One of the things that got me really excited over coming back to the Philippines is access to our local beauty brands. It’s quite exciting to see how as a consumer, we now have so many choices! From brands, shade options, and even skincare products addressing highly specific concerns, we have it all here. I’m rounding up the local beauty brands that I’ve been loving so far!

Fighting acne is no walk in the park. It takes a lot of time, effort, and frustration especially when you’re dealing with the hormonal kind. I never had to deal with acne growing up. But I developed hormonal imbalance as an adult and this manifested itself on my skin.

I’ve tried every wonder ingredient out there for skincare products and while they did help, they were not addressing the problem at its root cause. I don’t want to keep treating acne, I want to stop it from even forming. What really helped me was a visit to my gynecologist while we were living in Berlin to see whether my problem was truly internal. Spoiler alert: It was.

With a vast selection of skincare products available in the market, getting the highly-coveted glow up should be easy, right? Good skin, however, isn't just something you get by dealing with it from the outside. I should know–as someone who has battled acne, I've basically tried them all. While products and treatments helped cure existing skin issues, these had to go hand in hand with nourishing my skin from the inside. A vitamin I often overlooked, merely seeing it as one of the usual ingredients in my multivitamin capsule, is Vitamin E.

Being in your early 30s marks the beginning of one’s first encounters with aging. It starts flexing its muscles on you around this time and while some signs of it can easily be swept under the rug, some tend to show themselves on your face, making them harder to ignore. I’m quite diligent when it comes to my skincare and face massages but I know it’s only a matter of time before gravity fully starts to get the best of me. So why not nip it in the early stages?

When I first heard of retinol, I was struggling with major bouts of adult acne that wrinkles and pre-mature signs of aging were the farthest thing from my mind. Even as I was pushing 30, I was fixated on my hormonal imbalance and how I can make my skin smooth and problem-free again. What got me to finally take the plunge and try out this ingredient was an article I found online that said it can also help me when it comes to my breakouts.

I was never really particular with my skincare because I grew up with normal, low-maintenance skin. That is, until I hit my late 20s and noticed a huge change brought about by an internal imbalance, and made worse by a change in environment! I woke up one day to sensitive, combination skin - just like that. It became so easily irritated that I had to go through trial and error with ingredients for about year before I got know this whole new me.

Not all formulations are created equal. It’s also rather easy to get sucked into skincare ingredient lists and get impressed with high-percentages of certain actives. Paula’s Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment has been hailed for its high concentration of this crowd-favorite – but is it really more effective?

When it comes to teeth whitening, I’ve tried quite a good number of treatments. From the whitening strips to salon-style teeth whitening facilities in Europe with stark-white, minimalist interiors and pod-like seats that cocoon you while you get your 30-minute whitening treatment. They’ve worked in varying degrees and trust me – I always left with a brighter smile. Just not bright enough.

“Your hair looks amazing,” a stranger on the street comes up to me with a smile on her face. “Where did you get the curls done?” I then proceed to tell them that the curls are natural. It’s often met with an amazed face when I tell them I got them from my dad or a smirk that shows they don’t really believe me. Sometimes, I get someone who wants to touch my hair just to make sure. You see, all this has been pretty recent. Growing up in the Philippines in the 90s and early 2000s, my hair was never considered pretty. Straight, shiny hair was glorified and curls were often seen as unruly or buhaghag.

The most dedicated curlies know this by heart: Washing your hair every single day is like sentencing your mane to a sad, dry, and frizzy life. When the pandemic hit, one of the major considerations I had whenever I would step out of our flat is if I’m ready to give my hair another wash the moment I get home. Will it survive this constant abuse and come out bouncy once this is all over?

We all have go-to lip colors for certain occasions. I don’t know if it’s just me but I always have a shade in mind for a particular purpose and I’m glad to report that these shades have worked well for me every single time. Whether for work or when I’m attending events as a diplomat’s wife, my lip color was and will always be picked for a particular reason. They say fashion is a great way to send a message and I agree but that philosophy extends to my makeup, too. So not only am I intentional with the clothing I wear, I also choose shades that support my message - whatever it is for that day.

My life has been a constant quest of streamlining everything. I’m the first person to sign up for anything that can help get things done in a more efficient manner. Even my daily makeup routine is not exempted from this. I love putting on makeup and experimenting with it but on some days, those 24 hours just seem to be going way too fast. So when I got the opportunity to eliminate one step from my routine by getting my eye brows tattooed, I was all for it.