Recently, a plastic surgeon friend of mine casually offered to do liposuction on my arms. For free. Honestly? I’ve never seriously considered lipo before, but that single offer sent me into a spiral. You see, my arms have always been a huge insecurity of mine. They're the first place I gain fat and the last place it ever seems to leave. Even when I’m leaner everywhere else, my arms just…well, they stay the same. Flabby. Wide.
It’s the middle of May and here in the Philippines, you know what that means: Flores de Mayo! The local beauty scene is stepping it up this week with some festive new releases and a literally fiesta-ready beauty sale. Hello Glow unveils its Blemish Minimizing Set, L’Oreal Paris debuts its Infallible 24H Tinted Serum Foundation, and Issy hints at its first fragrance. Sephora.ph celebrates the month of May with a promo on fiesta-ready beauty products and a secret Tiktok code. Curious yet? Read on for more!
It’s not everyday that you get to celebrate a milestone with a brand that you’ve been a fan of for the longest time. Colourette Cosmetics just had their very first pop-up for the launch of their newest product the Jelly Kiss Lip Tint (P399/4g). Taking over Auro Chocolate Café in BGC, the place was transformed into the juiciest place to be this summer. Their first pop-up featured fantastic music, delicious drinks, and fun activities for the Colourette community.
Getting glass skin is still the ultimate skincare goal in 2025, and it was exactly what the Kiehl’s Masterclass, hosted by Robi Domingo recently, was all about. I got to dive deeper into Kiehl’s product lineup and learn how they can help me achieve that coveted glow. I also had a skin consultation at their store using their latest mobile skin analysis tool, the Skin Snap. The personalized routine recommended to me included two products that we haven’t reviewed yet here on PV—so of course, I had to share my thoughts!
The PH beauty scene is seriously stepping up its game! This week’s edition of Beauty News Roundup brings us the announcement of a new brand at Sephora Philippines, an upcoming homegrown brand’s birthday celebration, and new local launches that just might earn a spot in your summer beauty rotation. Read on for more!
It’s hot. We’re looking at some record-breaking temperatures this summer and when we’re not hiding from the sun and seeking air conditioning, we want our makeup to make us feel good, be lightweight, and most of all last a long summer day. So, when GRWM Cosmetics announced a summer collection, I was hoping for products that would check all the boxes.
There’s a specific kind of heartbreak that happens when you fall in love with a dress on Instagram, only to find out it costs more than your monthly Meralco bill. But this isn’t new. We all know the drill. A Filipino brand posts a beautiful, flowy piece that looks like it was designed for a slow, sun-drenched afternoon at the beach. You click through, imagine yourself wearing it to brunch or maybe a low-effort art exhibit. Then you see the price. P4,000? For linen? From here? Suddenly, you’re closing tabs and whispering sweet nothings to your Uniqlo wardrobe for always being emotionally and financially available.
So why does buying local hurt our wallets this much?
So many things happened this week in the local beauty scene! Don’t you worry, we’re here to catch you up. First up, Allure Philippines has revealed their maiden issue, with Heart Evangelista and Bretman Rock on the cover. Happy Skin has chosen Maris Racal as the face of the new Lip Mallow lip tint shades. P-pop female alphas of G22 show us the beautiful shades of Maybelline’s latest launch, the Sunkisser Blush. In case you missed it, Liz wrote about two new local launches in April: the Spotlight Limitless Multicream and Hello Glow Vitamin C Duo.
Beauty products can help us reach our aesthetic and wellness goals, but sometimes, the real game-changer is something as simple as a good night’s sleep. This year’s World Sleep Day theme, “Make Sleep Health a Priority,” is a great reminder of that. To celebrate, Project Vanity joined Estée Lauder’s event at Dexterton in BGC—and the pairing couldn’t have been more perfect. After all, Estée Lauder is best known for their Advanced Night Repair line, a skincare icon that’s all about nighttime renewal.
Do you really need color correctors? For a lot of us, they seem like one of those optional steps in makeup—like contouring your nose or doing five layers of skincare before foundation. But there are times when even our fullest coverage concealer isn’t enough to cancel out stubborn redness or those dark, purplish shadows under the eyes. That’s where color correcting comes in.
It is sizzling hot outside! Summer is undeniably here, and temperatures are forecasted to soar higher in the coming days. Thankfully, local beauty brands are releasing timely products set to care and protect the skin, and look our best in the summer heat. Ever Organics has made their best-selling Tomato Glow Skin Toner Face Mist now available in a new compact design, making it more travel-friendly for summer escapades. The new Careline Spot Corrector targets uneven skin tone and discoloration, color-correcting your base effortlessly. Get blinded by the glow of Strokes Cosmetics’ limited-edition Summer Collection. Blk Cosmetics collaborates with ‘Da Baddest’ Bretman Rock for their Postcards from Paradise Summer Collection.
Let’s talk about peptides—those teeny-tiny molecules that have been quietly transforming our skincare shelves and even sneaking into our haircare routines. They may sound like something you'd hear in a biology class (and you'd be right), but these little chains of amino acids have some serious clout when it comes to keeping our skin bouncy and our hair thriving. If you’ve ever wondered what peptides actually do, or why more and more products are proudly flaunting them on their labels, I’ve got you!
I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz around the Ever Bilena Matte Face Powder. Apparently, it’s one of the brand’s best-selling products. That alone got me quite curious about the powder, but what really pushed me to try it was how often I’d see it pop up on TikTok and even in real life. I’ve actually spotted a few women at the mall casually pulling it out of their bags for a quick retouch, like it’s just a regular part of their routine. At around P150, depending on the promo, it’s remarkably budget-friendly. I’ll admit, I had a few biases because of the price, but I figured, why not? Let’s see what all the fuss is about. Here’s how it went!
Who doesn’t want bright and glowing skin like Innisfree’s brand ambassador, Jang Won Young? That’s exactly the kind of radiance I’m aiming for as I try a new skincare routine featuring Innisfree’s latest launch: the Vitamin C Green Tea Enzyme Brightening Cream. This new addition to their lineup promises to deliver clearer, more radiant skin by combining the brightening power of Vitamin C—great for tackling dark spots and dullness—with the gentle exfoliating benefits of Green Tea enzymes.
In a country where it's summer basically year-round, long-wearing makeup isn't a nice-to-have, it's a must. Between the constant humidity, our love for commutes and food trips, and the fact that we’re always on the move, it’s not surprising that we’ve developed a soft spot for products that multitask and last all day. Most Filipinos are not doing full glam on a daily basis, but we still want to look fresh, polished, and put-together, without having to reapply every few hours.
The Romand Juicy Lasting Tint is easily one of the brand’s most iconic products. I even featured it in the Glossy Lip Tint Throwdown, where it earned a solid, well-rounded score. So imagine my surprise when Romand decided to give it an upgrade—and on top of that, they introduced five new shades! How do you improve on something that’s already so good? Let’s find out.
I know, I know. Vitamin C has been around forever and you’ve probably heard it hyped up a million times by now. But there’s a reason it’s still everyone’s favorite brightening ingredient! The thing is, even though it’s been a staple in our skincare routines for years, the science behind it keeps evolving. Brands are finding smarter ways to make it more stable, less irritating, and generally better for all skin types.
So, let’s take a little refresher on why Vitamin C is still that girl, and then I’ll tell you about some new stuff from Hello Glow that I think you might want to check out.
POPIQUE is the newest skincare and makeup brand by Filipinos, for Filipinos. Pronounced poh-pik, this rising F-beauty star is poised to make waves—and maybe even land a spot in your beach bag this summer. Inspired by the beach, the sun, and our beautiful islands, POPIQUE believes that beauty doesn’t hide from the sun, instead, it thrives under it.
Founder Aleah Sia describes POPIQUE in three words: fun, effortless, bold. Together with co-founder Patrick Sia and creative director Joel Andrada, the team set out to create a brand that celebrates the vibrant, sunny energy of island life. It’s skincare and makeup designed to live under the sun, not shy away from it.
As we’ve been taught in school, the locally abundant coconut tree is the tree of life. There truly are many uses of the coconut tree, and I’ve always felt that Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) is vastly taken for granted as a beauty ingredient. It’s no secret that it is nourishing and moisturizing; plus it can be used for skin and hair.
As it turns out, Tropicana was way ahead of me. Since 1902, they have harvested the power of the coconut tree. Their humble beginnings stemmed from Tapi Basin, Surat Thani, Thailand, with a family of coconut farmers. They have successfully championed virgin coconut oil as the basis of their certified organic, sustainable, and completely vegan product lineup.
I wore red lipstick the other day to go to the grocery. Not a tinted balm, not a sheer gloss pretending to be effort—a proper red. Matte, bold, the kind that says, “I have Opinions and I read ingredient lists for fun.” No one asked me to wear it. I wasn’t meeting anyone. In fact, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t run into a soul I knew, and if I did, they’d probably be wearing pajamas and tsinelas. And yet, there I was in aisle four, selecting oat milk like I was in a Vogue spread.
I didn’t know what to expect from Guerlain’s Abeille Royale Youth Watery Oil Serum (P6,600 /30ml and P9,350 / 50ml). As someone who’s long been loyal to Japanese skincare—formulations that tend to be elegant, no-nonsense, and quietly effective—integrating a French luxury serum into my routine is fairly new to me. I imagined it would be a pleasant enough hydrating product, given the honey and royal jelly marketing, but nothing particularly transformative. I was wrong.