Late last year, I wrote about how we PV girls wished we had access to skincare brand Peter Thomas Roth. The beauty gods must have heard our prayers because the brand has finally arrived at our shores! Peter Thomas Roth Clinical Skincare believes in using scientifically proven ingredients at effective concentrations. These include glycolic acid and retinol for anti-aging, and hyaluronic acid for attracting moisture to the applied area. The brand also believes in using botanicals and other ingredients found in nature.

Who's not guilty of indulging in a little retail therapy when they need some cheering up? I used to love stopping by the Watsons store that was on my route home from work, and picking up some random cheap item: a brow pencil, a lip balm, maybe a bottle of nail polish. Nothing wrong with that but the thrill was often short-lived. I'm a bit wiser about my spending habits these days, so while I still love browsing at Watsons, I've learned to shop for items that actually support my goals for self-care!

Our hands are probably among the most hard-working parts of our body. We use them for most activities, and if you’re anxious about germs like I am, you probably wash your hands a lot of times within the day. While it's a good practice for preventing the spread of disease, this can result to dry and flaky hands. This may also cause your cuticles to become prone to hangnails, which are both unsightly and painful! Just as how we go to great lengths to care for the skin on our faces, we need to show some TLC to our hands.

When blk Cosmetics launched in 2017, Anne Curtis wanted to keep makeup simple and uncomplicated. Their initial lineup proved promising and versatile as can be seen in Tellie’s tutorial for creating a K-beauty look for glasses with the blk Cosmetics Highlight, Blush, and Contour Palette. I nabbed the limited edition lipsticks released for Anne’s wedding, and like using the two shades for a gradient lip look.

The month of March celebrates Women's Month and many beauty brands held splendid sales to commemorate the occasion. Apart from these treats, there were events for women to come together and feel more empowered, including the BDJ Women’s Summit at Samsung Hall, SM Aura Premier.

Some weeks back, there was a lot of buzz on social media about Nadine Lustre launching her own makeup line with Australian brand BYS. With practically no photos of the actual products and just a few teasers on an Instagram account, all I could back then was stalk the hashtag #LustrousPH and hope for more details before pre-ordering the Limited Lustrous Box Makeup Kit for P2,999. I've been a fan of Nadine since Diary ng Panget and the phenomenal teleserye, On The Wings of Love so it only felt right to add something of hers to my vanity. And so, I slid into Lustrous PH’s DMs.

This isn’t your Lola’s beauty routine! Or is it? When you’re young and getting into kikay things for the first time, you tend to go hard on trends and do a lot of crazy experiments in the name of staying on-point with your beauty game. But once you’ve had the time to find what practices and products work for your skin and your comfort zone, you also develop confidence in your unique approach to beauty! I wanted to know what women of a certain age prefer when it comes to beauty so I reached out to five Lolas to raid their stash! 

When a makeup brand is known for quality products that are easy on the budget, they immediately jump to the top of my must-try list. US-based Palladio Beauty is known for their botanical and vitamin-infused cosmetics, which they've been making since 1985! Their makeup products have a reasonable price point and excellent color choices. And the best news – the brand is now available at Watsons and SM Beauty!

Summer heralds clear warm weather, perfect for activities like beach outings, vacations, and outdoor sports. While we #LovetheSun for all the fun things we can do, Watsons understands that it's important to stay protected. You really can't and shouldn't skip sun protection. Apart from avoiding painful sunburns, long-term skin damage, premature aging, and even the possibility of developing skin cancer offer convincing reasons to pile on the SPF.

Just as KBeauty is starting to take a stronghold in the Philipines, we welcome another new KBeauty brand: L.O.C.K. Color Cosmetics! The packaging is fun and quirky, with anime-like characters and modern cityscapes adorning the matte black boxes; it looks like it was geared for a younger, hip audience.

Normally, expectations are lowered with this kind of marketing. Younger people don’t need hard-working makeup because they have better skin - that’s just fact. Still, every little swatch changed my mind and I can’t wait to tour you guys around the products! 

Patrick Simondac, who we know as the fabulous Youtube beauty guru PatrickStarrr, admits that his journey was full of guilt. He was the son of Filipino immigrants who wanted him to go for a traditional job. It was difficult for such a non-traditional person to both make his fantasies real and be a ‘good example’ to his two brothers. “[When I was] 14 or 15, when I was shaping my identity, [it] was really hard because my parents wanted me to do one thing and I was fighting so hard,” he recounts over our interview.

Let's get one thing straight: anybody can live a fulfilling and happy life without a luxurious jar of Creme De La Mer or a sexy bottle of Tom Ford perfume. Luxury beauty is not necessary for day-to-day survival nor can it dramatically change your life - never mind the price tag, they are not magical spells from a wizard's grimoire. That goes the same for organic beauty and essential oils by the way, so let's not get too excited.

So what's the point of luxury beauty then? Why should we buy them?

Loose pigments are what I could class as ‘intermediate’ cosmetics. They’re intensely versatile, but can get pretty intimidating and require some practice to learn – which isn’t to say today isn’t the day to start trying!

Loose pigments are worth adding to your arsenal, especially if you love doing looks that require great color payoff. I personally love using loose pigments, and I’ve amassed a mini vault of Ellana Minerals Loose Multipurpose Pigments (P299 each, ellanacosmetics.com). As a professional makeup artist, having these in my kit allows me to do more creative looks but even a regular makeup junkie can benefit from adding loose mineral pigments in her collection. Want show-stopping highlights or richly-pigmented eyeshadow looks? Loose pigments are the way to go!

From the launch of an inclusive 40-shade foundation from Fenty to new K-beauty brands opening their doors locally, 2017 was indeed a fruitful year for beauty here in the PH. We also got to see some interesting trends; some have already come and gone but there are a few that look like they'll be here for an extended stay! 

With love songs playing everywhere and girls proudly showing off bouquets, it might easy to feel a little left out on Valentine's Day. As an “NBSB” (no boyfriend since birth), I know that I do. Still, over my twenty-odd years of flying solo, I’ve learned it’s best not to listen to those “single blues!” Instead, fill your mind with words of wisdom from these fabulously independent women who'll show you how to celebrate love even if you aren’t necessarily in love!

Today I turn 30. I've never been one to put much significance on age, or even birthdays, but there's something about being alive for three full decades that calls to meaning. I don't feel old at all - gosh, am I only really 30? - but I do feel just a little more grounded and blessed with clarity. Such as it were.

My friend asked recently, "How did you know that it was going to work out?" She is thinking about starting her own business and felt unsure about how to get it off the ground. She was asking me how I knew to price In Her Element (my company's skincare brand) and why even do skincare in the first place. 

Don't let the name intimidate you. While the use of acids for chemical exfoliation is best reserved for skincare geeks, there is an acid that even beginners can safely add to their regimen! Hyaluronic acid is an ingredient often found in skincare products, and it's common enough that most of us have probably tried it already. Besides, did you know that it's already inside our bodies?

Despite the abundance of heat and humidity in our country, there are people like me who worry about looking tuyot. Persistently dry or dehydrated skin cracks, folds, and doesn’t tend to smooth back out, thus making us look older than we really are. I’ve had really bad days when insufficient skincare and dry foundation formulas have made me look wrinkly and washed out. While I know that aging is inevitable, it's not fun looking twice your actual age!

Aging concerns are real for people like me who have dry and/or dehydrated skin so the Revlon Youth FX line is aimed at addressing just that.

As a model, Gigi Hadid basically has three places she can call home: her birthplace in Los Angeles, the fashion capital of New York, and her third home: the airplanes that take her to all her exotic work locations! Her collection with Maybelline is inspired by that supermodel lifestyle, and the Philippines is getting an Asia-first look at this ‘coast-to-coast’ makeup collection!