Ah, pores, the last frontier into the metaphorical universe of porcelain skin. We often get asked how to “make pores disappear” and our answer is pretty much the same: you cannot eliminate them completely, especially through makeup alone. You can clean them to make them less visible, or get laser treatments to shrink them, but "eliminate" is too strong a word because your skin actually needs them to function properly! Apart from keeping them clear or getting professionally zapped, there are makeup primers that are specifically formulated to “refine,” “minimize,” and “blur” your pores to perfection.

I tested three products: the Ellana Blur Makeup Primer, the Happy Skin Matte About You Pore and Shine Control Primer, and the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer to see which blurs or minimizes my pores the best.

I’ll be honest: I began this assignment with extreme prejudice against a metallic lip, cursing my editor (jk) and the laze-enabling weather. But after a little experimentation, I’m happy to report that I can now consider the metallic lip as a bonafide option in my lip arsenal, thanks to the Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lipcolors (P575).

When we got a sneak peek of the full roster of H&M Beauty, I was personally curious if the quality lived up to its chic packaging. In general, the eye and lip products are great and can really compete with more established brands but what caught my eye was their set of Powder Blushers, which range from soft hues to shocking pigments. They're just P499 at select H&M branches. Naturally, I got three… because that’s what people like me do.

I am tired of dry, crusty, flaky, uncomfortable lip products that make me want to take of all of my makeup in the middle of the day. I think the makeup community has been collectively sold on the liquid lipstick hype that some of us have forgotten what it’s like not to have to perform 70 lip preparation steps in order to appease the liquid lipstick gods. That’s why traditional bullets, like the American-made Milani Color Statement Lipsticks (P300 from Lannel Boutique), are a breath of fresh air!