I’ve been keeping this secret for over a year and finally, I can shout it out to the world! Heroine Make, the world-famous mascara brand from Japan, is back in the Philippines! They make one of my HG mascaras, Long & Curl, so I’m glad that I don’t have to wait for my next Japan or Hong Kong trip to get my hands on it again.

After all this time, Happy Skin remains as one of my top three favorite local cosmetic brands. I like how they’re always improving their formulations and coming up with new ones. And now, since the launch of Generation Happy Skin a couple of years ago, they have affordable everyday makeup solutions that are all under P400. What a steal, right?

Honestly, makeup has taken a backseat for me because of the pandemic. I’ve been working in beauty for almost 13 years so it was quite strange to not be as involved with makeup as I always have. There aren’t as many new products and there aren’t huge waves anymore when it comes to trends. Definitely not normal. But this has given me an opportunity to re-examine my beauty look and go back to the basics. I still do want to look good, after all! This blog is called Project Vanity, haha.

Whether you’re putting together your first makeup kit or a seasoned pro stocking up on work essentials, Maybelline is a reliable go-to drugstore brand for beauty fans. They recently launched three new products that claim to be long-wearing and more, so we tested them to see if they actually deliver.

Eyeliner can smell fear, they said, and this is certainly true if you have yet to discover the well of courage deep inside yourself. You need conviction when applying eyeliner especially if you're trying to achieve a classic cat eye! Now it takes a lot of practice and a steady hand as well, but to make it easier for all of us, Revlon has created a pizza cutter eyeliner (that's what it looks like!) to come to the rescue.

I'm lucky to call Laveen and Rohit Mirpuri of Pink Sugar my friends. I always learn new things from them when it comes to business, and they are always super frank (sometimes painfully frank) when it comes to feedback about my own business and products. I am the same with them. When you're working your ass off as hard as we all do, then there really is no time for bullshit. I appreciate that!

Some of the most common beauty-related questions I get involve eyeliner. Which eyeliners will never smudge? Which eyeliners will stay on the waterline? Well, here's my updated answer! These are the five eyeliners that I use the most, out of the 40+ ones in my desk. They're the ones I always keep an eye because I'd hate for them to get lost, piled under a pile of new products. They're beautiful, easy to perfect (important when I need to be out of the house 15 minutes ago!), and will barely - if at all - smudge all day.

Here are my top eyeliner recommendations! Please click on the links for the full reviews.