I’ve reviewed quite a few Myra products in the past and you know that I’ve been consistently impressed with the brand. Before, I thought that the low price points speak for the quality; I was obviously wrong. If you’re on a budget and you want affordable products that are similar to high-end brands, then Myra is for you. I really like their moisturizer with SPF, face powder, and lip balm.

My absolute favorite, however, would have to be the Vitaglow Tinted Moisturizer. It’s the cheapest and best tinted moisturizer in drugstores right now at only P150!

The best thing about the Vitaglow is that it's touted to be mineral makeup, which means that it doesn't clog pores and should help your skin in the long run. It also contains a powerful antioxidant. Vitamin E is vital in protecting skin cells from ultra violet light, pollution, drugs, and other elements that produce cell damaging free radicals. It also helps the skin by strengthening its moisture barrier and maintaining its oil balance whenever you cleanse.

It's been two years and BB creams are still popular. They're not a topic for hysteria anymore, but there are still fans out there. And why shouldn't there be? Claims to providing blemish-free and beautiful skin aside, BB creams are awesome makeup bases or even substitutes to foundations. One such BB cream that's just been recently released is the Colour Collection Gluta-White BB Cream (P379 for 40mL).

I'll save you the suspense and tell you straight out that CC's BB cream is a pretty good product at a crazy cheap price. Never mind the BB cream label. It's a great makeup base and tinted moisturizer that doesn't make Pinay skin too oily or too white! It also has sun protection.

What I love about the product

• It's the right shade for me. I do wish it comes in a slightly darker shade though but it works for me as is. The shade is best for medium to light-medium skin with yellow undertones.
• The coverage is sheer, but it evens out my skin nicely and hides lighter blemishes. It basically lets my skin shine through while concealing minor imperfections.

I got a couple of comments yesterday regarding my "glowing skin" in this post. It's mainly due to two things that I have been using religiously in the past week (meaning I am not trying out any other skincare product): Pond's Pure White facial wash and Clinique Moisture Surge. My skin has finally calmed down after yet another nasty breakout, but I have a few pimples again because I used this face sunblock yesterday. Ugh. Must. Stick. To. Routine.

Anyway, other than skincare, a marvelous foundation called the Colorescience Pressed Mineral Foundation Compact (P3,750) contributed to the glow. I've had it since October last year but I haven't reviewed it for some reason or other. I don't have a good excuse!

What I love about the product

• Beautiful, glowy finish. I prefer this over matte finishes, but I guess it depends on preference since some girls may not want to highlight oily skin. In any case Colorescience has a very fine sheen, not oily-looking at all.

I have read in tons of blogs that the Koreans and Japanese make some of the best makeup and skincare out there. However, the obvious road block is that this stuff is in another country! The good news is that there are a lot of enterprising Filipinas who are very much aware of this demand and know the best products to sell online. One of them is Bon, owner of a store called We Have It 43. I have seen her store way before she approached me, and I was duly impressed by the wide - and I mean WIDE - range of products available there.

She carries popular BB cream brands like Legere, BRTC, Missha, Etude House, Dr Jart, and Liole. She also has famous Japanese brands like Majolica Majorca, Shiseido, Kanebo Lunasol, and Jill Stuart. There are more than 70 brands to choose from! What I like most about the store though is the fact that the prices are not super hiked up. They're more than fair, actually. Bon can afford to do this because she is based in Taiwan and she has direct access to the products, which she ships to a friend here.

Anyway, when she asked me if I want to try some of her wares, I asked her what her best seller is. She pointed to the L'egere White Multi BB Cream (P1,000), which she has sold more than 300 tubes of! I was skeptical at first, until I read that it has a 4.4/5 rating at Makeupalley.

The short of it is that this is the best BB cream I've tried to date. Here's why!

When I started to get into makeup I harbored the secret fantasy of becoming a makeup artist. I never did push through with it though, because I'm not as happy about applying makeup on other people as writing about it! My forte really is writing, hence this blog. I enjoy the process of gathering information and sharing it.

As my dreams of becoming a makeup artist faded away, I do still want to own a makeup artist's ultimate symbol: the train case. That's why I was blown away when Avon handed me this awesome train case made by Suesh. The huge case was full of goodies Avon thoughtfully put in! This will sound really cheesy, but thanks Avon for making one of my dreams come true! Haha. 

Curious to see what's inside? Click click!

The Avon Ideal Shade Liquid Foundation (P530) came in a gift pack along with other makeup and skincare products from the brand. I didn't expect much from it because, well, I got this idea that Avon makeup is just "okay" (not counting the lipsticks, which I have raved about before) - nothing to write home about. To begin with, it's hard to ask a lot for the price. 

Nonetheless I am surprised. The foundation gives a really beautiful finish that instantly enhances the skin and I have pictures to prove it! I haven't worn it out though because the shade (Natural) is rather light on me so I can't tell you about the lasting power. What I'll just talk about is the texture, consistency, and finish.

The Ideal Shade foundation is marketed to have light-adjusting pigments that provide a good shade match and natural coverage.

One of the more interesting products that came out late last year is the Revlon PhotoReady Compact Makeup (P945). It's the answer to the prayers of the fans of the PhotoReady Liquid Makeup since it has none of the shimmers everyone complained about. It also toes the fine line between liquid and powder, a plus if you're the type who likes powder more than liquid foundations.

The PhotoReady Compact Makeup is a cream foundation that comes in a long, rectangular compact that features a "liquefying mesh". This mesh presses through the foundation to sort of squeeze it out. Intriguing eh? There's a small sponge that comes with the whole package.

What I like about the product

• As with other products in Revlon's PhotoReady line, this foundation gives a smooth, matte finish that registers well on camera. That is really the product's main selling point!

I've said this once and I'll say it again: Clinique makes some of the best foundations out there. The brand has a foundation for your major skin concerns, and the lasting power + finish are always amazing. My top Clinique foundation favorites are the Perfect Real Compact Makeup and the Superfit Makeup because they give the most natural finish that actually looks like my skin. They're second only to my Holy Grail foundation, the NARS Sheer Glow.

Anyway, today I'll talk about another favorite, the Clinique Supermoisture Makeup. It's Clinique's version of the tinted moisturizer, but without the limitations that usually comes with TMs. Convenient moisturizers that provide coverage are everywhere now - some of them cleverly called BB creams - but the main problem with these is that the shade selection and coverage are very limited. Not so with the Clinique Supermoisture Makeup!

What I love about the product

• I skip moisturizer when I use this! That's one step slashed from my makeup routine. You know I love the Clinique Moisture Surge, but sometimes I'm in a rush and I prefer to skip it.
• Light to medium coverage. It covers redness and light blemishes.
• Has a glowy, natural finish, as if I'm not wearing any makeup.

I love that Revlon always has something new every other month or so. I believe that they're trying to revamp their old image as makeup for older women into makeup that caters to a younger market's pressing needs. I feel that it's working! I like what Revlon has come up with in the last few months - Luxurious Color eyeshadows: Satin and Perle, Grow Luscious by Fabulash,  PhotoReady Powder, and my favorite, the Colorburst lipsticks. I'm very excited about the goodies they'll be releasing next year!

For now, Revlon's newest products are the PhotoReady Compact and Just Bitten Lip Stain + Balm.

The Just Bitten Lip Stain + Balm (P595) is a collection of lip stains that do NOT give a "just bitten" effect! Well maybe if you were kissing a hungry vampire...lol. The lip stains look like highly pigmented lipsticks when applied. If you don't like lip stains because of the drying effect, Revlon has thoughtfully added a lip balm on the other end of the tube. I love the lip balm actually - the feel is reminiscent of my HG lip balm, Aquafina, but without the minty sting.

Yes Virginia, it's a felt tip marker!

The PhotoReady Compact Makeup (P995) is the answer to the prayers of fans of the PhotoReady Liquid Makeup.

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!

A few things I like about BB creams in general is that they are designed to moisturize, have SPF, and provide some coverage. Very handy if you're just stepping out or simply too lazy to put on makeup. Anyway, the kind folks from Purederm sent me the Purederm 3-in-1 Magic BB Cream to try!

Now I'm sure you've already seen a lot of bloggers reviewing this product, so I'll just run through some quick points and show you what it does for me.

Hot pink tube with silver cap

Freshly sealed

What I like about the product

• Good coverage with the tiniest amount of product
• Has SPF 30
• Good for oily skin since the product absorbs and stays on for half a day. Use a finishing powder to lengthen the wear time.
• Yellow-toned. A lot of Korean BB creams tend to be beige-toned, thus casting a gray shade on yellow-toned Pinay skin.

Here is a picture of me with zero makeup and photo processing. I have okay skin lately, but as you can see, I have a number of blemishes and roughness in some areas. I also have natural eye bags that I really can't do much about. Like everyone else, I want to put my best face forward, so I started my enthusiasm for beauty products in the quest to fake perfect skin.

There are literally cartloads of stuff that you can use to look as if you have a flawless, glowing face, so the only question really is this: how much are you willing to spend for it?

I rummaged through my beauty collection to find the best way to fake perfect skin in terms of cost. I came up with two sets of products: one that's affordable, while the other one not so much.

Damage: P2,410

Pond's Flawless White Day Cream (P300), Purederm Magic BB Cream (P660), Revlon Beyond Naturals concealer (P750), Ellana Mineral foundation 6g (P420) and finishing powder (P280)

Damage: P12,200

Clinique Moisture Surge (P2500), Smooth-365 Serum (P2600), MAC Studionfinish concealer (P900), NARS Sheer Glow foundation (P2450), Colorescience pressed mineral foundation (P3750)

Before we get to how the products actually look and perform against each other, let's start with how my beauty routine goes. I find that this works best to create that flawless face.

1. Start with a good moisturizer. Make sure that it absorbs on your skin well, leaving a matte yet glowy finish.

People have been complimenting me on my "great" skin these past couple of weeks. I always tell them "It's NARS!" I've been breaking out heavily up until last week so my skin really looked like crap underneath; only a miracle could have made me look presentable. That miracle is the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation.

Let me cut to the chase and say that the NARS Sheer Glow is the best foundation I've tried to date. Trust me when I say that I've tried quite a lot in the past! Now before I go on and on just raving about it, let me debunk a couple of things about this product.

First of all, it's not sheer. I'd say that the coverage is medium to heavy (two layers). Second, it's not glowy at all - at least, not in the sense the word is usually taken in cosmetics. It's not shimmery nor luminescent. In fact I'd say the finish is more matte-satin. Lastly, while this foundation is especially formulated for dry to normal skin, it works perfectly for my oily-combination skin.

What I love about this product

• My skin looks amazing with it on. It covers the lighter blemishes and uneven patches on my face while smoothing the overall appearance. The effect is "hyper real" - it's my skin, but loads better! The foundation just melts seamlessly.
• The feel is lightweight, like I don't have makeup on.

I've always wanted to try a Paul & Joe foundation since reading a lot of rave reviews online. The only reason I haven't bought it before now is how expensive it is. A refill and a compact costs upwards P2,000; it's a bit too hefty for me. So, when I got an invite to the 70% off sale, I jumped at the chance to grab my own Paul & Joe foundie!

I spent only P870 for the whole thing, which makes it one of the best makeup bargains I've come across. I've been using it since I got it and I must say, it IS a great product. If it's something I'll buy at full price remains to be seen.

What I love about it

• Light to medium coverage. Smooth, my-skin-but-better effect. You can't believe how very few foundations can give you this!
• The coverage is light to medium, with a semi-matte finish. Don't expect it to cover your darker blemishes. You can use the foundation by itself but it's also a great base for powder foundation due to its creamy nature. It will help the rest of your makeup show up better and stay on longer.

When I wrote that there is no good drugstore moisturizer, my readers were quick to correct me. The folks behind Myra (Innovitelle, under Unilab) generously sent me a pack of Myra products, of course not forgetting to include the intriguing Myra Vitaglow Tinted Moisturizer!

I've been using the product for a week, and surprisingly, it's good! It's super cheap at only P135 (hardly more than a one-way cab fare or a cup of overpriced coffee), but the best thing is that it delivers well in terms of feel, texture, and coverage.

There are only two shades: Beige and Ivory. Beige is more for morena skin with, well, beige undertones, while Ivory is for fairer skin with yellow tones. I can actually use both shades since they blend in with my skintone (light-medium, NC30-35), but my preference is Ivory. I made a video on how I apply Ivory, so you can see how it improves my complexion nicely.

Why I like this

• Good coverage. It won't cover blemishes or eyebags, but it does a great job of evening out my skin.
• Feels light. The texture is kind of watery, which I prefer versus oily liquid makeup.

I used to find myself intimidated by Clinique. The products are expensive, and the clean aesthetic of the packaging - even the counters - can be alienating to those on a budget. However, after meeting the people behind the brand and using their products for a year now, I can say that your skin (and your money) is in very good hands.

May from Clinique invited me to their Rustan's Makati counter last Thursday to introduce me to two of their newest products: the Derma White Bright-C Stick Makeup, a cream foundation in stick form, and the Lash Power Volumizing Mascara. I got the mascara so I will be reviewing that separately (one word - wow). For now, I'll be talking about the Derma White stick makeup and how hands-on the brand is in teaching its clients to maximize the products.

Derma White Bright-C Stick Makeup SPF 15/PA++ is a two-in-one foundation stick that incorporates makeup and brightening benefits in one product.  The formula contains a high concentrated infusion of potent Vitamin C and Vitamin E located at the center of the stick to help brighten and soothe damaged skin immediately.

It's the weekend! How's it going for you? Me, I don't really have weekends since I mostly work from home. Right now I'm preparing to go to my mom's house, but before I leave, I want to share a product that I've had for a few weeks now: the Etude House foundation brush.

I find myself struggling to say something about this brush. Why? Because all I can think of saying is "meh". It's so-so. I can live with it, I can live without it.

What I like 

• No shedding
• Easy to clean with only baby shampoo
• It looks neat, compact, professional
• Relatively affordable for only sub-500 pesos

Part of my job in the beauty industry is finding the latest news about products, events, and trends. One of the things that I have constantly heard about is BB creams. Frankly, I'm not a believer in the hype about these cream's power to give me perfect skin, but I am a fan of them as tinted moisturizers. They make for great makeup bases if you have the right skin type and coloring for them.

Anyway, when I read about BB creams, one name always pops up: Dr. Jart. Dr. Jart BB Creams promise you a lot of things - coverage, anti-aging, healing, and general skin improvement. I'm sure you'd like to know: are they worth their steep price tags? That's really the most important question, isn't it, when it comes to products like this.

I've used each one of these creams for almost two weeks. I can now finally deliver my verdict!

The Black Label is my favorite. It has light, buildable coverage and serves as a good makeup base. Out of all the Dr. Jart BB creams, this is the one that makes my skin feel the best! It makes my skin feel smoother and I noticed that my skin looks less dull - that must be the detox healing working. It has SPF 25.  SRP: 50mL - P1,940 / 15 mL - P845