You may have noticed that some of the recent reviews have crappy pictures. It's a sore spot for me lately, ugh. I tinkered with my camera's settings but I didn't notice how shitty the product shots are until I started post-processing them.

I can't stand grainy, blurry pictures on my website. However, I don't have time to shoot them again because (1) the items have been used, (2) scattered around the house and (3) THERE'S A LOT OF THEM. So. Please bear with me while I finish off the last two batches of pictures. I hope you can squint when you look at them.

Feels good to vent!

Moving forward. Here's the latest local development from one of my fave eyeliner brands: Eye of Horus recently launched a bigger selection of products and more retail locations! You can now find EoH in a few Snoe Beauty branches aside from the online store of Glamourbox.

The new products include some eyeshadow palettes, a liquid eyeliner (which I will review separately), and new colors of their best-selling pencil eyeliner. I love it and have already done a full review, so now I'll just show you pictures and swatches of two awesome new shades!

Okay, you know I love colored eyeliner as a quick way to get some color onto my lids, but I know that you're not yet completely sold on the idea. One way to ease yourself into bright shades would be applying subdued, yet beautiful eyeliners that flash a certain way in the right light.

Is it just me or does Christmas feel a little late? It's just 13 days away but I'm still not getting into the spirit of things. Hmm. Well, I'll be blogging about all the holiday releases in the coming week so maybe that'll ignite the flames!

On a related note, would you be interested in seeing a Project Vanity gift guide? What's your budget for gift-giving?

Anyhoo today I'd like to talk about the Glamourbox Secret Santa Box. This is the latest package from the brand, just out last week I believe! It contains a few things that'll help you achieve that holiday freshness even though you're totes stressed out.

Here's what's inside!

Ta-dah! It has three full-sized products sprinkled with a few sample sizes.

I am crazy distracted this week. There are a million details to think about and a ton of things to follow up - well, not really "tons" or "millions" per se but I know you know I'm just being hyperbolic. Bottomline, there are many things that need to be done and not enough juice or focus to do it. 

Just one of those weeks, I guess.

Anyhow, I thought I'd write a short post on these Ofra Lipsticks (P650 at Glamourbox). Yup, Glamourbox is the official distributor here in the Philippines! They've been carrying Ofra for a while but these lipsticks are new-ish in the store. A full-sized tube was included in their October box so I'm sure you've been seeing some swatches around the local Internets.

Ofra Lipstick No.205, a sheer magenta pink that can be built up to semi-opacity

So how are they? Well, the formula is emollient and moisturizing enough to be used without balm. The staying power is average at three hours. Pigmentation varies between the two shades - the  202 (red) is loud while the 205 (magenta) is sheerer than I expected. I need to layer it a few times to get it to be as solid as the swatch above.

"Looking good is the best revenge." Do you agree? I do, because looking good means that you're happy and taking care of yourself very well. Your haters will quietly grind their teeth with frustration at how much better you're doing! Your ex will regret all his thoughtless mistakes. Now that is a revenge more satisfying than TV-level theatrics.

Don't do revenge though, if you can help it. It'll eat at you and your other relationships, making you miserable and empty inside - where it really matters.

Well that was heavy. I just meant to review the Face Atelier Ultra Foundation (P2,150 at Glamourbox), which carries that slogan in the box! Haha. This is one of those quietly popular products with a following among makeup artists and beauty junkies all over the world. I'm happy that Glamourbox decided to distribute it here in the Philippines, as it's hard to find even in the US (short of buying directly from the website).

So why are Face Atelier foundies famous? The fame is mostly from their Zero foundation, a white shade that is meant to be mixed with other face products to lighten them. Pale girls love it, as well as makeup artists who always need to calibrate their foundations to match different clients. There is also a very dark Face Atelier foundation for women of color and for darkening too-light foundations.

Being neither a makeup artist or on the extreme end of the color spectrum, I got the shade Honey, which is a mid-toned yellow that'll suit NC30-35. It's my perfect match!

Hi folks! How was your weekend? Mine was spent doing absolutely nothing. Nothing. Now I feel terrible after all that inactivity, but in any case this week is going to be an extremely busy one. My face is literally twitching while I think about it. Well. One must soldier on!

Today I'll do a quick unboxing of the latest Glamourbox. Now this one blows all the past boxes out of the water - it contains A LOT of exciting full-sized products from Avon! It even includes a tube of the new Avon Ultra Color Lipstick. The good news is, the box is still available for purchase at the Glamourbox website. I'm sure you'll be convinced to grab one for yourself once you see what's inside.

Okay okay, enough with the suspense. Here's the Special Edition Avon Glamourbox (P595)!

My blogging backlog is alarming. I probably have over a hundred reviews and features filed away by now but I have stopped knowing where to begin! :( I can probably just quickly mention things here, but then I'd be wasting space. I don't want Project Vanity to be a repository of random beauty/fashion features - whatever I put out here should count. Be valuable. There are a lot of good brands and products out there but the point should be curation - what is worth writing and reading about?

So I figured, I will just write about the things I really, really like at the moment while I am organizing everything. It happens that the Eye of Horus Natural Smoky Eye Pencil (P960 at Glamourbox) has caught my eye!

I've had this for maybe three months now but honestly thought it wasn't anything special. I've seen some rave reviews, sure, but I was still incredulous. I've swatched it a few times in the past but I assumed that the consistency was too soft to be reliable when it comes to long hours and oiliness around the eye area. Wrong! This is an awesome pencil for that smudged smoky eye, or for something simpler like a soft natural line. It is buttery but most importanttly, it stays in place!

Can't believe I'm saying that of a pencil this ridiculously soft, but it's true.

Glamourbox, I think, raised everyone's expectations from the local beauty boxes with its first package last November. It contained a full-sized Australian mascara worth P1,000+ (which is good btw, according to Kira!), a lip palette, and various intriguing perfume samples. I'm pleased to announce that the December box also did not disappoint!

When I first opened it I thought, ok coupons, coupons, sample bottles...meh. That is, until I saw the full-sized VMV lipstick! One tube costs P1,050 at the store, and the box is only P600. I love that Glamourbox puts in one product that's full-sized and costs much, much more than the subscription fee.

I hope they continue doing it. It's not just great value for the customer's money, it's also such a pleasant thrill to receive. That's like 50% of the reason women would want a curated beauty box.

Beauty boxes are all the rage these days. They're a convenient and exciting way to sample new products that (ideally) you won't find by yourself. It's just like giving yourself a monthly surprise gift! But there are downsides. You have no idea if you'll even like what's inside the box, moreso if the subscription fee - not really cheap at P500 to P600 - will even cover what's inside it. I've seen a box that features drugstore products and another that everyone says is a total rip-off with the overall value much less than the fee. What do you think?

Don't lose hope yet, though! Glamourbox has a really nice box, their first, for November. They have premium brands in the list as well as intriguing names that we've never heard of before. I guess the most important thing is that you get more than what you paid for. See for yourself, here are pictures of and my comments on the things inside!

Welcome post card with product info and prices in the back

As a beauty blogger I am in a unique position to try a LOT of makeup, skincare, fragrances, and other nifty gadgets and services related to beautifying our body. Brands and companies usually send me products to review, and that's cool because I get to sift through a pile of stuff to bring you a curated list of what's worth trying out. But nothing beats trying something yourself, right? That's the proposition of online beauty sampling services, a fairly new phenomenon in the Philippines!

Basically, you can subscribe to a sampling site, pay a fee (depending on the business model) and get a curated box full of products in trial sizes. This way you won't need to buy a full-sized item item only to find out that it doesn't suit you. In the same vein, you can also discover good, spend-worthy products that you otherwise won't venture to try by yourself.