turn into an unwanted presence on your face, and I'm not taking any chances.