Do you think of yourself as an influencer? You don’t need to have a blog or even an Instagram account. If you enjoy talking to others about the products you love, you already are! Sometimes it’s as easy as offering to share a face mask - that’s how I got my tita hooked on the Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask. She so loved how it soothed her skin that she immediately bought her own tube when we got home from the beach. When I next talked to her about a month after, she told me that everyone in her office had purchased their own tubes as well!

The first quarter of the year is always the most busy as we set our plans in motion and gear up for the big event that everyone in the PV community looks forward to - the Project Vanity Anniversary! We’ve still ironing out all the details but I can tell you that the new format we’re preparing is one that you should definitely be excited for. Make sure to sign up for our email alert over at the Events page so you’ll be notified as soon as we drop the deets!

Since discovering the wonders of hydrating toners, my skin has actually become quite normal compared to its previously dry and dull state. I love how they’re so easy to apply and feel lightweight on my skin, so I can move on to the next step much faster. The truth is, I often just slap several layers of toner on rather than apply moisturizer after because I’m lazy like that. Since the weather has become a bit chilly, I find that I now need to apply moisturizer again. I’m so used to my easy cleanser-acid-toner routine though, so I’ve been trying to look for ways to get back to it without sacrificing hydration.

When K-beauty first started gaining popularity a few years back, I was one of the many who became obsessed with the idea of glass skin. Also known as chok chok, this look is all about a complexion that’s bright, smooth, and glowy! One look at any K-idol is enough to understand why this became such a craze. While you can cheat a little with strategically placed concealer and a lot of highlighter, skincare is the real foundation to this look.

January flew by so fast, we missed announcing the Commenter for Month. Congratulations to Valerie (valkyree), who wins the December gift set! Please email den [at] projectvanity.com for details on how you can claim your prize. ^_^

When you barely have a minute to put your face together, swiping on a favorite lipstick is a fast and easy way to elevate your look. If you’ve ever been told that you look pale or sickly because you skipped your usual full face of makeup, putting on lipstick literally brings color back to your face. But what happens if you’re too busy to reapply throughout the day? We discovered that Pink Sugar’s Sugar Tint Lip & Cheek Tints (P349 each) is a great solution to this problem!

Before I got into makeup and skincare, my first foray into beauty was actually nail polish. I grew up accompanying my mom to her weekly manicure appointments, and one of my first beauty purchases was an iridescent blue-purple polish. These days, I don’t wear polish as much as I’d like because it seems impractical with all the household chores I do, but when Thai brand Tenten sent over their limited edition holiday collection, I just could not resist playing around and giving myself an extra special mani!

As a big skincare enthusiast, I try to “influence” my family and friends to take better care of their skin. It’s not a frivolous pursuit - after all the skin is the body’s largest organ! It can be difficult for a complete newbie to buy into skincare though because there are so many products available now. Even I sometimes feel a bit intimidated and confused by all the options you can find in stores! This is why I am a fan of skincare sets - they usually cover all the basic steps, are united by a common effect or ingredient that can make them more effective, and are often cheaper than buying products individually!

What could be more fun than going beauty shopping? Why, shopping with gift certificates, of course! More than getting a straight-up discount, there’s something very satisfying about handing over a bunch of GCs to pay for your purchases. This is the experience that four Luxasia Philippines brands try to recreate with their first ever Beauty Shopping Wonderland in Mega Fashion Hall!

When the new PV team was first assembled two years ago, I was surprised to see many familiar names. Pretty much everyone, including myself, had “met” Liz through Project Vanity. We were all active commenters so it was really nice to meet the real people we’d interacted with online.

After all the initial rush of collecting lipsticks, eyeshadow palettes, and foundations tides over, makeup lovers soon find themselves in need of the right tools to apply them. Just like most beginners, I started by buying brush sets which had most if not everything I need to do a full face of makeup. At first, it seemed enough to have a brush each for foundation, eyeshadow, and blush. However as I learned more about makeup application and better understood which of my features I actually wanted to emphasize, I realized that rather than splurging on a collection of 20+++ brushes, it’s actually more sulit to invest on premium quality individual brushes!

Where do you shop for your beauty hauls? I honestly love the convenience that online shopping offers, but it’s definitely more fun to be able to see everything that’s available and to swatch and try the products in person! Thankfully, we are now spoiled for choice with the launch of freyja, a unique beauty experience that allows you to get the best of both worlds!

One of the biggest news that shook the local beauty scene last year was the announcement that CosRX was coming to Watsons. The Korean brand has a devoted and growing following among skincare enthusiasts, and we were thrilled we could finally stock up on favorites without having to wait for our online orders. Now, we can expect to enjoy the same instant gratification with Neogen and Dear Klairs!

If you’re a member of the Project Vanity Community, you may have seen one of my (many) posts raving about the Human Nature Hydrating Face Toner. I’ve used up two big bottles of this since discovering it sometime last year, and that’s a big deal for me as someone who often has to try a lot of other products as part of my job. There was a point when I regretted sharing about it though because it was out of stock at several stores by the time I had to repurchase!

Raise your hand if you own more makeup and skincare than you know what to do with! I’m sure I’m not alone in this! I always thought that beauty was a great collector hobby to get into, since you can use and enjoy your purchases instead of simply putting them on display. Like any collection, we carefully create our beauty wardrobes to be filled with products that we love and can’t live without. And to make sure that we never run out, we get backups! Whether it’s by taking advantage of sales or friends traveling abroad, there are things we PV girls just need to stock up on:

You’ve said “yes” to the dress, blinged out your shoes, scheduled your facials, and decided on whether to book a makeup artist or do your own makeup for the big day. A must-add to your wedding prep list: get your nails did! Aside from being a great way to relax from all the stress of wedding planning (and I KNOW that there are many!), your digits are actually going to be photographed to show off your new bling so you want to make sure that they look every inch as polished as the rest of you!

Move over, Japan and South Korea: the newest beauty destination is Taiwan! I’ve been a big fan of Asian Beauty (AB) for a while now, and now the latest trend is moving towards the direction of our northern neighbor. What makes Taiwanese products so exciting is that they offer advanced research, technical expertise, and premium formulations at very reasonable prices, which is obviously a win-win for savvy beauty addicts. Luckily, we needn’t look too far or request for pasabuy to get our dose of Taiwanese Beauty!

Even though we know that it's a marketing tactic, celebrity product endorsements are difficult to resist and impossible to avoid! I haven't (yet) given in to getting that gorgeous gold tube of 1946 Red Velvet by Besame Cosmetics that Hayley Atwell wore as Agent Peggy Carter, but that's only because I can't justify adding another lipstick to my collection. The other PV girls listened to their hearts though, and scored these picks because the stars made them buy it!

The PV community has been a great source of reliable beauty tips and know-how, but once upon a time, we girls didn't have access to good information and didn't know any better! Here are some of the worst skincare advice that we've gotten from well-intentioned but misguided friends, as well as sketchy websites that we should have known better than to trust!