Philosophy The Great Mystery One-Minute Daily Facial Review and Photos

I love Winners. I rarely look through their clothes anymore, instead heading straight for their beauty section. I've found lots and lots of goodies from Benefit to Bumble & Bumble to Dior to Butter London. I often find Philosophy products - haircare, their 3-in-1s and skincare. 

I used to work at a store that sold Philosophy products before any Sephora stores opened in Toronto, so we were the only ones who carried the line. Philosophy products were definitely our top sellers. I was able to try quite a few of the products. I was always impressed by their skincare products.

I picked up this tube of Philosophy's The Great Mystery on a recent trip to Winners. It's a one-minute daily facial. 

So basically it gives you a mild facial after only one minute and it's mild enough to use on a daily basis. What you do is apply a dollop to your fingers and massage it into your skin, after cleansing, avoiding the eyes, nostrils and lips. The instructions say to massage until it turns white, but the product starts turning white without any massaging. It's definitely safe to have on your skin for more than a minute or two (you leave it on for 60 seconds after it goes all white). It warms up a bit on your skin and though it says it is exfoliating, it's not gritty. It's a smooth, thick gel and easy to massage into your skin. Rinsing takes a bit of effort since it's so thick and you need to use your hands to massage it off your skin. 

Afterwards, my skin feels warm, smooth, clean and hydrated. It's bright pink, but in a healthy way, not in an irritated way. Moisturizer applied after is absorbed readily. My skin feels fantastic.

One thing of note about Philosophy is that they're rather proudly un-natural. Where many or even most brand these days tout the latest natural skin benefitting ingredients, Philosophy does not. They're more about how the product works then what the ingredients are and kudos to them for that. 

The Great Escape is unscented and retails for about $30 CDN (I paid about $20 at Winners). It's 5 oz.

Grade: A