Celebrity Andrea Brillantes has always wanted to be the CEO of her own cosmetics brand. She wanted her vision to be front and center and come up with products that are representative of her own beauty routine and ultra feminine vibe. And so Lucky Beauty was born. “Makeup is a wearable lucky charm,” Andrea says. For her, it helps her feel more confident and in control of her fate.

This year has seen such a rapid development in the quality and diversity of local makeup product options and with just a little under two months left to 2022, Filipino brands do not seem to have any plans of slowing down.

Issy & Co. has definitely shown that they will be finishing this year strong with their latest launch that revealed a total of 48 products for all of us to enjoy!

Following the influx of lip, cheek, and multi-use product releases, Issy & Co.’s latest collection - Skin On the Go - was a breath of fresh air that the beauty community needed. While I’m not complaining about the aforementioned influx since I’m always excited over new makeup, finding out about Issy & Co’s Active Skin Tints and Weightless Loose Powders took my excitement to a whole new level.

Project Vanity writer Firas Abboud declared in his story, “Makeup knows no gender, so every makeup product is technically universal.” I can’t agree more! I think everyone should not be judged when they wear cosmetics, no matter how they identify, or their age, or how their body is. Everyone is allowed to be more beautiful in all the ways that make them feel so! I think that’s why local brand blk Cosmetics, Anne Curtis and Jacqe Yuengtian-Gutierrez’s brain child, hit a nerve when they launched the first Universal collection last year.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but there’s a gold rush in the drugstore foundation category. All the drugstore brands are trying to become The Chosen One for bases; everybody is trying to outdo each other when it comes to quality, shade range (hurrah for inclusivity), packaging, and value. Revlon’s new Candid line holds no punches in this regard. They’ve recently come out with 31 shades from light to very deep - their most comprehensive selection yet - of which 12 are available here in the Philippines. It comes in cute millennial pink packaging to boot!

Let’s take a look at the Candid line and see what I think about this intriguing collection.

Setting powders and finishing powders - is there actually a difference between the two, or are they just fancy marketing words to make you buy more product? The answer is actually a resounding “yes”! There is a difference between the two but some brands may use the terms interchangeably, so it’s understandably a bit difficult to figure out which is which. Setting powders and finishing powders can be both in loose or in pressed form, can be white-colored or tinted, and typically offer little to no coverage at all. The difference is in how they are used.

Often, at the drugstore beauty counter, a “good bargain” is just a bargain more than it is actually good. Many of us settle for mediocre products because they’re cheap and they work well enough. Often we would pay for these with a shrug. “It’s alright,” we tell ourselves. Once in a while though, something seriously good comes along and we are reminded why we should keep our standards even when faced with all manner of cheap temptations. That’s how I felt when I tried the Pink Sugar Our Lil’ Secret All Day Matte Powder, which is only P349 for 10 grams of product.

I always come with a positive mindset whenever I try new products. In the decade that I've tested hundreds of products for Project Vanity, I've come to understand that each has its pros and cons and that what works for some may not work for me (that rolls the other way round too). Beauty, I love to say, is so personal. We buy things for different reasons and not all of them is based purely on how effective the product is.

That said, I didn't initially intend to write this review of some Glossier products I picked up online. There are other things for me to write about but Den our Managing Editor convinced me it should be out there. So why not? 

In the words of the wise men of Bowling for Soup, high school never ends. I started to believe it when my cringe-worthy high school days haunted me back in the form of the Pond's Magic Powder BB. This bottle of powder had been making rounds online as a super cheap yet effective oil-control powder so I made sure to pick up a bottle during my Bangkok trip last year. You can find this at any neighborhood 7-Eleven in Thailand but in the PH, availability is limited to online sellers.

Now, before you get thoroughly scandalized, the only "exposure" you'll see here are those of our most-abused makeup! "Pan porn" is a popular description for makeup products that you've literally hit pan on from regular usage, thus exposing the shiny metal bottom. It's titillating for us PV girls because it's a totally justifiable excuse for us to go out and buy some new makeup! (Am I right or am I right?)

Hello from Tokyo! It's about 9:45 AM and I can't wait to start eating at Tsukiji Market. It's my favorite place in my favorite city, because the sushi is amazing and the snacks are perfect. Anyway, before I leave, I thought I'd write a quick review on a pretty popular complexion powder: the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette (P3,900 at Sephora.ph).

If you’ve been following the news, you may have heard that the courts have ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $110 million to a woman who claims she developed ovarian cancer as a result of applying talc-based products to her genital area. Both the brand and its talc manufacturer Imerys have been considered negligent as they failed to include a warning about the cancer risk related to the use of talc-based products.

The story led to quite a bit of panic, and many people quickly threw out their J&J baby powder products. If you don't have a baby or sport the polbo-tint look, surely none of this affects you, right? Wrong.

I have a (well-documented) bias towards high-end bases. Drugstore foundation, concealer, and powders can do the thankless job of creating flawless skin, surely, but luxury bases belong to another planet. The shade selection, pigmentation, finish, and staying power of expensive base makeup (upwards P1,500) are remarkably better than what you can find for say, less than 500 bucks.