When I was a teenager, my mom warned me to never aggravate or pop a pimple if it's on my nose. She told me that the daughter of a friend of a friend (not a typo) was prohibited by a doctor to never get "the triangle of death” on her face infected if she didn't want to die. To me, it sounded a lot like an urban legend: it evoked images of the Bermuda triangle in my head, and the third-degree anecdotal “proof” seemed pretty dubious. Still, being an obedient daughter, I did avoid picking at pimples whenever they grew in this so-called “danger area” because it seemed better to be safe than sorry.

The beauty industry is fast-paced and constantly evolving with new trends, techniques, and tools popping up seemingly overnight. Some of them, like these skincare “innovations” we reviewed, are fun but ultimately passing fads that soon go the way of butterfly clips and elephant pants.

While some trends are destined to delight then disappear, there have been a few survivors that have made the jump from beauty gimmick to beauty staple. While the fate of “washing machine” brush cleaners, jade face rollers, and pizza-cutter eyeliner are still up in the air, these tools have weathered disbelief, dissing, and dupes, and look like they’re here to stay!

Our skin is an amazing part of our body. It’s the largest organ because it covers us from head to toe. The skin on the face is delicate and is usually more sensitive than other parts. Fortunately, skin has a layer of protection that's called the skin barrier. This is basically the topmost layer of the skin that protects from bacteria, viruses, and other harmful substances. A healthy skin barrier on our faces keeps it hydrated and acne-free so if you're experiencing skin trouble, it's possible that your skin's barrier is not at its best state.

Is it just me or did January fly by so fast? One minute we’re celebrating the new year, the next we’re nearly at the end of the first month! I feel like the ink hasn’t even dried on our resolutions list, yet here we are. How have you been sticking to yours? Whether you chose to do a full beauty overhaul or just have a few improvements in mind, Watsons reminds us to celebrate the 2018 version of ourselves - this year’s Happy New You!

Sonnets have been written about this concealer. After using it for a couple of months, I now understand why! The Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer (P399) is a cult favorite for a reason. Never mind its promises of being a "treatment concealer" - let's be real, this is not skincare - but it's a crazy good concealer that covers and plumps up the skin beneath flawlessly. 

I’ve been experiencing bad breakouts on my forehead for a while now, and as the cause is hormonal, I’m trying to just manage it as best as I can. Finding products that help to control my acne and dry up existing pimples hasn’t been easy—I’ve had to experiment with so many products before finding ones that work and also fit into my student budget. Zapping zits is more than just applying a pimple gel though; you really need to fight acne with every step of your skincare, so here’s my favorite go-to products so far, under a P1,000 price tag!

When it comes to resolutions, the one at the top of my list is always to save more money. I want to be more responsible with my finances and make sure that I save as much as I can for the year, and for my future. So when an amazing luxe brand decides to bring in their famous lippies to the PH, well, that resolution goes out the window! Jokes aside, this week’s roundup will have you wishing you didn't make a #nobuy resolution. After all, Tom Ford's limited edition lippies just landed in the PH, Lindsay Lohan’s making her way into our vanities (we don’t know how to feel about this, too), and someone finally made a primer specifically for dark circles! See if you can get through this list without adding anything to your shopping cart.

Before we discovered the wonders of sheet masking, pampering our skin conjured images of green goop-covered faces with cucumber slices placed over the eye area. Yup, we're talking about clay masks! Clay is a soft, loose, naturally-occurring material that is rich in minerals. It is also very absorbent, which is why it's frequently used in skincare to draw out deep-seated impurities that simple cleansing can't reach. It's a great ingredient for unclogging pores and thus reducing pimples, whiteheads, and blackheads. Some even have brightening and anti-aging properties!

Just ask any member of the PV Team about where they shop for beauty booty, and they’ll immediately list Watsons as one of their regular haunts. Its wealth of makeup and skincare picks that fit a wide range of budgets, plus there's always something new! We’ve already switched and saved during budget season, stripped down to gentler bath and body formulations with the Naturals line, armed ourselves against the elements with the Pure Beauty Urban Shield line, and got a head start on anti-aging with the Collagen line. But it doesn’t stop there! This veritable drugstore brand has now tapped into the J-beauty scene to bring us Target Pro by Watsons.

The Ordinary is probably the biggest breakthrough beauty brand of 2017, and I'm just one of its many fans who can’t stop adding items to my shopping cart. It is addicting! They really raised the bar for skincare with their wide range of straightforward active ingredients offered at wallet-friendly prices. If you want to get on the bandwagon but don't know where to start, fellow PV girl Kim has a list of TO must-try's. But even if you're more into makeup than skincare, The Ordinary has also been making the internet buzz about its face primers and foundations - so much so that foundations had a 25,000-person waitlist!

Just like that, the first two weeks of 2018 have already passed! We’re hoping that your year is off to a good start but just in case you need a quick pick-me-up, this week’s roundup has got a bit of everything for you. From Avon’s grandest sale in 40 years (crazy, I know!) to Kat Von D’s latest music collab, these news bits are just as exciting as the fireworks you lit for the new year. Pat McGrath’s also got a luxurious new lip product, and you can have the opportunity to make beauty your business. And that's just as well because Tom Ford Beauty is bringing in something sensual this February! 

I recently read that contrary to popular psychology, it takes about 66 days to form a new habit instead of just 21. It sounds like a long time but I find this mildly reassuring as we've already reached the half month point and I'm still struggling to stick to my resolutions! Having a support group for encouragement goes a long way to helping me stay the course, so my fellow PV girls and I decided to share our beauty goals for this year. Here's what we've decided to focus on for 2018.

Don't let the name intimidate you. While the use of acids for chemical exfoliation is best reserved for skincare geeks, there is an acid that even beginners can safely add to their regimen! Hyaluronic acid is an ingredient often found in skincare products, and it's common enough that most of us have probably tried it already. Besides, did you know that it's already inside our bodies?

Lip tint is an easy product to make, but tricky to make right. I can only count in one hand the tint formulas I actually like to wear! Most tints end up being streaky and super dry on my lips. In worst cases, they won’t even stick to my upper lip, resulting in a weird bald finish! I'm still all for tints though. I like to play tennis and recently, I've been rowing every weekend, so I'm always on the look out for something quite specific. My work-out lip product has to feel like practically nothing on my lips, wear well even when I'm working out, and keep my lips reasonably moisturized.

If you've ever watched a K-drama or seen photos of K-idols, you probably noticed how incredibly smooth and flawless their skin looks. No pores, blemishes, or uneven coloring - they're almost too perfect to be real! The glass skin trend is pretty common among Korean stars though, and this ‘’dewy skin made dewier" look has become the ultimate #skingoals for many. 

After years of worshipping at the altar of perfectly-matte, shine-free face base, I've learned to embrace my natural shine, thanks to the cult of chok-chok. This dewy, bouncy glow had all of us falling back in love with moisturizing, with some swapping out foundie faves for the ultimate KBeauty staple: the BB cream.

The world of beauty seems to have grown overnight. Being a beauty fanatic and skin care addict, I have mixed feelings about it. My first thought was, YAAASSSS finally there are so many new things to try! But a few seconds later, I realized: there are SO MANY things to try! I suddenly can’t cope with all of these new products, innovations, and, let’s face it - gimmicks.

I do understand that the beauty industry is even more competitive now. Brands are pressured to come up with standout products that can get them #trending both online and off. I personally find that there’s a very thin line separating the ingenious and the gimmicky though so here’s a rundown of what works and what doesn't, based on what I've tried so far!

Working at Project Vanity means I have to stay updated about the newest products and latest trends, and I think it's amazing that there's always more for me to learn about! Because of this constant exposure, I've become a lot meticulous about adding to my beauty stash and I feel that it's really paying off. Together with the other PV girls, we've discovered quite a few HGs in the past year! We've raved about some of them in posts here on PV and on the Facebook group but we're still so #shookt about how good these finds are so we're recapping them here together with the disappointments that landed in our trash.

Despite the abundance of heat and humidity in our country, there are people like me who worry about looking tuyot. Persistently dry or dehydrated skin cracks, folds, and doesn’t tend to smooth back out, thus making us look older than we really are. I’ve had really bad days when insufficient skincare and dry foundation formulas have made me look wrinkly and washed out. While I know that aging is inevitable, it's not fun looking twice your actual age!

Aging concerns are real for people like me who have dry and/or dehydrated skin so the Revlon Youth FX line is aimed at addressing just that.

Making resolutions for the new year means evaluating the present and figuring out how to make the good better, and the better best. That's why it seems timely that Kiehl’s has taken an old favorite - one that they claim sells at a rate of one bottle per minute - and made it more powerful than ever! The star ingredient is also now more potent and more stable.