Reviewing facial serums always makes me a little uneasy. They aren't like, say, a nail polish, where you can see the results immediately and decide if you like it or not. Excepting the ones that have a short term brightening or exfoliating effect, most serums are intended to have anti-aging or age prevention benefits that wouldn't really be noticeable in the short term. And for someone like me who's barely on the cusp of the aging process, it's even tougher. It's all about prevention.

So, reporting on the results a week or two into cracking open a new bottle seems kinda pointless. "Oh, I've been using this for two weeks, and guess what? No new fine lines! OMG BEST PRODUCT EVER, TOTALLY HG!!" Ha.

The best you can really say about a serum is, come see me in 20 years, and if my skin looks good, it worked.

That said, I've found myself really liking MD Skincare Hydra-Pure Antioxidant Firming Serum. (You know I love this brand, I've been all over their products for quite some time now.) I started using it during a particularly bad skin freakout a couple of weeks ago, and credit it with helping my inflamed face get back to normal. I like the way my face feels when I use it, it doesn't aggravate my skin, and the packaging is a plus -- it's housed in an opaque pump bottle that doesn't let air or light in. Active ingredients can go inactive pretty quickly when exposed to light or air, this is why clear jar packaging is bad. Viva la pump bottle!

At $95 it's pricey, but nowhere near as out-of-control as its sister products from luxe brands like Chanel (their Sublimage serum is $385). And it contains a whole host of goodies for your skin, including green tea, vitamin C, vitamin A (retinol), peptides, hyaluronic acid, copper, squalane, and a bunch of other antioxidants like lycopene and grape seed. We like peptides, retinol and antioxidants. Good stuff.

There's also a chelating agent, which binds and neutralizes metals from tap water. Chelators definitely work, I'm just not sure if you really need this unless you wash your face with hard water. I could be wrong, though, and in any case it probably can't hurt to get that crap off your face.

Finally, cyclopentasiloxane (silicone) gives the serum a lovely velvety feel on your skin (but if you hate silicones -- I know there are a few of you out there -- stay away).

Overall, another nice product from MD Skincare, and one that I'll keep using. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right? Check with me in 20 years and see if my skin is still firm and lovely!