Friday, September 08, 2006

Philosophy Hope in a Jar



As I was going through my recent purchases from Sephora, I was thrilled to find a sample of Philosophy's Hope in a Jar included in my bag! I'd been eyeing this product for a while and was itching to try it, but at $35 I wasn't prepared to splurge (especially when I still have plenty of my regular moisturizer, Olay Complete).

So, that night, I tried out my sample after washing my face. I was immediately very pleased-- the lotion felt so light, not at all greasy, and it absorbed into my skin almost immediately (I tend to need to let my Olay moisturizer "sit" for several minutes as it absorbs in the morning before putting on my makeup). The cincher? I swear the few fine lines I've started noticing around my eyes and mouth were less noticeable after using this lotion, even just once or twice. Maybe it was my imagination, I don't know. But my skin just felt... nice. Happy. Not dry, nor oily.

The only downside (and unfortunately it's a big one) is the scent. The scent is just wierd. At first I thought it smelled kind of like eucalyptus, which would have been nice. But as I continued getting small whiffs of it in the minutes after applying it, I realized it didn't smell like eucalyptus at all, but rather something stranger. My best guess is some cross between eucalyptus, citrus, and something medicinal ,and the result is something that lands more on the unpleasant side. I used my Hope in a Jar sample 3 times in a row (night, the next morning, then that night) and by the 3rd application I knew the scent was a dealbuster for me. Which is really a shame, because other than that I was almost ready to run out and buy it.

This experience has, however, reawakened in me the desire to look into other well-known pricier moisturizers, such as Clinique's imfamous Dramatically Different Moisture Lotion. Or perhaps I'll look into Good Skin and Grassroots lotions, as this may be another MAC vs Flirt! type of deal (Clinique, Grassroots, and Good Skin are also all owned by Estee Lauder).


EDIT: Ok, after a bit of online browsing I discovered, to my surprise, that Clinique's moisture lotion is actually less expensive (for the 1.7 oz size) than the Kohls brands.... Interesting. This certainly tips the scale in Clinique's favor, now being cheaper and more well-known, but I will still have some fun doing my comparison shopping. If any of you have any feedback about any of these brands I'd love to hear it. =) Thanks!

3 comments:

jo said...

i've tried clinique's dramatically different moisturiser. i feel it's too oily for me...

ryc: the IM name was "coming from the lips of an angel, hearing those words it makes me weak". it's from hinder's song.

Lisa said...

Thanks for visiting my blog! I've been wanting to find a beauty product review blog for awhile now. So glad to see you've got on.

Had my eye on this product too. Thanks for the "heads up."

ThatBeeGirl said...

I'm not a fan of that line of Clinique moisturizer. I love love love the Origins line of moisturizers, which if I'm not mistaken, is also owned by Estee Lauder.
When my fave Origins product ran out, I cheaped out and tried a Grassroots product (I'm blanking on the name) -- it was my first time at Kohl's and I was overwhelmed! From the tester, it looked and smelled so much like my favorite Origins product (Have a Nice Day) that I didn't hesitate in buying it. The first day I used it, I was surprised that it smelled so much different than the tester! I used it a handful more times, but have since gone back to Origins as the smell from the Grassroots product made it seem like the product was rancid.