Hey, PV Community! How’s the month of April going for you? Sorry if I’ve been MIA with the beauty roundup - I moved to a new place last week and have been unpacking ever since. Now that I’m finally done, it’s back to regular programming - time for this week’s beauty roundup!

Have you heard about NACIFIC? It’s a K-beauty brand that’s been quietly getting a strong following recently. It stands for Naturalistic, Affordable, Clean, Innovative, Fresh, Iconic, and Caring. Their approach is a trendy minimalist aesthetic coupled with formulations that spotlight nature-derived healthy ingredients to relax the skin. It is an inclusive brand, because each product line targets specific skin concerns. There’s the Fresh Cica Plus (acne care/anti-inflammatory), Pink AHA/BHA (exfoliating), and Blackhead All Kill (pore refining) to name a few. But their all-time bestsellers are still the OG Fresh Herb Origin line and their brightening Phyto Niacin line!

My earliest memory of makeup was watching my mother put on this gorgeous deep red on her lips as she got ready for Sunday mass. And like all children I thought my mother with her lipstick on must be the prettiest woman in the world.

Although my memory of lipstick only goes back twenty years, this iconic product has been glamming up the women (and men) of history for centuries.

I was a malikot kid growing up, always running around and getting into all sorts of accidents. From scraping my knee, breaking my arm, to getting my head bashed on a wall by an overzealous cousin, I’ve had the kind of childhood that was possible only because we didn’t have Internet at home yet. You’d think my skin would be covered in scars, but I only have a few discreet ones thanks to my mom’s favorite wound cream: Terramycin.

Beauty is subjective, but good health is not. It’s important to ask ourselves how we’re being more proactive with our health especially during pandemic times. In my case I’ve been more conscious of eating right, going to the gym, and taking vitamins regularly. I have to confess that I always forget the last one! This is why I particularly love vitamins that can also count as a fun, light snack.

Hey, PV Community! How’s it going? I don’t mean to shock you, but the first quarter of 2022 is about to come an end. I know, I know - where did the time go, right? Speaking of time, it’s time for another roundup of what’s new in beauty.

I used to think of acne as a punishment for me not being careful enough with my skin, not being more mindful of what I expose it to. But overtime I realized it’s just a natural function of skin to let me know what’s not working out in my routine. Often it’s also because of my hormones or stress, which I can’t do too much about. I’ve accepted it as a part of myself - not a flaw, but a built-in feature that I don’t have to hate.

We all have our go-to shopping platforms, right? What I noticed is that we visit different e-commerce websites based on what we’re looking for. There’s a place we go to for appliances, a place for cheap abubots, and then a place for more high-quality items we KNOW will be authentic. That last one for me is Zalora.

People always ask me if I’ve tried or want to try the lash lift procedure. We’ve had writers on Project Vanity do a review before, but I personally think it’s not for me. I prefer to rely on really, really good mascaras instead! I know the power of long, voluminous lashes in framing my eyes, so I rarely skip mascara (only on gym day).

I first heard about the Maybelline Sky High Mascara about a year ago, but I couldn’t get my hands on it because it wasn’t available in the Philippines. Finally, it’s here! I bought it from Lazada for P499 from the Maybelline Flagship Store.

Multinational consumer goods company Unilever Philippines teams up with top health and beauty retailer Watsons and social enterprise Plastic Bank in the efforts to protect and preserve the environment.

Through Watsons, Unilever launched Gift for Good in 2021, offering shoppers sustainable beauty products, including the hair and skin product brand Love, Beauty, and Planet.

This pandemic deemed many of our cosmetic products useless, like colorful eyeshadow palettes or loose pigments that we may have bought on a whim or for that one party we needed to attend. Not everyone has the energy or time to play with makeup and post on social media, or wants to donate the palettes because it’s a limited-edition item. It’s an even bigger problem when they’re about to expire.

Allow me to share some ideas on how you can utilize those rainbow palettes so they won’t entirely go to waste!

Kérastase is a haircare brand that I’ve had great experience with so far. It addressed my post-partum hair fall a couple of years back with the Kérastase Genesis Anti-Hair fall line while I’ve used up a couple of bottles of the Kérastase Discipline Oléo-Relax Hair Oil. It is one of their best-sellers after all!

I was shopping in Landers BGC when I spotted the E45 Cream (P575 for 350 grams) on the shelves. I’ve not heard of it before, but looking at the claims in the front and ingredients in the back immediately convinced me to try it. I’ve been suffering from dry skin on my hands and feet, and needed something that can fix the issue fast. Normal heavy creams and lotions aren’t doing it for me as I always wash my hands and neglect my feet.

I take a few pills every single day for my maintenance medication, so believe me when I say that I prefer my vitamins to be more interesting than the bitter tablets I have no choice but to take. I love gummy vitamins because I can pretend they’re just candy while still getting the benefits! I love fruit flavors too.

Wellspring Gummy Vitamins is the newest player in town and they’re now available in Watsons. There are five variants available. Let’s check them out!

For International Women’s Day, Watsons released results from a regional ‘Women’s Confidence Survey in Asia’. Two major findings are: 1) Almost 50% of women feel unconfident; 2) Mentoring support and seminars on stress management & career success are the top support women need.

Trusted health and wellness partner Watsons continues to provide Filipinos with a wider range of products while staying true to its brand promise of looking good, doing good, and feeling great through its sustainability efforts.

I remember when I had just started writing for Project Vanity and attended a MAC workshop that featured the Lightful C collection. It was actually the first time I realized that this MUA staple makeup brand also carried a skincare range! And it’s one that focuses on highlighting the skin’s radiance for a rosy glow, even before any base makeup takes place.

Well, the Lightful line just got a major “tone up” that sees the series expanding to a total of seven skincare products and three types of base makeup. Say hello to the Lightful C3 collection!

How’s it going, PV Community? To all the working girls out there, are you reporting back to the office already? I’ll be doing so soon, and one thing that excites me about it is that I’ll get to curate an office makeup bag again. Now, perhaps a product on this week’s beauty roundup list will make the cut.

Celebrity beauty brands are all over the place these days, with many of them seeming like they’re just merch, or a second thought sent out into the void by celebrities who simply can’t have too much money. But I find Rare Beauty to be an exception. I see Selena Gomez with regular updates on socials and seeming very involved in her own brand (this is not as common as it should be). Of course there is a team running it day-to-day, but somehow it feels like the brand has a soul. At least to me.

Beauty brands are stepping up these days in incorporating treatment with their makeup. Issy and Co’s Hydragloss (P209) has made waves in being a lip treatment and lip color in one cute tube. Let’s test it out!

The Hydragloss colors I have are Jell-Oh, H.O.T. and Punch. They appear super pigmented on the tube, making one think of fruity summer colors. Upon smelling, there was no fragrance or “flavor” that I would usually get in some lip glosses. I swatched them on my arm and it was surprising that I didn’t get a sticky texture. It glides more syrupy and didn’t leave an overt residue when wiped off with a tissue.