I remember being targeted by a stream of ads for sensory deprivation tanks shortly after watching Stranger Things. Marketed as the newest, hippest way to meditate and relax, it piqued my interest until I learned that each session costed $100 and up. I filed it under my mental folder of bougie treatments I can’t afford, and haven’t thought about it again until our managing editor, Den, asked me to try it some weeks back. The newly opened Saltwater Float Center in Ortigas invited us for a session and I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to access the upside down to de-stress from work.

I am absolutely weak for minis (see Exhibits 1, 2, and 3). Since I like lugging my beauty essentials around, collecting travel-sized skincare and makeup has always been my happy pill. Recently, I swooned over the new shades of blk Cosmetics #blktravels when I spotted them on Instagram. Paris, Los Angeles, New York, and London are bold additions to their initial collection of MLBBs and more classic hues.

I have been a big fan of the Colourette Colourtints ever since I got my hands on them last July. Pigmented, long-lasting, and easy to blend, both Fresh and Matte formulas have found a special spot in my makeup kit. This is the reason I was really excited to attend their third anniversary party where they launched the latest addition to their best-selling tint family. Say hello to the newest Velvetints – a multipurpose velvet formula for your eyes, cheeks, and lips!

I am not as well versed in J-beauty as I’d like to be. Unlike the rest of the PV team, my experience with Japanese cosmetics can be condensed to a few award winning skincare, cult-favorite mascaras, and the ever famous Shu Uemura lash curler. I’m currently on a streak of more natural makeup looks so Canmake Philippines’ newly-released matte lip tint and cream blush were welcome additions to my current rotation!

I am a firm believer in the power of beautiful lashes. Long, voluminous, and charmingly curled - a good pair of lashes does so much to make your eyes look more awake and vibrant. I have been meaning to try lash perming forever but shelling out P3,700 for Yumi lashes was a little steep for my cheapskate heart. After reading several recommendations for Let’s Face It Salon from the Project Vanity community, I decided why not, and gave their P252 (!!!) lash perm a go.

One of the things that I wish I knew sooner in beauty was to shop for my skin type. In my rookie years as a skincare enthusiast, I would spend H O U R S watching and reading reviews of popular products that unfortunately turned out to be bad matches for my oily, acne-prone skin. I now mourn for all the time and money I could have saved! Fast forward to today, I have learned to tune out the hype and just listen to my skin and what it needs.

Kathryn Bernardo, to me, is the epitome of gandang polbo and lip tint. While I have not followed her body of work as an actress, I am a huge fan of her face and have admired her beauty journey through the years. In many past interviews, both she and her go-to celebrity makeup artist, Denise Go-Ochoa, would emphasize how little makeup Kathryn actually wears. She prefers to wear little to no foundation and would often stress the importance of good skin. Her signature makeup look consists of dewy skin, straight brows, defined lashes, flushed cheeks, and just a hint of lip color.

I have been hearing great things about the Colourette Colourtints from the Project Vanity team and community. Pigmented, blendable, and with strong lasting power – for P249 each, they definitely sound like a steal! Recently, the Colourette team launched new formulations of this cult favorite to be even better. The original Matte shades now have an even richer pigmentation, and they introduced a new Fresh version for fans that prefer a lightweight, my-lips-but-better tint.

How your skin looks is often a reflection of your inner health, but sometimes it can be quite a challenge to be in perfect shape. Chalk it up to the stress from work, exposure to pollution, the convenience of fast food, or busy schedules that take time away from sleep and exercise. Living a healthier lifestyle, whether for beauty purposes or not, should be our common goal, of course. There are no shortcuts for getting healthy but can beauty supplements help to improve the state of your skin?

I have another weird confession to make: I’ve held on to practically every beauty empty I’ve accumulated in the past two years.

Maybe I’ll need to take a photo of it later. Maybe I’ll need to revisit the ingredients or instructions. I have to compare this with newer products for research. I want to share about my empties on Instagram. This packaging is too pretty for the bin. In the past, I’ve always found an excuse to keep holding on to my trash. But enough is enough!

I have a confession to make: I look forward to all sorts of hair grooming sessions. Brow threading dates, waxing appointments, diode laser hair removal sessions – these to me are precious me-time, self care activities. When I started tracking my expenses though, I realized just how costly these services were! So while I can’t do the latter two by myself, facial hair grooming seemed a good DIY candidate to help me save a few bucks.

When you have to fit work, sleep, exercise, dating, house chores, and commuting in Manila all in 24 hours, you’ll have no choice but to learn how to pinch your time where you can. In my case, I’ve learned to keep my daily office makeup routine within 5 to 10 minutes! It took some practice to achieve that time record but I now have tricks to cut down what used to be a half-hour routine. Here are a few tips that might help you out if you’re a fellow busy bee!

My idea of a low maintenance beauty routine is cutting down my skincare to four steps and taking 15 minutes tops for application. My boyfriend’s idea? Skincare activities that can be done once every couple of weeks and that will require low to zero physical effort on his part! We're working on it, but if you’re lucky enough to find a guy who believes in sunscreen, hold them close and consider me envious. For SO's that are as low maintenance as mine is though, here are six beauty activities that you can still do together to help him get used to the idea of taking care of his skin.

I’m perpetually jealous of people with nice hair. I see people with healthy tresses all the time and wonder, how do they do it?! I had always promised myself to get better at hairstyling, so I welcomed the Healthy Heat Ceramic Styling Iron from Eva NYC with open arms.

A good part of my day is spent double tapping on beautiful faces on Instagram. Admiring gorgeous skin, ogling at perfect brows, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at perfectly chiselled features - I draw most of my makeup inspiration from following celebrity makeup artists! If you want to escape your makeup rut or are simply looking for a daily dose of pretty, here are five celebrity MUAs you won’t regret following on social media.

There was a point earlier this year when I resigned myself to bad skin forever. I was sleeping past midnight, subsisting on fast and junk food, living a sedentary lifestyle, and just really stressed out because CURSE ADULTING THAT’S WHY. I got my hands on some cult favorite skincare that I thought would solve my problems but all it did was break me out in the most horrible way. It was a nightmare, and my previous skincare routine could no longer undo the damage and catch up with my crappy lifestyle.

After weeks of ugly suffering, I told myself that it was time to reclaim my skin and wounded self-esteem.

Graduating from baby powder was a rite of passage for most of us. It signaled the end of our pubescent years and marked the beginning of our kikay era. But do you ever wonder what sets actual powder makeup apart from the one we've been using since childhood? Can baby powders do just as good a job in setting makeup? I tested three different baby powders to find out!

The wonderful world of skincare is a rabbit hole. It’s confusing, ever changing, and overwhelming but it also happens to be beautiful, exciting, and empowering. We here at Project Vanity consider ourselves guilty for being skincare addicts. It’s likely that you’re one of us, too! Question is, how far along are you in the four levels of being a skincare junkie?

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.

Have you ever found yourself in a makeup emergency? I’ve certainly had days when I regretted going out without makeup on and itched to slap my face with some color! While it’s true that the best look to wear is confidence, it wouldn’t hurt to know you’ve got options when you’re truly stuck in a makeup crisis. If your makeup bag and the next drugstore are nowhere near, you might be surprised with what 500 pesos can do at your neighborhood convenience store. I certainly was with this Convenience Store Beauty Challenge! I raided a nearby 7-Eleven to see what they've got.