The other day, Den and I were talking about what we thought was a botched cosmetic campaign. The advertisement was for an all-around (eyes, cheeks and lip) product. The idea was there, but it felt like the execution was lacking and the makeup looked clown-like, which we were sure was not the goal of the campaign.

I’ve always said that trying to do “less” with makeup is harder than going full glam. No makeup makeup looks and monochromatic looks are so understated that one minor mishap can be easily amplified due to the fact that there is nothing else to distract from the error. With the growing popularity of multi-use products, let’s get comfy with monochromatic makeup and learn the right way to pull off that one-product face!

Maine fans say hey! After two years Maine Mendoza gets another shot at #MACMaker - check her first color here. Now only is she the first influencer to do a second collab with MAC, she’s also the first to launch a Lipglass! Are you guys ready?

Pinays just looove their lipsticks. Most local brands will only have one or two foundation shades, but a boatload of lip products. It just makes sense. This country is too hot and humid, so foundation, which tends to break and smear with the heat, is just an added stress. Lipstick application is easy, and playing with color is a quick way to transform your look. Let’s take a few pointers from today’s hottest celebs and break down what makes a celebrity smooch.

With cosmetics becoming more accessible and more affordable, many beauty lovers have found themselves with collections bigger than they can use up before expiry. Hauls are fun, to be sure, but it’s also important to be wary of when our love for beauty and shopping at are unhealthy levels that negatively affect our finances and the planet. 

When Erich Gonzales’s and Julia Barretto’s images hit the internet, people definitely took notice. No matter where beauty trends may lead, this classic look will never go out of style. Clean, fresh, and with just the right touch of pink, you really can’t go wrong with this “blooming” aesthetic. But because the look is simple and subtle, it’s doubly important for the makeup to be applied really well so that it looks perfectly seamless.

Want to master this look? Let’s break it down and help you achieve a fresh start this 2020!

It’s never too early to start preparing your holiday looks for all those family reunions, office parties, and barkada meetups! After all, the festive season is the perfect time to be adventurous with your FOTDs. If you’re tired of the same old, same old, here’s something new and sparkly from Inglot to rival those brightly-lit trees and parols!

Dear Dahlia is a fairly new Korean brand that quickly gained Instagram fame for its trademark marble-and-gold aesthetic. Beyond the dreamy packaging design, this brand strives for timeless beauty backed up by an ethical commitment to promote vegan, cruelty-free, “8-free” formulations. While I’ve often thought that having a vegan thrust means a compromise with quality, I was pretty pleased to see this brand didn’t fail to deliver!

ICYMI, Project Vanity now has a Store tab with a curated collection of products we love! One of the things that I remember Liz being really excited about is an antiperspirant made especially for the face, called the Neat 3B Face Saver Gel (P850 for 50g, Project Vanity store). The parent brand is Neat Feat, a New Zealand company that focuses on a wide range of antiperspirant toiletries. The Face Saver Gel is labeled as a “facial antiperspirant” and because of its promise to reduce sweat, athletes and people in hot climates are encouraged to use this product.

Last September 17, Clinique Philippines mounted this gorgeous event called Pink Oasis in Okada Manila. With it, they re-introduced the Clinique Moisture Surge 72-Hour Auto Replenishing Hydrator (P2650 for 50ml, at Rustans.) The Moisture Surge line has been so successful that several variants have come out, including an Intense variant. I have previously tried the most basic variant, the Moisture Surge, through travel-sized gifts and have always enjoyed the lightweight hydration the gel format brings.

Even when shopping online, people have different approaches. Some prefer to look at a brand category and check out what’s new from there, while others simply browse the featured products on the home page. The budget-conscious might head straight for the Sales tab, or simply check their carts to see if what they like is on promo.

Whenever Japanese beauty cult faves come up in the Project Vanity Community, Hada Labo always makes an appearance. The brand is a particular favorite among skincare enthusiasts, but until recently, we were dependent on Tokyo-bound friends and pasabuys to help us get our J-beauty fix. With Hada Labo’s arrival in the Philippines, we can now stock up on their best-selling products by visiting Watsons! 

If you watch YouTube makeup tutorials, you may have seen that many American beauty gurus use the Tatcha The Silk Canvas Filter Finish Protective Primer (from Lannel Boutique). I’ve definitely been curious about whether the claims are true, but it isn’t really something that’s easy to buy on a whim. Costing over P1000 for just 7g, this product is not your ordinary primer - it features pressed silk, which was designed to be as lightweight, skin-like, and smooth of a barrier as possible. As a professional makeup artist, I definitely understand the value of investing in quality products, especially face bases, but the big claims are matched by a hefty price tag. So, it Tatcha truly worth it or can you get the same effect with a cheaper product? Let’s find out!

Every once in a while, MAC Cosmetics hosts an exclusive presentation featuring celebrities, the country’s top beauty editors, and celebrity makeup artists. More than just a product launch, MAC’s Trend Presentations are an important learning avenue for the country’s tastemakers in terms of forecasting. For Autumn/Winter 2019, concepts like modernism, art deco, suprematism, and romanticism dominated the preview. Some of these looks are a bit too avant garde for everyday life, but as Miranda Priestly points out, the looks we wear everyday are inspired by the runway - one way or another.

When we did our Tom Ford eyeshadow team test a few weeks back, the girls kept asking so many questions about my pro kit that I realized that there is so much to share from “behind the stage.” Everyday life as a makeup artist is obvious to me because I’m immersed in this world, but going back to my just-a-makeup-lover roots, I can see why this could be an exciting topic! While makeup enthusiasts post a lot of content on social media, working artists rarely share as much. I hope this guide can help aspiring and beginner makeup artists, as well as serious makeup lovers who want to better understand on how to make smart beauty investments!

Doing group reviews on PV are honestly quite a challenge as we all work remotely, but it’s definitely more insightful as we get more varied feedback from different types of users. We also had a lot of fun doing it for the Tom Ford Lips and Boys Lipsticks so we just had to do the same for these three Tom Ford Eye Color Quads!

Say annyeong once more as blk Cosmetics releases a second K-beauty collection! Inspired by Anne Curtis’s love for Korean teleseryes, the homegrown brand released their first K-beauty collection last year featuring a mix of best-selling favorites and some new items all in dreamy K-beauty shades. The second collection follows pretty much the same strategy, so it’s no wonder fans immediately snapped it up. As soon as it was launched on April 1, a handful of SKUs immediately sold out online and in-store, well ahead of the official media launch on April 2!

Since their founding 10 years ago, Human Heart Nature has always had “pro-environment” as one of their core advocacies. They have been following with this with sincere and well-researched environmentalist practices, and are now rolling out with refilling stations. Refilling for their Home Care products is now available at their flagship store along Commonwealth Avenue, and their first mall-based store at SM The Block!

Titas, here’s another one to add to your bursting rewards cards holders! Last year, Watsons came out with its very own loyalty card program, and they’re doing their very best to live up to their tag line, Watsons members get more.

Hair loss is a sensitive topic for many women. We often feel that it’s a condition reserved for men, or women beyond a certain age, if at all. But hair fall can actually begin any time after puberty, and is more common than you think!

Female-pattern baldness is also more difficult to spot, since it occurs around the part of your hair, rather than a receding hairline or thinning crown that men experience. Some hair fall is also normal as hair naturally renews itself, with figures varying from the loss of 50 to 300 strands daily.