I just had another birthday and decided to up the ante in my skin care regimen now that I’m getting older.

I’ve been blessed with pretty good skin (thanks mom) but it’s never too early to start preventative care.

I’ve been watching QVC hock Philosophy for years and finally decided to give it a go. I had to go to Sephora to get my free birthday gift anyway, so I also picked up the ‘Great skin is in’ trial kit to see how I like it.

It comes with a 3 oz  bottle of Philosophy’s famous Purity Made Simple Facial Cleanser. It’s got a milky consistency that you massage in for 60 seconds before washing off. This cleanser is amazing, it gets off everything even mascara and leaves your skin feeling silky.

The cleanser is followed up by a 0.25 oz tube of Help Me Retinol Night Treatment. A little goes a long way. It’s been 2 weeks and so far I haven’t experienced any irritation. I’ve never really used retinol before but it’s supposed to be the key to staving of wrinkles.

After the retinol treatment comes the 1 oz Hope in a Jar moisturizer that Philosophy devotees are crazy about. After a few days, I understand why. It has a really light souffle consistency and leaves skin feeling supple and moist (I hate the word moist, but I couldn’t think of an alternative).

This starter kit is $30 and a great way to try out the line. So far I really like the results and I’m considering committing to the full-sized Purity and Hope in a Jar when the kit runs out. I don’t know if I want to commit to the retinol yet. Philosophy is a bit pricey but a little goes a long way and this brand has an epic reputation in the beauty world.

The only con is that if you want an SPF for daytime you will have to shell out twice the price and get the daytime version of Hope in a Jar too. I personally decided just to stick with my Olay moisturizer for day and save Hope in a jar for at night.

After this kit is done, (If I’m feeling brave enough) I might post a makeup free pic of myself so you can see how great my skin looks!