I first heard rumbles about a really good AND cheap makeup brush brand available in Shopee months ago, but didn’t act on it until recently. It was more because I’ve been using pretty much the same makeup brushes in the last two years and just wanted a change! Also I’m always on the lookout for a good deal, for diamonds in the rough. And so here we are.

OVW Makeup Brushes are China-made tools that are shockingly cheap. Would you believe that I spent P790 for 17 full-sized brushes, and that’s including shipping already?

As a beauty lover, there’s a lot of emphasis on carefully curating your beauty collection by investing in high-quality makeup and finding the best formulas. And while you might already have products that work like a charm, using them with just the right tools can take the experience to greater heights. Trust me. These five brushes are total game-changers!

My favorite skincare step has to be cleansing because I like how it makes my skin feel instantly refreshed. In the morning, I use my fave low pH cleanser, and double cleanse to remove makeup and dirt at night. I’ve experimented a bit with facial washes and oil cleansers but I’ve never tried using any cleansing tools.

With over 2.39 million YouTube subscribers and nearly 1 million Instagram followers, Michelle Dy is one of the biggest online local personalities around. I figured it was only a matter of time before she released her own beauty product, so I wasn’t surprised when she announced her makeup brush collaboration with Beauty Sensation!

Beauty Sensations x Michelle Dy Basics features two brush sets in pastel-colored pouches bearing Michelle’s embossed signature as well as a duo of makeup blending sponges. The kits are available in Watsons, and online via Lazada and Shopee.

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!

As PV’s resident acid addict, I honestly never thought I’d get into physical exfoliation again. But after getting recurrent forehead pimples in the past few months, I finally realized that my facial wash wasn’t enough to fully remove my sunscreen. I started incorporating an oil remover into my daily routine even on no-makeup days in an effort to remove the sunscreen better. Though I had been washing my face correctly, I was a little bit shocked to learn that there were impurities that even my most trusted cleansing products couldn’t remove.

As PV’s resident beauty gadgets girl, I have a mini collection of beauty devices that have helped my super oily skin keep clear of acne. To be honest, I’d probably purchase more, if not for the prohibitive price tags on these electronics. I’ve always stuck with established high-end brands like Foreo and Clarisonic so I had to wonder: would cheaper ones work as well as my favorites? 

When YouTube star Anna Cay messaged me about sending over her new sponges, I was pretty excited. I got to work with her on a project before and really appreciated how detail-intensive she can be! I also gathered that she really cares about her subscribers and customers, so I knew that she wouldn’t release a sub-par product just to have something to sell. True enough, the All Covered by Anna Cay Air Blender Sponge (P288) did not disappoint and has become my go-to sponge pretty much ever since I got it.

I consider myself to be PV’s resident gadget girl, as I like to bite the bullet and try out different gadgets as part of my quest for better skin. I recently wrote about my gadget collection and declared that the most indispensable is my Clarisonic Mia, as I find that having thoroughly cleansed skin is of utmost importance. I was very curious about trying the Foreo Luna though, but what I didn’t expect was that it would displace the Mia as my new favorite!

Makeup sponges are some of the most universally recognized tools in beauty. Remember your first foray into makeup? Did you immediately go hunting for a brush, or were you first acquainted with the humble sponge applicator of your powder foundation compact? Mine was the latter, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this!

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!

Once a beauty trend reaches Instagram and becomes a popular hashtag, it’s difficult to resist trying it out for ourselves! That’s certainly how I felt when I started seeing all those #jaderoller posts all over my feed, so I got curious and bought one to try. Do they actually have skincare benefits or are they just overpriced facial massage tools? Read on to find out if it’s worth the splurge!

Having extremely oily skin that is prone to blemishes, I first went to see a dermatologist when I was a high school freshman because every inch of my face was then covered in pus-filled acne. I had my first chemical peel around that time as well, and facial treatments have been part of my life ever since. Since my skin requires a lot of maintenance to stay clear, it was a natural step for me to venture into beauty gadgets in the hopes of lessening my need for clinic-based procedures. Today, even with influx of effective yet affordable skincare product options, I enjoy the help I get from owning a few beauty gadgets.

I've tried many brush soaps before but honestly, I always end up using Joy dishwashing fluid when I run out of the soap. Sometimes not even then! Joy isn't sexy nor professional-sounding when it comes to cleaning makeup brushes, but it does the job efficiently and cheaply. Other alternatives are Dove soap and baby shampoo but I always have Joy so I never bother to stock the other two.

The beauty industry is fast-paced and constantly evolving with new trends, techniques, and tools popping up seemingly overnight. Some of them, like these skincare “innovations” we reviewed, are fun but ultimately passing fads that soon go the way of butterfly clips and elephant pants.

While some trends are destined to delight then disappear, there have been a few survivors that have made the jump from beauty gimmick to beauty staple. While the fate of “washing machine” brush cleaners, jade face rollers, and pizza-cutter eyeliner are still up in the air, these tools have weathered disbelief, dissing, and dupes, and look like they’re here to stay!

Raise your hand if you’ve ever applied your makeup at home, only to leave the house and find that your application is uneven or overdone! Getting enough good lighting in your vanity area is actually important to ensuing that your makeup game is on point but we may not always have access to lots of natural light. Maybe your room doesn’t have a window or enough light sources, or you need to do your makeup early in the morning before the sun rises. If you don’t have the budget for a full light-up vanity and aren’t handy enough to DIY a similar setup, a mirror with LED lights is just the thing to get you out of the dark!

Honestly, it's getting harder and harder for me to blog. There are so many moving parts in our business that keeps my whole day booked! There are events, products, and even our own line which is now available in retail. It's a lot of work but I love what I do every single day. I don't want to stop writing because it is a huge chunk of who I am and it's how I built this up from nothing. So I'm not going to overthink it; I will keep on writing about the products I use, and it will have been worth it if you enjoyed reading it.

What is the secret to creating a flawless face base? Does it depend on the foundation formula? Is it the little tricks and techniques that make all the difference? Or will your application tools be the deciding factor? It's all of the above! This is why keeping ourselves updated with the latest developments can bring us closer to foundation perfection.

Thanks to its ability to create a skin-like finish while providing ample coverage, the Beauty Blender has remained a constant favorite among both beauty enthusiasts and professional makeup artists.