superstart {with elizabeth arden}

Sweater: Everlane (from last year, similar style here); Dress: Tibi; Boots: Aldo; Bag: Olympia Le-Tan; Sunglasses: Celine

As I slowly but surely start to close the last chapter of my 20s and approach my 30s, I have to admit, everyone was right. There's no need to fear 30. In fact, in just my 29th year alone, I'm feeling much more confident, excited and self-assured than I've ever been, so if that's any indication of how my 30s will be sailing, then I say bring it on.

A lot of this has to do with hitting major career strides, learning more about myself and testing my limits -- and overall, feeling much more comfortable in my skin, inside and out. So when the folks over at Elizabeth Arden and Vanity Fair invited me to try out Elizabeth Arden's latest product, SUPERSTART Skin Renewal booster, I was intrigued. Granted, the 29-year old in me is balking at the idea of having to start thinking about anything related to anti-aging. But then the almost 30 year old in me is realizing that perhaps that's the key -- preventative steps for generally healthy skin.

We've talked about skin here on This Time Tomorrow and I'm only now after 29 years, starting to realize just how sensitive my skin really is. To weather changes. To pollution. To makeup. To my diet. And it's something I'm still struggling with to this day, but I'm making mindful strides in this area. That said, I've been looking for approaches that help start at the source of healthy skin, like drinking tons of water throughout the day, regular exercise, vitamin rich foods (and skimping on the hormone-heavy ones), and stepping up my skincare regimen with products that really add value and serve a purpose.

Which is where SUPERSTART comes in.

I had a chance to chat with some of the folks at Elizabeth Arden last week at a breakfast Vanity Fair hosted at their gorgeous offices at One World Trade Center. Up until this point, I had been using SUPERSTART Skin Renewal Booster for about a week prior, and was generally pleased with the results so far, but overall, was uncertain what role this product would be playing in my new approach to "intentional skincare."

As it turns out, a lot of our skincare products focus on deeper layers, targeting past the surface layer to get more to the root of skin issues, i.e. wrinkles, fine lines, acne etc. What happens, as a result, is we ignore this first layer of skin -- the epidermis -- which takes the largest beating to all the elements we put it up against. If this outer layer is damaged, it makes it really difficult for any other products you're using to really penetrate the skin. SUPERSTART focuses solely on this surface layer, rejuvenating it so it can be the best receptor for everything else you layer on top as part of your skincare routine.

Around this time, this is when I started chatting with SunHee Grinnell, Beauty Director at Vanity Fair. And let me tell you. If you had a chance to see this woman's skin, you'd be begging for her skincare secrets, just like I was about 5 minutes in. She only alluded to her age once, to which I said there was absolutely no way that was true, and we then agreed to take the challenge together. Four weeks of using Elizabeth Arden's SUPERSTART Skin Renewal Booster as our first skincare step morning and evening, followed shortly after with Elizabeth Arden's PREVAGE Anti-Aging Serum as a one, two punch.

About a week and half in, and so far so good! I've already noticed my moisturizer is actually absorbing much better, instead of pilling like it sometimes likes to do.

Only time will tell -- stay tuned! I'm curious though, have any of you tried Elizabeth Arden's SUPERSTART Skin Renewal Booster yet? What did you think?

Photos by Lydia Hudgens

This post was in collaboration with Elizabeth Arden and Vanity Fair. As always, all opinions and styling are my own. Thank you for supporting all This Time Tomorrow collaborations!