Mario Badescu Skin Care — Local services in New York

From start to finish this has been the loveliest experience. 5 day trip to New York to experience the holiday time here and our friend who met up with us here sent us an Instagram reel recommending to come to Mario Badescu Skin Care for a $65 one hour facial because it was a steal! I was introduced to Mario Badescu with their infamous rose water spray and this place was their only spot to get facial treatments. The online booking was also so easy, but we didn’t know if we could squeeze time to do it before our 9pm flight that evening so when I was ready to book for a 4:30pm facial on the day of…around 1am, the online booking system no longer showed those times, totally makes sense! So I decided I would call first thing in the morning to see if those appointments were still open and try that way. 10am the day of, I called and the nicest person picked up, Chahra. I explained the situation, she was attentive, so kind and booked us for the 4:30 slot! It was really a great start to our last day in the city. We got to fit in bagels, the new york public library, a holiday market and the grand central station all before we picked up our luggage at the hotel and took a LYFT to the spa location. we were running late and our arrival was 4:40pm so i called to let them know and they were so so nice about it, mind you 4:30 is their last time slots for the day. When we got there with our luggage, a nice man took it from us and agreed to hold it, we were going to take the subway straight to the airport after our facials, another great perk was the subway was a block away. We got into Mario Badescu and the place was so nice and organized, all their products placed beautifully on stands against the walls, a nice table and waiting area and there was beautiful Chahra, and I don’t care if she meant it, she told us she was looking forward to meeting us and it just felt so genuine especially since we felt bad for showing up almost 10 minutes late. We chatted it up and we immediately were taken to our appointments. I got Betty and my friend got Shelly. Betty was so so lovely, she immediately knew i had combination skin, she asked me about my typical skin care, the products I use and gave me the most relaxing and loveliest facial. She told me she would recommend extra services that would work for the current state of my skin and it would be extra and of course i can pass. She recommended the vitamin C treatment since i was experiencing dryness and some of my acne spots and sun spots and it was only $35 extra, of course i was happy to add it on, I was loving this experience and decided i should try to do a facial at the end of all my trips. She gave me good tips for my skin care at home and affirmed some of the things i was already doing. My friend also loved Shelly, she got the algae seaweed treatment and i think it’s cause of her prone to redness. It took me a little longer to get dressed and return to the lobby/check in area and when I was ready to check out and pay, Chahra was chatting it up with my friend but also showing her more products, my friend was very excited and got some things to take home, the recommendations were genuine and just for what my friend was looking for, it didn’t feel like a sales pitch nor was it pushy even the slightest. We really had the loveliest experience and spent time talking to Chahra and Mei, so kind, so helpful, asking all about our trip to New York. i 100% plan on coming back to New York; this “third times a charm” expression is real, NY finally made an impression on me and I’m 100% returning here. I didn’t expect the top facial for $65 but I got it! Absolutely worth the time and little effort it took for us to come here, worth more! and to top it all off they give us a goody bag full of so so many samples and mini containers of so many Mario Badescu products, how is this place not booked...

This is the only review you should read.

I’m a recent esthetician grad and I was looking for an affordable chest and back facial since I can’t perform extractions on myself. I suffer from bacne and chestne. I thought why not try Mario Bedescu… I thought wrong.

Here’s a few things about my experience I’d like to share with you and I encourage you to continue reading. None of this is exaggerated. All of it is honest.

Improper or lack of cleansing - my cleanser (if it even was cleanser) wasn’t even rubbed in. Was slapped on and then removed with cotton (on my back). I was given extractions on my chest without cleaning or cleansing my skin. At all! Nothing! She just went right in! Not cleansing the skin before extracting can encourage bacteria to enter in and increase the chance of scaring. No steam either for my chest. Lack of proper training on safety and etiquette - my esthetician was barely in the room. She left the room after she applied my chemical peel, mask, and even with a hot steamer on (which goes against safety protocol btw) - this equals to about 60mins of my hour and a half facial considering we did back AND chest. Inefficient - I left with pimples not extracted on my chest! That was the reason I came in!! I’m assuming she missed extractions on my back too but I can’t tell bcs I can’t see them… Not relaxing - not given a back massage to chest massage. Everything was just slapped on without care. Felt dirty - The room was like a dungeon, it was dark and uninviting. You don’t get under covers for the facial, you just sit on top with a sheet. The sheet was put on top of me when I had my mask on my back. Very strange and unsanitary. As an Esti, I’m surprised they don’t offer LED or High Frequency services, but I’m picking up that for that price, it’s supposed to be a no frills m type of place/service??

I don’t blame the quality of the facial on the esthetician (and I won’t name her name). The esthetician was actually very sweet. I blamed it on Mario bedescu and the management. I encourage anyone who reads this to please not go here. Don’t think oh the price is right. You’ll regret it. I deserve a refund for such terrible service, safety, and cleanliness (I paid partial card partial cash, so I won’t been get my full money back if I ask my bank). Such a disgrace to see as a new esthetician....

I have always loved coming here for facials but my experience today was wildly different from the facials I have received here in the past.

I came in for an 11am appointment, and the spa was mostly empty. The front desk lady was preoccupied with her phone when I walked in and I had to call for her attention to check in. The esthetician was nice, but I kept smelling garlic/onions on her hands and I did not feel she paid very much attention to detail with my treatment. They usually apply hand lotion during my facials here, that was not done today. She slapped things on my face and left the room 80% of the time. I could hear loud slamming of doors as she went in and out of rooms.

They usually give a generous bag full of amazing samples along with product recommendations. Upon checkout today, the front desk lady gave me two micro samples. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be offended… because why even bother? Though a disappointing experience, I still tipped 20% but will unlikely be recommending or...