One of Benefit Cosmetics' best sellers is the POREfessional Primer, with variants for minimizing pores, mattifying, or hydrating. It’s a personal favorite as it creates a smooth base and you can wear it alone if you just want to get rid of the skincare shine. But I still want to solve as much of my pore issues as possible – visible pores, clogged pores, texture! The new POREfessional Pore Care Collection is developed to help achieve that.

We've all been there: we wake up with a zit right before an important event. Whether it's a date, an outing, or a big presentation, a pimple can be a big downer. And with people still dealing with maskne, we're all trying to find quick solutions. I recently tried the complete Acnes line by Mentholatum and here's what I found.

Serums are usually counted beyond basic skincare and that’s because they have targeted benefits that add on to a routine. These concentrated boosters are often priced higher but Ever Bilena Plus recently released affordable serums for only P395 each. Let’s see how they fare on my skin!

Have you heard about NACIFIC? It’s a K-beauty brand that’s been quietly getting a strong following recently. It stands for Naturalistic, Affordable, Clean, Innovative, Fresh, Iconic, and Caring. Their approach is a trendy minimalist aesthetic coupled with formulations that spotlight nature-derived healthy ingredients to relax the skin. It is an inclusive brand, because each product line targets specific skin concerns. There’s the Fresh Cica Plus (acne care/anti-inflammatory), Pink AHA/BHA (exfoliating), and Blackhead All Kill (pore refining) to name a few. But their all-time bestsellers are still the OG Fresh Herb Origin line and their brightening Phyto Niacin line!

I used to think of acne as a punishment for me not being careful enough with my skin, not being more mindful of what I expose it to. But overtime I realized it’s just a natural function of skin to let me know what’s not working out in my routine. Often it’s also because of my hormones or stress, which I can’t do too much about. I’ve accepted it as a part of myself - not a flaw, but a built-in feature that I don’t have to hate.

Fighting acne is no walk in the park. It takes a lot of time, effort, and frustration especially when you’re dealing with the hormonal kind. I never had to deal with acne growing up. But I developed hormonal imbalance as an adult and this manifested itself on my skin.

I’ve tried every wonder ingredient out there for skincare products and while they did help, they were not addressing the problem at its root cause. I don’t want to keep treating acne, I want to stop it from even forming. What really helped me was a visit to my gynecologist while we were living in Berlin to see whether my problem was truly internal. Spoiler alert: It was.

I’ve always had sensitive skin all my life. When I was younger, I’d often experience allergy flare ups that’s usually triggered by the food I eat, the weather, or even stress.

These days, I’ve been dealing with mild skin irritation from the summer heat. While I’ve been managing it with a gentler, much simpler skin care routine, I’ve been looking for a new cleanser that can manage my skin’s irritation - which is mostly red spots on my chest and dry patches all over my face.

Not all formulations are created equal. It’s also rather easy to get sucked into skincare ingredient lists and get impressed with high-percentages of certain actives. Paula’s Choice Niacinamide 20% Treatment has been hailed for its high concentration of this crowd-favorite – but is it really more effective?

Since puberty has come and gone, I have heaved a sigh of relief that my skin is no longer as erratic as it was during those tumultuous years. Most of the pimples I experience as an adult can be chalked up to bouts of pre-period hormones, purging, or product incompatibility. And because age comes with wisdom, I’ve already assembled a Dream Team of products that help manage those tricky times a little better.