It's hard to keep track of all the latest skincare products, at the rate and speed they're being released! It's all for the better, don't you think? More choices means more potential solutions to our beauty problems and better prices. Anyway, L'Oreal Paris is one brand that just came out with three products that targets major market concerns: cleansing (for men), whitening (for women), and smoothing/priming for makeup users out there.

The Pure & Matte Charcoal Black Foam (195) is designed to cleanse and mattify skin. It's for men who are concerned with oily skin that's exposed to a lot of pollution and stress. I think it's a pretty basic cleanser, as male skincare products go! This might not be for us girls, but there's no reason to NOT give this to our guy friends. It will benefit us in the long run, dare I say!

The White Perfect Day Cream SPF17/PA++ (P595) offers UV protection and promises whitening using melanin-blocking ingredients. It's light and non-greasy as promised - heaven sent in a world of uncomfortable day creams with SPF - but use it sparingly if you have oily skin!

I love the Urban Decay Primer Potion, so when I "ran out", I made sure to follow the advice of the makeup gurus. I prepared a clean jar and cut the violet tube up to get the last remaining drops of the stuff. I knew that the packaging wasn't practical since the curves made it difficult to maximize the product, but I was surprised when I found out that there was still so much left! I estimated around 50%!

Now I know that the UDPP now comes in a squeeze tube, and the later genie tubes had a bent doe foot applicator, but I wanted to dry something new. Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog swears by the Too Faced Shadow Insurance so I got it to see what the hoopla was about.

It contains more product than the normal-sized UDPP, and it only cost P1,100 at Get Sophisticated. Good thing it's available here at a nice price!

What I love about the product

• Easier to spread and blend in than UDPP. UDPP dries up quickly so sometimes there are beige streaks left that I can't remove anymore. UDPP dries and hardens, while TFSI simply dries. The texture is like creamy liquid concealer.
• Colorless when blended properly.

I didn't buy into the raves before I got my own tube of the famed Urban Decay Primer Potion. First, I'm lazy! I don't want to add an extra step in my makeup routine. Second, it's expensive at $18. It's not available in the Philippines which means that the price is jacked up to as high as P1,500 per tube.

So, what changed my mind? What makes this product worth the extra work and the price?

• Easy to apply and blend. It only takes 15 seconds for it to dry up.
• It creates a clean base, neutralizing dark lids and even stray eyebrow hairs effectively.
• You only need a bit of product per usage.