Guess what my favorite lip tint, eyebrow pencil, and vitamin C serum have in common? They’re all from K-Beauty brands that I’ve discovered over the past few years! No doubt about it, I’m a fan of how a lot of Asian Beauty (AB) products fit my needs and deliver results, at very decent price points. Even then, my go-to foundation products came from Western and local brands. I dislike being biased, but I generally find K-Beauty foundations to have limited shade selections, unflattering cool undertones (at least on me), and “dewy” finishes that make my face look like a major oil slick.

When we posted about our tita-purse must haves, a lot of our readers shared that they tote around pain and stress relievers, too. Medicines, soothing balms, liniments, essential oils, and even bandages are now part of our purse essentials! To be honest, I wasn’t very surprised; it seems like we all deal with stress and pain on the daily. We may associate pain relievers with the elderly but the reality is any weekday warrior in the metro can do with some stress relief.

Enter Danarra, aromatherapy oils that combine the cooling sensation of a soothing balm with refreshing therapeutic scents! It comes in six variants: Classic Menthol (Destress), Green Tea (Clear Mind), Lavender (Relaxing Sleep), Young (Cool & Fresh), Flowery Citrus (Energy Giving), and Sport (Mood Booster).

I love taking my time with my daily skincare routine as a form of self-care. Still, as a working woman with two young kids, I do dream of getting the benefits of a 10-step Korean skincare routine with just three products and wayyy less time! So, when I saw that Althea’s collaboration with Get It Beauty (a super popular beauty show in Korea) was all about super quick and easy skincare, my curiosity was definitely piqued.

Stress is a daily experience for most of us. The expectations and work load at school, work, and even at home can get so out of hand. Even just getting around from place to place causes so much anxiety because of traffic and limited transportation options!

How do you deal with it? I personally find that doing little things for myself keeps me from going bonkers from all the pressure. Sure, I love caring for my family, accomplishing work goals, and making my writing deadlines at Project Vanity (I love you, Den) but I still crave a little time alone to myself regularly, doing something I like just for me, you know?

Have you found your HG pressed powder yed? I personally have a few favorites, but I still am always on the lookout for promising options with affordable price tags. I mean, it’s the one item in my makeup arsenal that I keep hitting pan on! Finding a good formula is a challenge for my sensitive combination skin though because what works for my oily T-zone (nose and forehead) usually emphasizes texture on my drier U-zone (cheeks, jawline, and chin).

You’d think that celebrities get everything they want, or at least the exact shade of nail polish for their mani-pedi. That wasn’t the case for KC Concepcion, though, that fateful day she got her nails done at the exact same nail salon as Happy Skin co-founder Rissa Mananquil-Trillo. KC wanted a specific shade of coral that she’d previously tried before in Korea but nothing in the salon’s extensive collection even came close as a dupe. After hearing KC’s story and description of the hard-to-find hue, Rissa offered to make it with Happy Skin! Thus, the idea for  #HappySkinxKC Express Gel Polish Collection was born!

We here at PV have all the feels for our fave sheet masks. I personally love using them at night, particularly after a very long and challenging day. It’s such a hassle-free and cost-effective way to relax, care for my skin, and have a spa experience right at home! I even gift them to friends and relatives because I feel like it’s something everyone could and should enjoy. When it comes down to it though, is it actually helpful to incorporate sheet masks into your skin care routine?

We've often talked about "self-care" here on PV as taking the time and effort to look after yourself. It can be as simple as slapping on your favorite sheet, going for a full-on home spa session, or getting your tips and toes done at the parlor. But there is more to self-care than beauty and pampering, and the long queue that snaked through the Meralco Theater lobby for the Watsons World of Wellness event was a happy reminder that people haven't forgotten what really matters.

I was late to the face mist party as was the rest of my skincare routine. Liz shared about getting into the misting habit as early 2013, which unfortunately was circa 3 BB (Before Beauty) for me. Now that I regularly use mists, I wish I’d started using them earlier! Before I thought face mists were just an excuse for beauty brands to sell overpriced water in a spray bottle. When I finally got to try it though, I was de-mist-ified as to why they’re so popular. Good ones truly do hydrate my skin whether I'm wearing makeup or not.

Still, I’m glad that I got into it when I did, as I’m so spoiled for choices. I’ve tried quite a few PV-approved mists, as well as awesome finds for under P500. Here are more mists that deserve to be in our radar!

We love connecting to the PV Community through our Facebook group, where members ask for advice and swap recommendations. Many of the questions we get are about which skin care product would work best for them. This is a tough question to answer; how can we make skincare recommendations for others who may have vastly different skin and preferences compared to ours? This depends on so many factors!

However, I’ve realized that there are two major considerations when choosing skin care: skin type (dry, oily, combination, normal) and skin concern (acne, redness, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, etc). It can add to the confusion of what kind of product you should use so when it comes down to choosing, which one really matters more?

I must confess that I get a high from scoring an awesome beauty bargain! This is the main reason I keep coming back to The Face Shop (TFS) stores. They put at least one product on a 1 + 1 promo every month, and it draws me in every time. They’re generous with GWPs, they have a rewards program tied up with Bench, and their character collaborations have wowed us again and again. Of course, their skin care and makeup offerings perform really well for the price!

Until a couple of years ago, I didn’t believe in using face primers. It seemed like an unnecessary step and additional expense, until finally trying one made me do a complete 180! Once addicted, I ended up collecting  different kinds of primers: pore-filling, oil-controlling, moisturizing, brightening, color-correcting, and even ones with SPF. You see, I have sensitive combination skin so I cycle through these primers according to how my skin looks and feels like when I wake up. Sometimes, I even end up using different primers on targeted areas of my face!

So I was excited to discover that BYS had three new face primers in rather interesting variants: one for oily skin, one with hydrating pearls, and yet another with gold flakes. The pearls and gold flakes are particularly unique in my perspective, so I was very curious to give these a try.

Ultraviolet might be the color of the year but anyone interested in skincare knows that UV rays aren’t cool. When it comes to proper skin care, proper SPF is the commandment no one can break. Any PV girl worth her salt knows never to skip SPF; our editors Liz and Den would probably disown us if we ever violate this basic skin care rule!

Still, I would have to ‘fess up and admit to several things I might be neglecting when it comes to sun protection. Yes, it’s totally possible to be a skincare junkie yet still forget to cover all our SPF bases! 

When I was a teenager, my mom warned me to never aggravate or pop a pimple if it's on my nose. She told me that the daughter of a friend of a friend (not a typo) was prohibited by a doctor to never get "the triangle of death” on her face infected if she didn't want to die. To me, it sounded a lot like an urban legend: it evoked images of the Bermuda triangle in my head, and the third-degree anecdotal “proof” seemed pretty dubious. Still, being an obedient daughter, I did avoid picking at pimples whenever they grew in this so-called “danger area” because it seemed better to be safe than sorry.

The world of beauty seems to have grown overnight. Being a beauty fanatic and skin care addict, I have mixed feelings about it. My first thought was, YAAASSSS finally there are so many new things to try! But a few seconds later, I realized: there are SO MANY things to try! I suddenly can’t cope with all of these new products, innovations, and, let’s face it - gimmicks.

I do understand that the beauty industry is even more competitive now. Brands are pressured to come up with standout products that can get them #trending both online and off. I personally find that there’s a very thin line separating the ingenious and the gimmicky though so here’s a rundown of what works and what doesn't, based on what I've tried so far!

If you've ever tried to treat your pimples and only made them worse, there may be ingredients in your products that are actually bad for your skin. Before you try any more treatments, check the label and consider avoiding products that contain these potential skin irritants.

I always have the best of gifting intentions when the holidays roll in. I love the idea of picking out unique gifts for family and friends, lovingly wrapping each one, and adding a special decoration to make my gifts stand out from the rest. BUT what really happens every year is that I always run out of time to execute my grand plans, and end up doing last-minute shopping and hasty gift-wrapping!

As consumers, we might be fickle about where our clothing and our food are made, but what about cosmetics and personal care products? To be honest, I never considered this before, when my beauty buys were limited to drugstore and drugstore-priced products. When I started getting into mid- and higher-end products though (it strangely coincides with the time I started writing for PV, hmm) I admit my curiosity was piqued because the higher price tag made them feel like actual investment pieces. So I had to know: am I getting my money’s worth by spending more for these items when they could possibly be made in the same place as my cheap thrills?

I've since took note of how different shampoos affect my scalp and hair, and was shocked to discover that certain variants would actually cause breakouts near my hairline. I knew that certain skincare ingredients should be avoided, and a quick look at the ingredients list of shampoos I used revealed they all had one thing in common: sulfates.

Do you believe that men are from Mars and women are from Venus? While the differences can sometimes feel very stark, the fact is that many of our needs are the same, including personal care. I mean, both have the same simplistic goal to get cleaned and look groomed. So why do brands insist on putting out separate product lines for men and women?