In the past few months I have become a huge Mario Badescu fan. His facial cleansers, toners, and acne products have greatly improved the overall quality of my skin. With that being said, when I started to develop acne on my shoulders, chest, and upper back, I immediately purchased the AHA Botanical Body Soap. Although the soap is advertised to help clear up body acne, I was less than thrilled with the results. I didn't see any improvement whatsoever in my existing acne and while I was using it I continued to develop more acne. As a body wash alone it does its job, cleanses, smells nice, and doesn't dry out skin, I however was expecting more from an acne body wash.

This is my absolute favourite body wash. I get occasional body acne but my skin is super sensitive to most body washes. This works perfectly for me. My skin has never broken into a rash using this product. It has made my skin feel smooth and look great. Even during the winter when my skin is dry it doesn't dry my skin out more. I love it.

This product actually made my back acne worse. I had some pimples here and there, so i wanted to get rid of them. After i started using this, it just so happened my bacne was worse than i'd ever seen it. I thought maybe it was my hormones or that time of the month, but then one day i decided maybe it was the body wash, so i stopped using it to see what would happen. Sure enough my back cleared up, and has been pretty good ever since (back to the way it was before i started using this product).
I was thinking about trying it again to see if it actually did flare up from the body wash, but i'm too scared to have that happen all over again.

Great product if you have KP. This has helped keep my moderate KP at bay. Its also great as an all-over soap; my skin is super soft and clean. Smells good, though scent does not linger. Reasonably priced considering you only need a tiny amount. I've repurchased about 3 times since finding this.

I love this body soap! I bought it because I was starting to get a couple pimples on my back and found that it actually cured my chicken skin (ya know those little red bumps on your upper arms from dry skin) After one use 50% of it was gone and 2nd use no more chicken skin since. Also I think it worked well for the body acne but I didnt have it that frequently to begin with so Im not too sure but I havent had a breakout since I bought it a month ago.

I think I have FINALLY found my HG body wash! I have acne on my chest & back and dry bumpy skin on the back of my arms. This takes care of ALL these woes in one shot, without drying my skin out. My skin is SO soft and smells lovely. THANK YOU MARIO! I love this, have bought a backup and pending catastrophe, will never stray! continued >>

I have difficult body skin- keratosis pilaris on arms, thighs, and rear as well as occasional cystic acne on thighs and rear.
This cleanser combats both effectively without drying out my already super-dry skin too much, and it has a fresh citrus scent that is enjoyable but not so strong that it clashes with my perfume.
The trick is to get your body all wet, then lather up the gel on a shower pouf and TURN OFF the shower to allow the gel time to sit on your skin and work. Beginning at arms and legs, gently lather all over your body, taking extra care with elbows, feet, legs, arms and back. I then let it sit for a minute before doing "sensitive" areas and turning water back on to rinse off. This has been so successful in reducing the severity of both my KP and body acne.
I find that I do need a moisturizer after for my dry skin, so I use Mario Badescu Papaya Body Lotion, which also contains acids and enzymes to smooth the skin, but I can imagine a normal or oily skin would be left feeling quite healthy with this cleanser alone.
Cons: I do find I go through this more quickly than other gels, but the price of $14 for 16 oz. is more economical than I expected so I am happy.

This product is really good!
It works wonders !

First of all, the name is very misleading: it doesn't contain AHAs! The only actual AHAs, according to Paula Begoun, are glycolic, lactic, malic, tartaric, or citric acid. The fruit extracts in this Body Soap are just AHA impostors.

I used a generous sample that lasted me for 6 showers. But based on that, I probably won't be purchasing. I really like the smell of this product, it's very refreshing. And I like it that it's non-drying. But other than that, I can't find a good reason for why I should use it. continued >>

LOVE this gel! I have no expectations of it other than it should smell good and not dry the heck out of my skin. And if it gets rid of some bumps, great! But I don't think it is on your skin long enough to work any magic.

This is a great product if you are a sufferer of Keratosis Pilaris (those tiny colourless bumps which are only visible on an angle in very bright light).

I used this for two weeks and found that the bumps had disappeared from my arms! Now I'm looking for a cleanser that can do the same to my face and make it perfectly smooth - like this has done to my body.

Unfortunately, this product only lasted me 3 WEEKS - I have NEVER gone through a body wash (or any skincare item) that quickly!! I found that I had to use quite a lot to make it lather up the way I liked on my body.

For that reason, I didn't repurchase and decided to try a Korres one instead (which has given me cystic acne EVERYWHERE yuck)


Next time - it's back to the Mario one!! continued >>

I've been a back/chest acne sufferer for a long time and when I realized Mario Badescu has a product that specifically targets this problem, I thought to give it a try. I am a fan of this other prodcuts (see my other reviews). I have to say - I'm really disappointed. Does nothing for my condition. I was hoping that since it contains Alpha Hydroxy Acid, it would help with exfoliation and dead skin/clog ups... and would curb new zits from forming but that's not the case. So 3 lippies - it's just like an ordinary body gel. Psychologically I feel better though because I feel I'm actually doing something to my back/chest acne LOL. Doesn't dry out the skin which is nice though.

I didn't think this was anything special. It worked all right in terms of keeping my skin clear, but it also made my skin a little itchy. Would not repurchase.

I got this in a gwp 2oz size, very good stuff, washes off great without any residue or drying out out the skin, smells good, and I even got my guy friend using it because he gets congested skin on his back. I would definitely buy this again.

This makes my skin soft and smooth, and is a summer time staple. Does not have the floral scent I expected, but more of a grassy, herbish scent that smells good once you get used to it. The natural AHAs in this really do work. Great buy.

I have to revise my review after purchasing another bottle of this body soap.
I don't know why but it worked great on me. However, I do not use it for acne because i don't have any on back/chest area. But I used it to clear out ingrown hair. I recently tried epilator to remove unwanted hair instead of my normal waxing methods. After using eplilators for several times, I developed tremendous amount of ingrown hair on my legs, back of arms and belly. All the red spots looked awful i could not even wear a skirt anymore. So I rushed to get another bottle of AHA soap. Then I applied it with a exfoliating mitten. My leg is SAVED!
It cleared most of the ingrown hair out and now my leg texture is back to normal. There's still some stubborn ingrown hair but overall, it cleared out. It worked much better than other soaps I've used so far and I'll stick with it.

continued >>

I bought this thinking it would help with the KP on my arms and legs. It's nice but that is all. It is really no different from any body wash you can get in the store. The scent is very refreshing but does not last once you leave the shower. It also lathers much better with a body buff. I will not repurchase again.

I don't love OR hate this product. I get occasional minor breakouts on my back and chest so I bought this to use after workouts to help with that problem. It hasn't really done anything, but also didn't make things worse. Nice clean smell, not overpowering. I probably own't buy again but I will keep using what I have.

My new favorite body wash. It's gentle and it's concentrated enough that a nickel sized amonunt on a shower pouf gives plenty of lather. It also smells nice -- it has a citrus-y smell that's similar to the Botanical Facial Gel.

I love this! I have suffered from kp on my arms for years and this is the first product that has actually made a noticable difference in the redness and bumpiness. It also smells wonderful. I will definitely repurchase!