The Ordinary is probably the biggest breakthrough beauty brand of 2017, and I'm just one of its many fans who can’t stop adding items to my shopping cart. It is addicting! They really raised the bar for skincare with their wide range of straightforward active ingredients offered at wallet-friendly prices. If you want to get on the bandwagon but don't know where to start, fellow PV girl Kim has a list of TO must-try's. But even if you're more into makeup than skincare, The Ordinary has also been making the internet buzz about its face primers and foundations - so much so that foundations had a 25,000-person waitlist!

With so many makeup tips and tricks popping up nowadays, it can feel a little overwhelming sometimes. Some may even make you even cringe with how crazy and over-the-top they are - remember the one about using a knife as a guide to contour? No thanks! I'd rather stick to safe options, particularly when they look like they can actually work. So I decided to actually find out! I picked out three top hacks that promise to help my foundation look more fleek, using products that most beauty junkies would already have in their stash.Is it a real HACK or just WHACK?

I consider myself to be a foundation fiend. As a girl with very oily skin and crazy work hours, only the most long-wearing of foundations stand a chance of making it through my typical day. I don’t feel that I need full coverage but I've found that the two qualities - long wear and opacity - usually go hand-in-hand.

There is something about classic cult favorites that makes us emotionally attached. They always have a special place in our vanity kit that no matter what we do, and we always come back to them. Take the MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation for example; it remains a staple in many makeup artist kits because of it can be used alone, wet, and as a touch-up powder.

It’s a struggle to find an affordable foundation that won’t let you down. We expect high-end foundations to perform well, so it's exciting is when we find a drugstore option that delivers awesome results. Luckily, we now have a lot of inexpensive options that can put high-end foundations to shame!  

When the Pink Sugar Our Lil Secret Concealer came out a few years ago, makeup fans went nuts for its crazy coverage and staying power. It was a once-in-a-blue-moon drugstore concealer that actually can match high-end ones, for a change. At P299, it's one of the "secret" gems at Watsons and SM Beauty stores.

Pink Sugar's Laveen and Rohit Mirpuri knew that they had a winner in their hands and of course, wanted to expand the line based on what their customers are asking for.

I'm a liquid foundation gal. It does take a few extra minutes to apply, but the pay-off is worth it since it looks so much more like skin than pan foundation. It wears better throughout the day too! Recently I've been picking up the Estee Lauder Double Wear Makeup (P2,400 for 30ml) more than my other liquid foundations. It makes my skin look amazing plus it stays on my oily combination skin all freakin' day!

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 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.