Where's the mystery?! (Philosophy The Great Mystery)

Member Name: pink_glitter

Product:	Philosophy The Great Mystery
Date:	03/11/09 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: small amount needed per use, leaves skin feeling lovely and soft

Disadvantages: appearance of skin doesn't alter much, initially expensive

A while ago I was having a clear out when I came across a small tube of Philosophy's The Great Mystery. I bought this together with a few other Philosophy products around a year or so ago but had completely forgotten about it. Philosophy products are quite pricey, and I've been cutting back on the luxury skincare lately so I was pleased to find this. Being an American brand it has a best before date on the tube and thankfully it was still six months within the use-by time.

The Great Mystery, is described as being 'a one-minute daily facial.' According to the Philosophy website, this was created to mimic an in-spa deep cleansing facial. Saying that, I wouldn't exactly call it a cleanser, I think it's more of a face mask, which can be used regularly. Although it's called 'daily facial' Philosophy advise to use it whenever you feel like it, and as I don't have the full sized tube, I've been using mine about once a week for a bit of a pick-me-up or booster for my skin.

It contains sea salt to exfoliate and panthenol and marine extracts which they say will soothe and moisturise dry skin.

The product comes in a white tube with a black lid and has the signature text on the front, as has been copied by many other brands. Still, I think it stands out as being a Philosophy product and the packaging seems sturdy and good quality.

To use this, you simply need to massage it onto clean, dry skin. Do not put it on wet skin as I did this once by accident and it doesn't work! The product itself is a clear gel which has a slight scent to it. I'm struggling to put my finger on exactly what it smells of, but I'd say it's a bit like those shower gels that give themselves names like 'sea minerals' or 'ocean'. It's a very subtle scent though, and barely noticeable.

Once you start to rub the gel onto the skin it will turn white. It feels smooth and silky on the skin and doesn't take a huge amount of massaging for the colour to change. Once it has gone white you need to leave it on the skin for a minute. I've found that during that time my skin starts to feel slightly tight, but unusually it doesn't really feel uncomfortable.

After your minute is up you simply rinse the product off with warm water. I find that instantly my skin feels much better to the touch. I have dry skin which can feel quite rough and flaky, but it is left incredibly smooth and soft after using this. The product claims to exfoliate the skin and although it's not gritty at all I would say that it does still seem to exfoliate, however it is a mild exfoliation and it does not get rid of very dry patches.

It doesn't irritate at all and importantly for me, it doesn't dry out my skin, in fact it makes it feel quite moisturised and supple.

As for appearance, I can't say I have seen a huge difference in my skin, but I think it would be fair to say that it does make it look slightly brighter.

At £18.25 for a 141.8g tube from QVC, this product is not particularly cheap. Saying that however, if used as a weekly face mask, it would probably work out as reasonable value, because only a fairly small amount is needed per use.

Overall, I think this is a good product, but it's not outstanding. Despite the initial outlay being high, long term it could work out to be good value, and it definitely improves the feel of the skin. I think the main letdown is the fact that it didn't really do much for the appearance of my skin, which is why it loses a mark from me.

Summary: A nice product, that works out economical over time