I found myself thinking about a significant question as I settled in for a celebratory birthday manicure, fully prepared to treat myself to an elaborate gel manicure. As someone constantly using my hands, I routinely choose a gel manicure to ensure longevity. However, as my hands went under the UV lamp, a worrying thought crossed my mind, sparked by a flurry of social media posts and a recent study making rounds.

Could my cherished manicure sessions be raising my risk of cancer?

Someone on Instagram asked me last week about how I keep my legs looking smooth and even. That’s when I realized that I haven’t talked about this nifty technique yet despite “discovering” it some time back! It became viral on TikTok at one point, but I found out about it before I saw it on Tiktok via a “Eureka!” moment in the shower. It just makes complete sense.

I used to think of acne as a punishment for me not being careful enough with my skin, not being more mindful of what I expose it to. But overtime I realized it’s just a natural function of skin to let me know what’s not working out in my routine. Often it’s also because of my hormones or stress, which I can’t do too much about. I’ve accepted it as a part of myself - not a flaw, but a built-in feature that I don’t have to hate.

I started practicing yoga in 2012 – from the humble beginning of joining a yoga event up to enrolling in a studio for cross-training in pole and getting my first yoga teacher certification in 2014. I was in the middle of a yoga teacher training course when the lockdown happened. From the face-to-face sessions with manual adjusting that we were used to for many years, we had to continue through video conference and focus on verbal cues.

Dear Beauté Himawari shampoos and conditioners are always well-loved here at Project Vanity. Liz featured the hair combo on her new finds way back in 2015 and the launch of the Volume & Repair variant in 2016 showed great results. A travel-size sample set was even included in the Project Vanity J-Beauty Kit!

Now a new variant was recently released and it’s especially formulated for mature hair: the Dear Beauté Himawari Smooth & Repair Shampoo and Conditioner (P745/500ml each).

Shampoo bars have been in the market for years. Lush released their first shampoo bar in 1988 and has produced a wide range of varieties to cater to different hair needs since then. Local brands like Zenutrients, Human Heart Nature, and SMEs like Beach Born, Ecobar, and Rinse & Repeat have their own versions too. But more than the availability in the market, the human drive towards becoming more environmentally conscious has brought these hair cleansing soaps on to a different level. Now, shampoo bars are no longer confined to a small niche as more and more people are ditching traditional shampoo bottles and sachets for it.

How are you stepping up your self-care game? Some may have taken to adapting their going-out beauty habits for at-home ones, while others have opted to sport makeup again to keep the proverbial engine running. But of course there’s the physical health aspect of self-care as well where our wellness journey tends to manifest itself through our physical appearance. Don’t sleep on getting proper rest, eating well, and taking the best supplements for your needs!

We are all coping with the pandemic differently, and our own way of doing so is valid. In the context of makeup, some of us have decided to take a break from makeup and that’s completely fine.

Now, if you’re thinking about wearing makeup again but are needing that extra push, then here are ten reasons why you should start wearing makeup again!

While we first featured menstrual cups in 2016 here at Project Vanity, it wasn’t until last year that I personally started using one. The pandemic made me do it. It was such a hassle to buy my favorite pads and tampons as they’re not easily available in most supermarkets, plus I felt like I’m adding too much plastic waste whenever I bleed. That’s why I decided to get a cheap menstrual cup from BeautyMNL called Anytime. I wasn’t excited about the Bible verse in the packaging - somehow it felt like it was mildly judging me for inserting their own product into my vagina (weird) - but it was a start.

If being in the midst of a global pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that trying to take on healthy habits should be a conscious year-round practice rather than a half-hearted New Year’s resolution. It also means learning to be more in-tune with our bodies’ needs and selecting the right tools to help our wellness journey along. Bonus beauty benefit: A healthy system can translate to a glow that shows on the outside!

How obsessed are you with washing your hands and body on a scale of one to ten? I would say I’m pretty up there. I’m not yet - I think - up to the point of being truly obsessive-compulsive about it, but I probably wash my hands at least 15 times a day. Aside from pandemic reasons, I have a very fluffy dog who is an instant dirt magnet. So washing for me is up there on my list of daily priorities.

I’ve accumulated quite a few favorite cleansers for this purpose, and I think you should try them out if you haven’t yet!

One of the most challenging things about this pandemic is being able to avail of regular healthcare services that require one’s physical presence at a clinic. When my mom was experiencing a toothache earlier this year, I was surprised to learn that her dentist could not even do fillings. It was straight to tooth extractions for emergency cases. Cleanings and regular check-ups were out of the question.

Despite the name, COMMONLABS. is a Kbeauty brand that has a decidedly uncommon approach to skincare. When you visit their website, they describe their products as skin kinetics trainers that “stimulate healthy and balanced movement of the skin cells”. The approach is that of working from the core to ensure that skin is healthy on a fundamental level. And they focus on formulations that can battle pollutants and stress.

My skin has reached that certain point where I feel like I need a little help from anti-aging products, particularly in terms of lifting and firming. Gravity has taken its sweet time and my skin isn’t as bouncy as before – I can actually pinpoint sagging areas already. These exact concerns are what the SNAILWHITE Gold Age Renewal line aim to address so I’m happy to test out and see if the line can be my new anti-aging secret.

I’ve always had sensitive skin all my life. When I was younger, I’d often experience allergy flare ups that’s usually triggered by the food I eat, the weather, or even stress.

These days, I’ve been dealing with mild skin irritation from the summer heat. While I’ve been managing it with a gentler, much simpler skin care routine, I’ve been looking for a new cleanser that can manage my skin’s irritation - which is mostly red spots on my chest and dry patches all over my face.

Being in your early 30s marks the beginning of one’s first encounters with aging. It starts flexing its muscles on you around this time and while some signs of it can easily be swept under the rug, some tend to show themselves on your face, making them harder to ignore. I’m quite diligent when it comes to my skincare and face massages but I know it’s only a matter of time before gravity fully starts to get the best of me. So why not nip it in the early stages?

The ongoing pandemic has made alcohol and sanitizers essential to our lives. It’s something that we always need to have on hand to help protect us as we go about our day. Making sure we have our stash full is now more convenient as beauty brands release their own versions. We can shop for our beauty products and sanitizing essentials in one stop!

When I first heard of retinol, I was struggling with major bouts of adult acne that wrinkles and pre-mature signs of aging were the farthest thing from my mind. Even as I was pushing 30, I was fixated on my hormonal imbalance and how I can make my skin smooth and problem-free again. What got me to finally take the plunge and try out this ingredient was an article I found online that said it can also help me when it comes to my breakouts.

One of my favorite Project Vanity beauty discoveries is using a low pH cleanser. I love how my skin feels fresh and clean sans the stripped-off feeling. It also helps keep my dry skin from getting more dehydrated due to the pH-balanced formulation that’s just right for our face. There are plenty of benefits to using one and the beauty community is all for it, so we found ten local low pH cleansers to try this 2021!

Women today are faced with difficult decisions. The world we live in imposes gender norms that we are expected to conform to. We fear being judged which makes us constantly doubt ourselves. It’s even more difficult for those who are mothers who are expected by some to stay at home and care for their children. These are the issues that Youtuber Kris Lumagui addresses in her new vlog.