Growing up in a conservative environment, I wasn't taught much about my body. All I knew about breasts were that they start to grow when a woman hits puberty, that you should wear a bra when they do, and that they were a food source for babies. There were no other explanations or discussions, so I had a lot of unanswered questions when I began to notice the changes in my body. No one was willing to talk to me because boobs were and often still are treated as a taboo topic in the Philippines.

I was at Happy Skin’s first event: their brand launch six years ago. I remember the invite only had the logo and a few words, so the entire time until the launch I thought that it was about a skincare line! But I was in for a massive surprise: Rissa Mananquil-Trillo and Jacqe Yuengtian-Gutierrez launched makeup that was designed to care for the skin. It was a simple idea but a groundbreaking one at that time. None of us knew it then, but Happy Skin was on a journey to become one of the best beauty brands in the country. It paved the way for the rest of us who only ever had wild dreams of our own breakout brand. For that, I am forever grateful to Happy Skin.

I care about how my hair looks more than I care to admit. I agonize over bad hair cuts more than bad skin or makeup #FOTDs! But because I don’t have the time to bother with hair tools and styling products, I prefer to get wash-and-wear hair styles that require very little maintenance. My straight hair is usually in a lob (long bob) with slight layers at the end, and I just use a normal shampoo and conditioner. 

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.

I’ve been wanting to try Colourpop products since Angeli wrote about her brand must-haves last year, so when they announced a sitewide sale a few months back, I couldn’t resist the opportunity. So, some of the PV girls and I pooled all our orders together for a sizable Colourpop haul! Though we had enough orders to qualify for the free international shipping, Liz generously offered to lend us her My Shipping Box account so the package would be shipped faster and directly to our address instead of the post office.

Happy weekend, PV fam! It feels so good to be back into the swing of things, and with Halloween just around the corner, the festivities of the Ber months have truly started! This week’s beauty roundup has got the latest in Victoria Beckham’s newest baby (we’re talking makeup here, btw) as well as Shu Uemura’s limited edition Pokémon collection (got get ‘em all). Glossier is celebrating their 5th birthday with a special gift for us all, and Marc Jacob’s liquid eyeliner is just the treat we wanted.

Do you like painted nails but find manicures to be a chore? Or have you ever wanted to try having long nails, but couldn’t commit to growing them out? You should check out press-on nails!

Nine and I were supposed to try press-on nails with Den before, but chickened out at the last minute. So when Girlstuff’s Press-On Gel Nails arrived at the PV HQ, we volunteered to test them for the special events we were attending that weekend!

Do you have to pay a lot of money for good makeup? Well, if you asked me this seven years ago, I’d have to give you the bad news and say that yes you do, most of the time. There were such limited options back then from local brands, and imported brands cost a pretty penny - even affordable ones required international shipping and taxes factored in the price. But now, there are so, so many amazing products available in the home front! It’s good because it empowers Filipinas with the beauty equipment they need to conquer their day with confidence - no matter the budget!

I went a little mad for eyeshadows a few months ago, and one of the collateral damage during that time is the then newly-released Alyssa Edwards x Anastasia Eyeshadow Palette (P3,380 at Sephora.ph). This was exactly the kind of candy bright, has-zero-fucks-to-give palette that I was looking for! It’s my first ever Anastasia palette. I passed on their other ones because while I felt that I had them in some version in my other palettes, I have nothing like the Alyssa Edwards colors, period.

So, now that I’ve had this for some time, do I still think it’s worth the splurge?

You’ve probably seen this Thai cosmetics brand making the rounds on Youtube and online beauty communities. 4U2 has actually been in Watsons for as long as I can remember, with their packaging and marketing designed to appeal to teens. The brand has since upgraded their look, and the renewed interest has led to speculation that their cream blushes might be dupes for the popular 3CE Multi Pots. I’ll cut to the chase and tell you now that they are NOT.

With all the drama that’s happened in the beauty world this 2019, this week’s BNR features some familiar brands and faces moving on to the next chapter. Beauty gurus and brands alike have made some major changes, from Deciem’s apparent rise from the ashes, to a Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido acquiring cult favorite US skincare brand. We're also anticipating two very different beauty brand launches from YouTube gurus both stateside and local, and it's definitely made the second stretch of October pretty exciting for us beauty news diehards!

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. 

Are you a big fan of beauty videos? Do you follow along or listen to it while doing your own face? I recently got hooked when I became obsessed with learning how to apply eyeshadow! While PV has a lot of great how-to articles, I feel the need to watch videos so I can see exactly how things are done. I play the video on my phone and plug my earphones in so I can hear the audio better. The setup is a bit of a hassle, especially since I don’t have a vanity table, but my life has been changed by Zhia Beauty’s Smart Vanity Mirror!

She’s one of the most sought-after choreographers in the country, guiding the biggest stars on how to rock the dancefloor. And with her distinctive and somewhat quirky style, it’s not hard to see why Georcelle Dapat-Sy (aka, Teacher Georcelle) was tapped by BYS Cosmetics to collaborate on a daring new line of lipsticks. There’s a new MOVE in town that you’re gonna want to try!

I grew up seeing Pond’s being used by my female relatives. My mom would talk about how Pond’s was a luxury back in the day, and how they had to source the famous Pond’s Cold Cream all the way from Hong Kong! Today, Pond’s is one of the most accessible and affordable beauty brands around - you can find their products pretty much anywhere you go. And it’s that accessibility and pocket-friendly price tag that made the PV team excited to hear about the new Pond’s Cleansing Balm. 

If you’ve been a long-time reader of Project Vanity, you might still recall when Liz used to do #ManiMondays. As a nail polish fan, I used to look forward to those posts because I didn’t know much about other brands besides local ones like Caronia, Bobbie, and Chic. Nowadays though, it’s rare to see Liz wearing any kind of nail color, and I get it. Manicures take time to do and need to be properly cared for - sporting chipped nail polish is the equivalent of having smudged mascara or eyeliner and not fixing it.

This week’s roundup is especially exciting because everything is happening right in our own backyard! First up is MAC Cosmetics and their very K-beauty inspired additions. Wondering what to do this weekend? We’ve got deets on which malls to hit for some special beauty treats, so read up and get ready to go out with your besties for some beauty shopping!

I’ve tried quite a lot of brow products over the years, and some of my former faves have since been replaced with newer releases. Even so, K-Palette’s Lasting Eyebrow Liner remains my pick for eyebrow pens! And I’m in good company, because even beauty and fashion icon Heart Evangelista packs it in her makeup kit.

Eyebrow tints have an added appeal to a busy working mom like me, so I was happy when K-Palette released their Lasting Eyebrow Tint. Who wouldn’t want to have gorgeous brows for five whole days?

The most potent skincare potions usually get the revered label, “Sleep in a Bottle”. As someone who doesn’t get a lot of sleep on the regular, the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Intense Reset Concentrate (P4,800 for 20ml) promise of waking up to better skin certainly appealed to me. I especially I wondered how it could possibly improve on a routine that already included the iconic Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II (P4,200 for 30ml) which made my skin smooth and glowy despite being sick.

Yesterday I posted a photo of me on Instagram where I thought my face looked ugly. I only had concealer and eyebrows on, and the photo captured me on my wrong side with bad lighting on top of that. If you know me, I almost never do this. I’d rather “throw” away what could be considered a good or at least interesting photo if my face so much as looked like it was wrong (to me). I have hundreds of photos I could have posted in my travels and my daily life that simply didn’t get shared because of this.