I literally gasped in awe when I first saw the teasers and previews on the fifth installment to the Naked palettes of Urban Decay. I’ve always wanted to get the first and third Naked palettes, which were warm and rose-toned respectively, but I never had enough of an urge (and moneh) to actually purchase. Naked Heat was different - there was something about it that I just couldn't resist!

When we did a feature on the PV staff's kikay kits last year, I was honestly shocked by how much stuff I lug around. Having a lot of options (and being ready to do a face at a moment's notice) feels reassuring but if you carry so much in your purse on the daily, the unnecessary weight can give you some serious back pain!

So we decided to do an edit and challenge ourselves: what are the products that we absolutely must have in our kits at all times?

It’s easy to see why fragrance is such a personal matter. While the (happy!) reality is that there are simply too many available locally to count, there is also the matter of trying to find a scent that sets you apart from others while simultaneously suiting your personality and current mood.

A lot of new products hit the stores this week so make sure to drop by their counters if you're malling this weekend. Clinique has a new collab out, Aerin arrives in Manila, Happy Skin is giving brides-to-be have yet another reason to glow and look blooming, while Kim K is expanding her makeup empire with a teaser on her newest product. Read up and enjoy the weekend, PV girls!

"Affordable" and "quality" are probably our two favorite words to associate with a beauty brand. LA-born J.Cat Beauty fits the bill as it offers excellent formulas and colors for a reasonable price! On top of being cruelty-free, the brand has been drawing praise from beauty gurus like Michelle Phan and Desi Perkins. J.Cat Beauty has already opened branches in Uptown Mall BGC last year as well as in Ayala Malls Vertis North, and they recently opened their Gateway branch with a bang! They introduced their brand ambassadors as the #MakeupKittens, which is composed of Arci Muñoz, KC Del Rosario, Jessica Yang, and Jach Manere!

Have you ever experienced being told that wearing makeup will ruin your skin? It's something I've heard older people say, and honestly, I can't blame them for thinking this way. Before there were laboratories, technological advances, and actual cosmetic chemists that formulate the makeup we use today, people just used whatever was available and looked good. For example, both the Japanese geisha and Queen Elizabeth I used lead to whiten their faces!

The destination might be exciting, but it’s not that fun sitting through a 7+ hour flight once you're stewing in your seat. You're jetlagged from the time-difference, your skin gets dehydrated from the dry cabin air, and you feel tired and cramped because let's face it - those chairs in Economy aren't designed with your beauty sleep in mind. It's a challenge to somehow look and feel anything but shitty when you disembark but it's not impossible! Here are six tips to help you and your skin survive that long-haul flight!

Skincare can be a bit daunting with all this talk about 10-step routines, but the truth is no one ever starts with 10 steps. A good routine starts with only a handful of products and the most basic of steps until you work your way up to figuring out your skin's individual needs. Only then do skin-specific steps like serums, ampoules, and acids come in.

It helps to figure out your skin type first. The four basic skin types that pertain to sebum production are normal, dry, oily, and combination.

The road to running my own company at 28 was an unexpected one. I always thought I’d be working a corporate job for most of my life and maybe finally running my own business when I retire. But things didn’t quite work out the way I planned! It’s challenging and often exhausting, but I honestly can’t imagine my life any other way - and it was all because of blogging.

What makes a luxe lipstick worth the splurge? With so many great options at the drugstore, the pressure is on for more expensive bullets to hit the mark. More than just pretty packaging and brand prestige, the formula ought to be mind-blowingly good.

If you're looking to purchase your first high-end lippie or a new addition to your collection, you need to check out the Estée Lauder Pure Color Love Lipstick (P1,275)! At an exclusive lipstick party, the brand launched 25 new lipsticks in four different finishes – ultra mattes, shimmer pearls, cooled chromes, and edgy crèmes. The PV team got right to swatching and playing with all of the shades, which are designed to be mixed and layered on for fun, new combinations.

As a PV girl who tries to be a smart spender, I almost never buy any products without looking for and extensively reading reviews about it first. It sucks to waste money on a dud product! However, there are times when no one seems to be talking about the product or brand I'm interested in and I have to go in blind to test them on my own. It's a shame because there are a lot of great brands that people don't know about simply because you don't see them on blogs or beauty websites. So today, we're sharing our favorite underrated brands and why you should consider checking them out! 

Pinays used to steer clear of applying any kind of oil on their faces. With the often hot and sticky weather plus oily skin being a common beauty concern, using facial oils didn't really make much sense! As more beauty gurus started including oils in their skincare routines and mixing them with their foundations though, that perception has definitely shifted to seeing oils in a more favorable light.

Whenever we get new assignments for Project Vanity, I always look forward to the makeup throw downs and challenges the most. So far, we’ve done micellar waters, makeup wipes, brow pencils, and tints to name a few. This time, I’ve been tasked to wear two full faces of makeup, reflect on how each one fares, and try to come up with an answer to this question: is it still worth splurging on high end makeup?

We’ve set some parameters for the comparison: all the products for the more affordable makeup look should be below P500 while the higher-end look is comprised of products worth P1,000 and above.

Despite my obsession with skincare, I've only had two actual facial treatments (complete with pricking) in my entire life. The first time was way back in high school, before I had any appreciation for the kind of effort you actually need to make for achieving and maintaining good skin. It was pricey for my student budget and I didn't see any improvements after, so I didn't feel encouraged to try it again.

Recently though, I was invited by O2 Laser Skin Center to try out their signature service: a Korean Facial Therapy! As images of Korean actors and pop stars flooded my head, I wondered how different the procedure would be from the usual treatments you can get at mall facial centers. Would it give me that coveted chok chok complexion?

If you have wavy, fine hair like mine then you know the infinite and often rather literal pain of detangling it while it's still wet. That's why the Wet Brush - a brush designed specifically for detangling wet hair - was such a game changer for me when I first tried it two years ago. It's been in my dresser ever since! I even got a smaller version for my tennis bag so I can brush my hair in peace after working out.