In the 36 years that Ever Bilena has been playing and slaying in the local beauty biz, the brand has clearly mastered the fine art of adapting with the times. Far from being relegated to distant memory as your lola’s tukador staple, EB has grown and expanded with several notable sub-brands for makeup and body care, an edgy beauty line for today’s trendsetters, and even a high-profile cosmetics collab with the Queen of All Media.

Since its grand launch in 2017, Vice Cosmetics has firmly established itself in the local celeb beauty brand scene with a resounding pak! Last year saw a major focus on tarush-colored pouts with a line of moisturizing matte lipsticks, the Philippines’ answer to Kylie Jenner’s lip kits, some juicy-looking lip tints, and a glittery collab with stylist-to-the-stars Bang Pineda. Let’s not forget that the brand also got ‘cheeky’ with the Aura collection of powder blushes, highlighters, and contours!

Over at the Project Vanity Community page, we often get requests for sunscreen recommendations. Everyone looks for the same qualities: no white cast, not sticky or heavy, and ideally without that distinctive sunscreen scent. By and large, Asian Beauty (AB) sunscreen formulas are the clear favorite, with most recos coming from Japanese and Korean skincare picks. Having so many options can be pretty overwhelming though, so let’s attempt to answer the billion dollar question: which sunscreen has the best formula?

It seems like with each passing week, a new patent is filed and another celebrity is venturing into the world of cosmetics. Hey, we aren’t complaining! This week’s beauty roundup has the latest in FENTY skincare (#GlowLikeRihanna), an “old school” makeup collection with Moschino, and... Bieber Beauty?! Yeah, we know. There’s a huge Sephora sale, too, so get your carts ready!

I grew up with dark brown skin. It was strange because both my mother and father have fair skin, and my brother - born two years after me - have had their creamy color since birth. I remember not caring when I was a child, but the older I got, the more I was compared to my brother. My parents’ friends would always comment that it’s a pity that I’m dark (“sayang maitim”) and that my brother was good-looking because he has such fair skin. This is the kind of crap that messes you up when you’re young, but when I entered college, my skin just lightened by itself. I didn’t use any product other than normal body lotions so I assume that this is my natural coloring.

Hi, I’m Stacie and I am obsessed with SM Beauty. I feel the urge to pass by whenever I’m in an SM mall, even when I’m not actually looking for anything! Recently, I’ve noticed that more and more products are becoming available in sachet packaging, including face bases. Ranging from P25 to P99, they’re a tempting option for those on a tight budget or for when you need a quick fix. Sure, they’re quite cheap but are they worth it?

Say annyeong once more as blk Cosmetics releases a second K-beauty collection! Inspired by Anne Curtis’s love for Korean teleseryes, the homegrown brand released their first K-beauty collection last year featuring a mix of best-selling favorites and some new items all in dreamy K-beauty shades. The second collection follows pretty much the same strategy, so it’s no wonder fans immediately snapped it up. As soon as it was launched on April 1, a handful of SKUs immediately sold out online and in-store, well ahead of the official media launch on April 2!

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any hotter (it’s currently 42 degrees outside), this week’s roundup might just up the temperature a bit more. We’ve got the tea on a newly opened skincare shop, a pineapple glow serum, and a foundation that promises ultimate hydration for this insane heat. We’ve also got a beast of a concealer and deets on the newest celebrity beauty brand. So, pour yourself a cold drink and take a sip, cause things are about to get extra hot!

With Philippine summer in full swing, temperatures are steadily rising. PAGASA says that it can reach a scathing 38 degrees Celsius this April, so the PV team is scrambling to find ways to keep ourselves looking and smelling fresh despite the crazy heat. Apart from swapping our daily makeup for waterproof options, we’re especially conscious about super sweaty armpits! I’ve already shared our  secret for totally odor-free underarms, but is it possible to stop them from perspiring as well?

11 years strong - what a crazy feat! Whenever I think about how far Project Vanity has come, my heart swells with pride and joy. I’ve been a PV reader since 2012 and a writer since 2016. I’ve seen firsthand how much the content has evolved and how big the community has grown. I feel very grateful that I found this space that Liz built on the internet many moons ago. Project Vanity to me has always been a fun, safe space to celebrate beauty with smart and passionate women.

I’m really not a fan of Philippine summer heat (although I love a tan) because of the damage and discomfort that it brings to our skin. Although I love find and applying sunscreen for my face, I usually neglect my body. There are even days where I skip sunscreen - I know, burn me at the stake!

As a smol person with smol hands and even smoller fingernails, manicures make me feel more grown-up and elegant. Extending a perfectly polished hand to someone I’ve just met is my way of saying “I’m a detail-oriented person” and “I’ve got my life together”. I do a pretty decent job of painting my own nails (I can even do some simple nail art!) but it takes me a lot of time to make it look presentable. So when I found rave reviews for stick-on nails in one of my beauty groups, I thought I had found the perfect solution!

I’ve been a fan of Colourette Cosmetics ever since Liz gave me a Colourtint. Now, I have a small collection of Colourtints, and a few more lippies from their different lipstick lines. I find their lip products to offer great quality at a very affordable price so when Colourette released these limited edition matte lipsticks called Christmattes, I just had to try them out! This post is a bit late considering this was released during the holidays, but I hope to give you an idea of how Colourette bullet lipsticks perform.

April Fools is finally over, and we certainly aren’t kidding around with this week’s beauty roundup! We’ve finally got pics and deets on the Urban Decay x Game of Thrones collab (spoiler alert: we want EVERYTHING), L’Oreal’s stunning new endorser, and another K-Beauty hub for Ortigas-based beauty lovers. Plus, Laneige’s new offering is a nod to 2002, and Fenty Beauty has dropped a summer must-have!

Luxurious yet practical, silk has been regarded as the textile of choice for everything from loungewear to formal garb. It has a visually appealing natural sheen, a pleasant texture that is cool to the touch, and a breathability that brings comfort as well as effortless style. As it turns out, this elegant cloth has other applications, as well! Phrases like “silky smooth” and “soft as silk” show how much we associate this fabric with great skin and hair. In fact, several popular bath and body products have silk in their brand names: Cream Silk, Sunsilk, and Silka!

I recently cut and dyed my hair teal as inspired by my iconic ‘90s mahou shoujo inspiration, Sailor Mercury! I used my favorite hair dye of all time, the Arctic Fox Vegan Hair Dye in Aquamarine, which is a brand known for their bright and long-lasting colors. Here’s a photo of me feeling very cute with my freshly-dyed lob alongside the official art of Sailor Mercury!

When YouTube star Anna Cay messaged me about sending over her new sponges, I was pretty excited. I got to work with her on a project before and really appreciated how detail-intensive she can be! I also gathered that she really cares about her subscribers and customers, so I knew that she wouldn’t release a sub-par product just to have something to sell. True enough, the All Covered by Anna Cay Air Blender Sponge (P288) did not disappoint and has become my go-to sponge pretty much ever since I got it.

When I was in high school, we didn’t have any Watsons in my province. The only way to buy makeup was through Avon and Ever Bilena resellers. Because shopping options were limited and so were our allowances, I would see my female batchmates sticking a finger inside their bags, quickly ducking down, then reappearing with red lips and a red-tipped finger.

Bust out the florals because Spring is upon us! Okay, we don’t actually have the four seasons and our current is more of a scorching summer, but that won’t stop us from celebrating the new bits from the beauty world! From MAC’s sakura inspired collection to TheBalm’s quirky new products, we are ready to dive right in. We’ve also got Hermès branching out into makeup (can our wallets take it?) and Kat Von D’s epic mascara, read on!

Since their founding 10 years ago, Human Heart Nature has always had “pro-environment” as one of their core advocacies. They have been following with this with sincere and well-researched environmentalist practices, and are now rolling out with refilling stations. Refilling for their Home Care products is now available at their flagship store along Commonwealth Avenue, and their first mall-based store at SM The Block!