I recently went through ALL my makeup and skincare so I can properly organize and dispose of items accordingly. It took me half a day and about ten extra bags of product, all of which I gave away to my family! Now my place feels cleaner and I get *less* stressed out about where my stuff are. I also unearthed some products that I really, really like, but can't use nor bear to throw away.

I found so many cushion compacts that I just kinda forgot about because they are ridiculously too light against my skin tone.

I used to have a nonchalant attitude towards buying makeup and skincare. I didn’t care much about what’s in a product so long as people talked about it. I’d buy something on sale because it’s from a known brand and it looked pretty, and worse, I tried anything that the Internet said would work on my acne-prone skin. I DIY-ed the heck out of treatments that more often than not worked horribly. All this because I didn’t make time to talk to my skin and ask “What do you need?”

At that time, it seemed silly but doing so could’ve saved me my money and my skin. Makeup and skincare, I realized, does not carry the “one size fits all” tag.

Hey, PV girls! What’s good? Let me give you a run down of what’s been happening in the beauty world. One of your favorite local brands has now come out with a line of gel nail polishes (I know, I know- try to breathe), Pink Sugar released two new shades of their well-loved Sugar Tints, and Beautyblender is getting very millennial! Sponges and nails not your thing? Well, Colourpop is collaborating with a gorgeous celebrity model (for the third time), Clinique is now working with our fave K-Beauty star,  and Jo Malone just launched a new collection. Interested yet? Read on!

When it comes to achieving chok chok skin, we've gotten used to expecting Korean beauty products to be the answer. It's not so surprising as K-beauty offers a lot of great picks, but the Japanese are actually the original skincare pros! LuLuLun in particular has been making waves as Japan's favorite sheet mask brand. It consistently receives beauty awards and has sold over 300 million masks since it first launched in 2011.

Considering that most of our fave sheet masks are from Korea and are single use, we were excited by the idea of masking everyday for an entire week. We received two variants to road test: the Classic Moisturizing Face Mask and the Moisture-Enrich Face Mask.

We love our flaws, blemishes and all, but it never hurts to conceal them when we need to look polished and professional. We'll need more than foundation for dark spots and serious eye baggage though, which is where the magic of concealer comes in! Benefit Cosmetics offers a great solution in its best-selling Boi-ing concealers. Recently, they've introduced a revamped concealer line and a new product. 

Masking has become a habit - okay, an obsession - of mine in the last couple of years. It's the most effective way to jolt my skin back to life, after I've abused it with stress, poor diet, and unwise skincare choices! This is why I have so many different masks (mud, sheet, leave-on, you name it) stocked up in my shelf. I've got masks for acne, dry skin, tired skin, or just generally unhappy-with-the-world skin because one never knows when disaster will strike.

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.

Nothing quite marks the end of summer than an end of season sale. They're almost always worth waiting for because the deals are better and you can finally get that dress you've been eyeing for months. Whether you're treating yourself to an overdue shop-a-thon or getting started on your Christmas list (it's never too early!), you can shop smart at Podium's End Of Season Sale from July 12 to 16. That's up to 70% off on food and fashion picks! 

It can be tempting to lose your head and go on a buying frenzy. Instead, keep these four shop smart tips to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.

I hate to admit it, but my eyebrows have become thinner and finer over the years. It's just genetics, I suppose; my mom has fine hair too and we have the same eyebrows! Thank goodness for brow troubleshooters and techniques that can help me achieve full arches. It's a combination of techniques I've observed from makeup artists and what I learned from watercolor painting. If you have the same problem as mine, perhaps you'll find this specific routine useful!

Full disclosure: I do not have the best-looking feet in the world. Due to a bad habit of walking around barefoot any chance I can get, the bottoms of my feet are rather rough and tough. I also used to be a religious stiletto-wearer, so I have more than my fair share of callouses. And, because I favor leather sneakers now, after a long day... they kind of smell. (Too much information? Too much information.)

I have a (well-documented) bias towards high-end bases. Drugstore foundation, concealer, and powders can do the thankless job of creating flawless skin, surely, but luxury bases belong to another planet. The shade selection, pigmentation, finish, and staying power of expensive base makeup (upwards P1,500) are remarkably better than what you can find for say, less than 500 bucks.

The greatest beauty mistake of my life lasted ten years. I grew up in the 90s - the era of brown lipsticks, spaghetti strap tops, Rachel hair, and yes, skinny brows. It makes me cringe to see photos of myself from that time, and it took me another decade to finally grow out my eyebrows to their originally full state. Suffice to say, I spent those ten years looking for products that would temporarily resurrect my missing kilay!

My brows are in much better shape now but like my fellow PV girls, the obsession for perfect kilay is real. Here's what we're currently using to cheat our way into brow nirvana!

I was one of Althea's beta users before it launched in the Philippines. I didn't think much of it at that time, but in the last two years, Althea has largely transformed how I perceive and use South Korean beauty products. My exposure to Althea allowed me to try many lesser-known, quirky K-Beauty brands and the latest developments in the beauty capital! There are other K-beauty stores that service the PH, yes, but few with as huge a selection and updated inventory as Althea.

They say “one’s company, two’s a crowd and three’s a party” and this week’s roundup is nothing sort of a grand celebration! We’ve got a ton of things to get through that will have you partying up the weekend with excitement. Love spoiling your hair with delicious treats? Well, The Body Shop has something fruity and refreshing for your scalp. Love getting manis and pedis? ColourPop has something fun and pastel just for you. Always wanted makeup by Kat Von D but didn’t know where to get it? Look no further cause it’s finally in the PH! It’s a party up in here, PV ladies, and we’re going to have so much fun!

Even among people with similar skin conditions and concerns, building a good regimen is largely a personal process. Finding the right product for your needs can feel very overwhelming because of the sheer number of options available. That's why it's wise to look for products that are properly formulated to be gentle on the skin. If the Kiehl’s Calendula line’s everlasting popularity is any indication, this TLC approach to skin care definitely works for the long haul!

Some of the most common beauty-related questions I get involve eyeliner. Which eyeliners will never smudge? Which eyeliners will stay on the waterline? Well, here's my updated answer! These are the five eyeliners that I use the most, out of the 40+ ones in my desk. They're the ones I always keep an eye because I'd hate for them to get lost, piled under a pile of new products. They're beautiful, easy to perfect (important when I need to be out of the house 15 minutes ago!), and will barely - if at all - smudge all day.

Here are my top eyeliner recommendations! Please click on the links for the full reviews.

Raise your hand if you've ever watched video after video of makeup tutorials, only to realize it's past midnight! We feel it's well-worth all the hours on YouTube though - after all, we need to know how to properly use the products we've spent on. Famous makeup artists and beauty gurus are staples when it comes to channel subscriptions but if you wanted to cop the look of a certain actress or personality, why not go straight to the source?

A lot of us might fondly recall using baby powder as the first "makeup" product we’ve ever used. Before I discovered the world of oil-control primers and long-wearing powders, I would shake out a small amount onto my palm (dispensing just the right amount was a special skill!) and smooth the powder all over my face to deal with my super oily skin. It made my face look chalk white but at least I wasn't as shiny!

Lipstick is the last thing I apply on my face before I leave the house. It's the final puzzle piece to my look and it determines so much of how I want to express myself for the day! That's a lot of pressure to put on just a single cosmetic product, I know, but that's the beauty of lipstick. You can always change your mind.

If you have oily skin like me, you’d probably think that putting on a face oil is counterintuitive. I certainly felt that way until Liz gave us samples of the In Her Element First Wash Cleansing Oil in its testing stages. It was the first time I'd ever knowingly and willingly applied any kind of oil to my face and something just...clicked. I discovered how easy, effective, and non-abrasive oil cleansing is. Now, I don't need to struggle removing my HG mascara (Heroine Make's Volume and Curl) every night!