Do you make it a habit to read the label before deciding to buy product? It’s definitely a good idea to do so (even if it’s in Korean!) because you should always check for manufacturing and expiry dates to help ensure that the product is still safe to use. There also ingredients you should look out for because of their high potential as skin irritants, or because they help back up a product’s claims of being effective at treating acne or preventing skin aging.

Kanebo is an 80-year old Japanese heritage brand that has been faithful in upholding its traditions while using the latest innovations to create modern, meaningful beauty products. You can expect the best of both worlds from this brand in terms of keeping what works, and looking toward the future.

Recently, it introduced the Kanebo Chrono Beauty concept, which focuses on grouping skincare items according to certain needs.

I’ve long been intrigued by BYS Cosmetics. I see them in the beauty section all the time but the sleek black packaging has always made me think that their products are more for professional makeup artists! In a way, I wasn’t entirely wrong - the Australian drugstore brand promises exceptional quality and value for money, and in terms of professional usage, they’ve actually partnered up with the Center for Aesthetic Studies, a respected makeup school in Manila. The brand does not test on animals and when I finally looked it up, I was surprised to see that their prices are actually reasonable even for my student budget. 

Here's a roundup of their top five best-sellers, and what they look like on my morena skin + dark hair!

If I had to drastically trim down my makeup collection to just a few items, I can probably live with just one foundation, brow pencil, mascara, and blush. But can you imagine just using one lippie? Hell no.

We all probably have a lot more lipsticks than we can reasonably use up before their expiry dates. We may not love every single one but I hang onto them because we like the option of being able to switch up our look if we so choose. If we're being honest though, we play favorites and usually just have a couple actually in use. These are the shades we're currently rocking!