Living up to the raves: Philosophy Renewed Hope in a Jar

Philosophy has been around for a while now and I've been wanting to try it for a while but I never came around to actually doing so. Then recently, I came across this product on the website as I was looking for a good facial moisturiser and Google led me to Philosophy's Hope in a Jar.

So I made my way to Sephora and stood there, in front of the Philosophy aisle, only to find so many products under the "Hope in a Jar" range - from the original formula to the refined formula to the night cream. From what I had read online, everyone seemed to be raving about the original formula so I picked that up and as I made my way to the counter, a Sephora salesperson suggested that I tried the Renewed Hope in a Jar instead.  And that's how I purchased this product.

This product is supposed to be a groundbreaking formulation that delivers an ever lasting glow and refines skin texture. Lots of people claim it makes them glow but the common complaint is that it's not as hydrating as other moisturisers in the market and that it does not contain SPF. 

I actually found that it does perform to its' claims. I mean it does moisturise my skin and it definitely does reduce the size of my pores. My skin has most definitely brightened up with that glow - especially saw the difference when I wasn't using it during my recent India trip, my skin had become so dull. That's when I realised just how good this product is. In addition to that, my skin texture seems to have  improved compared to three months ago!

The down side is probably that this moisturiser "melts off" my face when I head out of the house in the mornings in this humid weather despite my skin being extremely thirsty and dry (due to the Roaccutane) so I can't really use it as a day time moisturiser, forget about what it'd be like on normal or oily skin types. 

Now I don't know whether the original formula is better or whether I should stick to the Renewed Hope in a Jar but I'd definitely repurchase this product as of now.