I’ve wanted a tattoo ever since I was little, but even when I could already afford to get one, it took me a while to actually take the leap. After all, it was going to be a permanent mark on my body, so I needed to be sure about all the details. Where should I have it done? How much would it cost? Most importantly: how can I do it all safely?

I’ve long been a fan of a lot of Anastasia Beverly Hills products, from their Dipbrow Pomade and Powders, to the iconic Modern Renaissance eyeshadow palettes and celestial highlighters. Pure Hollywood, a nude liquid lipstick, was one of my first ever lip purchases back in the day! The brand carries a lot of cosmetics that seem to always be in line with the zeitgeist while maintaining high quality at par with the top brands in the world.

MAC never fails to release daring Holiday Collections, and the Starring You for Holiday 2019 is no exception. Perfect for standing out with glittery pouts and galaxy eyes, the collection features eye, lip, lash, and cheek products that make you the star. I got to try some seriously majestic pieces which I’m excited to use here and there whenever I want to make an impact.

Merry Cliniquemas! We recently went to the brand’s Holiday Preview in SM Mega Fashion Hall, and were dazzled by the numerous skincare, makeup, body, and fragrance sets curated for seemingly everyone. It’s like Ophra saying, “You get a set! You get a set! You get a set!”

Happy Holidaze, PV fam! Have you started ticking names off your gift-giving list? If you’re racking your brain trying to find gifts for different ages and diverse tastes, a bazaar might be your best bet! In fact, you may want to check out the Flair Pop Up happening this Saturday and Sunday (November 23 to 24, 2019) at The Fifth Rockwell in Powerplant Mall, Makati.

Actress Anne Curtis is a keen lover of scents. She has a scent for her different moods, plus it’s something that her fans always ask her about, so it made sense for her baby blk Cosmetics to expand to this category.

According to Guttierez, blk wanted to step away from the usual offerings in the local market, balancing its scent blends with local taste. The result: four less common blends that embody Summer, Spring, Autumn, and Winter. These are made with 12% oil sourced from Dubai (while the mists are made in the UAE) as opposed to the typical target of 4 to 5%, says Gutierrez. 

I recently went on a trip abroad, and while my skin was totally fine during my travels, all hell broke loose when I arrived back in Manila. My skin suddenly became a flaky mess after days of cold and airplane conditions, and my period arrived and brought hormonal acne with it. I routinely get post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), so my skin pretty much went from flat and somewhat even-toned, to dry and dotted. Nice one.

I recently went to Amsterdam and promptly freaked out when I realized that the city had a Charlotte Tilbury at de Bijenkorf Mall. I had long been a fan of the brand, especially when famed makeup artist and former Tom Ford Beauty director Charlotte Tilbury talks about her products with such passion. The video tutorials and general hype towards the makeup just added fuel to the fire.

I’m not new to the world of luxury foundations but I’ve never heard of a self-refreshing foundation before. So when Shiseido launched the Synchro Skin Self-Refreshing Foundation with SPF 35 PA++++, my interest was piqued! This foundation features ActiveForce Technology which is supposed to enable the foundation to “resist humidity, respond to heat, rebound from facial movement, absorb oil, and diffuse light for a just-applied look”. It sounds like a great match for my oily skin and the tropical climate, so I decided to test it out!

Hair dyeing is infinitely tempting for those looking to change their look, and also infinitely intimidating for the first timer. What kinds of dyes are there? Do you need to go to a salon? What’s a toner? Why does the shampoo need to be purple? There are so many factors to consider when getting your hair colored and it can be quite confusing to a hair color virgin. I was once a clueless noob, too, so I’ve outlined some tips from lightening, to dyeing, to maintenance to help you dip your tips into the wonderful world of hair coloring:

I’ve been an avid fan and collector of liquid blushes since NARS released their version in 2017. I’ve tried a bunch of options from Glossier, Inglot, and Peri Pera, but I always come back to NARS for its longevity and luxe feel. Imagine my surprise to find ads of Nee Cara Liquid Blush (P260 for 15g, at Shopee) that look so much like the NARS blushes, down to the shade range. Now imagine the electric charge in the air when my editor proposed to compare the two, plus the liquid blushes from O.TWO.O (P300 for 15g at Shopee), a Chinese company that also sells liquid blushes in the same packaging and shade range! And so I tested the three formulas to investigate how similar they are and why the Nee Cara and O.TWO.O blushes look the same.

Ah, the multi-pot - endlessly desirable (at least for me) yet somewhat difficult to manage. We already love cream blushes, but I love the idea of having one product I can use for multiple applications that I can toss into my bag. They’re also a hot topic due to the new Sunnies Face Airblush release, so for those who want to be more conscientious about their beauty purchases, we decided to test it out together with other cream products to find out which one reigns supreme.

Once upon a time, I was trying the SNOW app and changed the eye color to a slightly lighter brown (and at around 15% opacity) than my natural eye color. Lo and behold, I looked good! GGSS (gandang-ganda sa sarili) vibes aside, it inspired me to finally research on and purchase a pair of colored contact lenses. After consulting with the other PV girls in our group chat, I bit the bullet and settled on 1,100-peso FreshKons at Eyecrafts. I mistakenly followed someone’s advice to get green lenses though (the rationale being that green made a lighter brown whereas a brown made a redder brown) and ended up with, what else, green eyes.

Did you know that the Calendula Herbal Extract Alcohol-Free Toner is Kiehl’s #1 best-selling toner globally? Its success inspired the brand to come up with a water cream (which is skincare speak for a lightweight gel moisturizer) that incorporates the same iconic ingredient, Calendula Extract. What’s different about the new Calendula Serum-Infused Water Cream is that it includes micronized Calendula petals that “burst” when applied. The Calendula serum is meant to soothe and refresh the skin without making it feel too heavy. While moisturizer isn’t a particularly exciting category for me (I’m really more of a sunscreen type of gal), the unique texture of this product led me to discover its unintended use as an ultra-smoothing primer that nourishes and creates slip!

Your girl loves a luxury foundation. Although it’s not necessary for creating the perfect base, I do find that there is a difference in formulation and how much easier it is to blend and wear versus what you can get from the drugstore. That said, I’ve always invested in full-coverage, long-wearing foundations when I buy luxury brands, so I was surprised to find that Guerlain’s L’Essentiel Foundation (~P3,500) provides a happy medium that’s suited for every day. We’ve reviewed a fuller coverage Guerlain foundation before, so I was curious to see how different this take on ‘natural’ foundation would be. I tested it for two weeks, and here’s how it panned out:

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!

Hum-hallelujah, Shimmertints have arrived! After a confluence of events (aka popular demand and product development timing), Colourette finally released a new category of their liquid tints: highlighters. After a game-changing experience with their Face Gloss (which is NOT a liquid but a powder designed to look like liquid), and a lovely time with their liquid lipsticks for Valentine’s, I was actually pretty excited to try these new products, especially when I saw that they decided to release four shades! Y’all know I love a bronze glow, too. The best part: each bottle just sells for P349. I tested them for two weeks, and here’s how they fared:

Fun fact: MAC’s Studio Fix Fluid was my first bottle of foundation. I asked my mother to buy it for me as a Christmas present, and the makeup artist matched me perfectly to NC42 (at the time). Since then I have been (time and time again) disappointed by other artists who have failed to match my shade properly, but I’ll always remember my first time. My uncle said I looked like a Korean - my skin was so smooth (helped by the pill at the time) and acne scars were non-existent. Flash forward to now: I have tried many a foundation in my day and have admittedly forgotten about the Studio Fix Fluid after emptying it, so I find myself pleasantly surprised about Ole Reliable.

I’m back with a new list of great beauty and hair moments, this time from the Oscars 2019 red carpet! While there were many pretty looks this year, I wanted to take a look at six moments that showcased the styling prowess of the best from Hollywood. I was drawn to looks that were well-thought of - decisions that seemed to be made in tandem with the styling and served to create something interesting, fresh, or even admirable. On to the looks!

I stalk Colourette’s releases like a hawk. It began with their Kolorete release in August 2018 (Buwan ng Wika for our less informed friends), and while I was not always a fan of their packaging and branding, I was in awe of how they just got the pulse of their consumers. I recently just accepted that red is my color and was (yet again) thrilled by Colourette’s timing. Three gorgeous reds, Cupid (a warm tone), Beau (a vamp), and Arrow (a berry) are available just in time for V-day! These Colourette Supramatte Liq’Lacquers are P349 each, or P899 for the set.