This week, lippies are the talk of the town as both local and international beauty brands release new lip formulas and shades to love. If you like the Ever Bilena Plus Serum Tinted Lip Oil, you’ll love that it now has a total of twelve (12) shades from the original four. Check out Spotlight Cosmetics’ new Dewdrop Melted Lipstick, a fusion of lip color, gloss, and balm. Meet the newest additions to Charlotte Tilbury’s Pillow Talk family: the Beauty Soulmates Collection. Maybelline adds to their lip repertoire with the new Maybelline Lifter Glaze Lip Balm.

If you loved and now miss the Careline x Spongebob Puh-Lips Lip Oil, don’t worry because Careline just dropped a worthy replacement! Meet the Careline Lip Drip Tinted Lip Oil (P295 / 4g). This time, instead of just a handful of shades, Careline went all out with 18 new colors. It’s their biggest lip color collection yet, and here’s everything you need to know.

I’m not proud of it, but yesterday I was a little too pushy with my friend about going to the gym. Not my best moment. It’s not that I think she’s fat; I don’t care about her weight. We all know by now that the gym isn’t some magical fat-melting activity anyway. What I do care about is how much better I’ve felt since making movement a regular part of my life, and I genuinely wish more people could experience that too.

It definitely, truly feels like summer is now upon us. Let’s beat the heat with a roundup of local beauty news! Let’s get to know Careline’s newest lippie with a whopping 18 shades: the Lip Drip. Ace your base with new additions to the Absidy Beauty Base Collection: the Weightless Touch Foundation, Concealer, and Color Corrector. Remember the multipurpose face color pots Blk Cosmetics launched way back in 2020? They’re back with a vengeance, featuring ten all-new shades and a bouncier formula. Last but not the least, Happy Skin extends the shade range of their best-selling Seamless Perfecting Liquid Foundation for those with deeper skin tones.

A few years ago, we collectively went on an actives binge. We were layering retinol like it was free, scrubbing our faces raw with glycolic acid, and treating skincare like some kind of high-stakes chemistry experiment. More was more, and if it tingled—or better yet, burned—it must be working, right?

But somewhere between the tenth TikTok tutorial on how to fix your over-exfoliated skin and the collective realization that maybe, just maybe, skin shouldn’t feel like sandpaper, the pendulum swung the other way. Welcome to 2025, where skincare is all about barrier repair.

We’re only into the first week of March, but so much has happened already! Were you marked safe from the massive 3.3 sales? Well, we better hold on as brands are set to make even more waves with their Women’s Month promos. We also have new launches from our local beauty brands, featuring innovative designs and improvements in beauty technology. Careline’s new Lash Spike Volumizer Mascara proves you won’t have to sacrifice length for volume. None other than Catriona Gray partners with Strokes as they launch their new Microblade Pen Hybrid. Colourette celebrates women’s month with a cute sticker freebie.

Aging. It happens to all of us, yet somehow, society has made it feel like a personal failure if you’re a woman. The beauty industry loves to sell us the idea that we should be anti-aging—as if growing older is something we should apologize for. But let’s get one thing straight: aging is not the enemy.

Aging is a privilege. It is the quiet confidence that comes from knowing exactly who you are. It is the freedom of caring less about what others think and more about what truly matters. It is the wisdom to know what’s worth stressing over (your health, your happiness) and what absolutely isn’t (that one fine line that definitely wasn’t there yesterday).

So instead of fighting it, why not celebrate it?

I’ve been reaching for mascaras more than eyeliners lately because they give my eyes a softer, more natural definition, perfect for a no-makeup makeup look. We’ve already compared budget-friendly mascaras below P250 for oily lids, but today’s showdown features three big names in the mascara game: Benefit, EB Pro, and Heroine Make. I’ll be putting them to the test based on ease of use, curl-holding power, and longevity, which are my top three non-negotiables for my stubbornly straight lashes.

Spotlight Cosmetics threw a fabulous Galentine’s soirée at The Grand Hausse last February 11, and it was definitely one for the books. Guests were treated to delicious bites, a beauty buffet like no other, and a dreamy setup filled with plush velvet and stunning art. But the real highlight of the night? Denice Sy, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Spotlight Cosmetics, unveiling the brand’s new campaign and tagline—You First.

I’m on day 12 of isotretinoin, and my skin is breaking out like crazy. I know purging is part of the process, but this cystic acne just won’t quit! I have pimples on pimples. My chin is so swollen that even moving my mouth aches. My lips are dry and my skin feels ridiculously rough. I’m trying to stay calm, reminding myself that this is temporary, just two more weeks, maybe four—but honestly? It’s taking every ounce of maturity and self-confidence I’ve built over the past 20 years to not completely freak out right now.

I feel like everyone is looking at my acne and judging me for it. What kind of beauty editor has skin like this? Logically, I know it’s just the spotlight effect—no one actually cares that much—but emotionally, it’s a challenge. So yes, I’m feeling a little sorry for myself lately.

Let’s keep February short and sweet with a roundup of scrumptious news bites! Get into resort mode with NARS Cosmetics upcoming releases: the Hot Escape Collection. Pat McGrath Labsreleases a truly delicious collection in collaboration with sweet mobile game Candy Crush. Rhode Peptide Lip Tint now comes in a new shade with a sparkly finish: Sugar Cookie. Olives may not be sweet, but it definitely is something to celebrate as Olive Young is setting down roots in Los Angeles, California.

Acne is a tricky thing. It’s not just about getting rid of pimples, it’s also about keeping them from coming back and healing your skin properly to ensure you’re not left with scars in the process. The worst part? The more you try to “fix” it, the more it sometimes fights back. Over-cleansing, over-exfoliating, and using harsh treatments can strip the skin, causing even more oil production and inflammation. It’s a cycle that can feel impossible to break.

Lipstick trends have taken a turn for the better. Gone are the days when matte formulas reigned supreme, leaving lips dry and unforgivingly cracked by midday. Now, it’s all about hydration, comfort, and color that wears well throughout the day. The Ever Bilena Moisture Boost Serum Lip Stick (P 295 / 2.5 g) is a perfect example of this shift—packed with nourishing ingredients while still delivering strong pigment and a long-lasting stain.

I’m reheating the nachos by bringing back my Editor’s Picks column, where I get to share a few things that I’m enjoying lately. There are so many new and upcoming beauty products that it’s a challenge to make space for all of them on TikTok and Instagram, but in an article I can get into it with a little more detail.

This week, let’s talk about the little luxuries—the things I used to brush off as unnecessary but now realize are absolutely essential to my happiness. You hit a certain age where “pwede na yan” just doesn’t cut it anymore. Smelling amazing? A must. Sleeping well? A priority. Healthy hair, hydrated skin, and soft, moisturized lips? If it makes me high-maintenance then so what. It’s all about refusing to suffer unnecessarily when better options exist. So, here are the small but mighty upgrades that are making life just a little bit better.

I was scrolling through Best of the Best Manila, one of my favorite Facebook groups, when I came across a post that stopped me in my tracks. An anonymous woman shared that she had been training for a marathon for a whole year—twelve months of early mornings, sore muscles, and pushing her limits. But now, she’s 13 weeks pregnant. On a recent training run, she started to bleed. The baby is okay, but her OB told her she had to stop. No marathon. No finish line. No moment of triumph after all that work.

She turned to the group, probably hoping someone would say, Oh, I ran a marathon while pregnant! It was totally fine!. But the response was almost unanimous: Don’t risk it. It’s not worth it. You can always run a marathon later, but you can’t replace a lost baby.

Valentine’s day may be over, but we are still in the month of love! And I love me a good old all-local Beauty News Roundup, so let’s do that for this week’s edition. In store for you are all the details for fresh, new local launches. We’ll explore Spotlight Cosmetics’ newest release: the Next Level Eye Collection. Happy Skin launches a new lip and cheek product to try: the Mallow Pot. Colourette cooked up some new shades of their Colourdrip, as well as amped up its packaging. Ever Bilena is all for that juicy pout with their new Moisture Boost Serum Lipstick.

I grew up with my mom insisting that I had to wear a bra every single day—otherwise, my boobs would start sagging immediately. And, of course, I believed her. Who wouldn’t trust their mom on these things? But as it turns out, not only do bras not prevent sagging, they might actually make it worse in the long run! Over time, relying on them can weaken the connective tissues that naturally support our breasts, since the bra is doing all the heavy lifting instead. Shocking, right? These days, I rarely wear one. I’ll put one on if I’m wearing something super fitted or if I’m working out, but otherwise, I’m on the nipple tape train.

If you love cream products but have oily skin (a struggle, I know), then you’ve probably been let down by ones that feel too sticky or disappear by lunchtime. It’s hard to find something that sits just right, you know, something blendable, lightweight, and long-wearing. So when I got my hands on the Ever Bilena Pillow Pop Multi Pot, I was cautiously excited. A bouncy, creamy-to-powder formula for just P295 (or P143 on sale!)? Sounds promising. But does it deliver?

I’ve been allergic (figuratively speaking) to strenuous physical activity for most of my adult life. I did not like sweating too hard or spending too much time thinking about fitness. I thought I was fit (comedy gold). I’ve been hitting tennis balls these past ten years, but that was just pa-cute tennis—I had never even played a full game until recently. But ever since I got shipped off to the emergency room for three days about four years ago, something has changed within me. Something was not the same. I found out that I’m extremely hypertensive and that, after extensive tests, it’s just my bad luck with genetics. I’ve been on maintenance meds since I was 33, and that will continue into the foreseeable future.

Narciso Rodriguez has always mastered the art of understated sensuality. His fragrances don’t scream for attention or assault the senses. Instead, they somehow leave a lingering impression of something beautiful passing you by. Today, let’s talk about two of the brand’s scents: for him Vetiver Musc Eau De Toilette and for her Musc Nude Eau de Parfum. Both are different in personality yet complementary, almost like a perfectly matched couple.

One is fresh, woody, and confidently masculine; the other is soft, musky, and effortlessly feminine. Let’s get into it!

The brown lip trend isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so I picked up some of the latest releases from late 2024 for this throwdown. I focused on lip tints with a soft matte finish since they tend to wear longer and give off that effortless vibe throughout the day. I’ll be scoring them based on formula (claims vs. actual performance), visual finish, longevity, and how well they reapply. Let’s check them out!