Celebrity Andrea Brillantes has always wanted to be the CEO of her own cosmetics brand. She wanted her vision to be front and center and come up with products that are representative of her own beauty routine and ultra feminine vibe. And so Lucky Beauty was born. “Makeup is a wearable lucky charm,” Andrea says. For her, it helps her feel more confident and in control of her fate.

This year has seen such a rapid development in the quality and diversity of local makeup product options and with just a little under two months left to 2022, Filipino brands do not seem to have any plans of slowing down.

Issy & Co. has definitely shown that they will be finishing this year strong with their latest launch that revealed a total of 48 products for all of us to enjoy!

Happy National Lipstick Day, PV Community! What lipstick are you wearing today? If you haven’t got any on, well, then you must apply your favorite lipstick right now! We must join in on the celebration, right? As a matter of fact, I just swiped on my MAC Ruby Woo lipstick!

I've always kept myself updated on new Happy Skin releases, be it skincare or makeup. Two of their recent ones really piqued my interest: a sunscreen primer and a tinted moisturizer. I know I need both but realistically speaking, how will they fare in my daily routine? These can be used separately or together, so let's see.

Celebrity beauty brands are all over the place these days, with many of them seeming like they’re just merch, or a second thought sent out into the void by celebrities who simply can’t have too much money. But I find Rare Beauty to be an exception. I see Selena Gomez with regular updates on socials and seeming very involved in her own brand (this is not as common as it should be). Of course there is a team running it day-to-day, but somehow it feels like the brand has a soul. At least to me.

Lightweight, sheer, oil-free and natural are what I look for in a tinted moisturizer. So many brands both international and local are promising these things, and I am glad that the local make-up scene has so many options! The first time I heard about Issy & Co. Active Skin Tint was from Miss Bea via her Youtube Channel. She compared this with a skin tint from another brand and she didn’t really like the coverage. I was curious, so I’m glad to finally try it out.

After first discovering Mae Layug’s GRWM Cosmetics and being pleasantly surprised by the Multi-Use Creamy Tints, I’m back with reviews and swatches of their latest multipurpose makeup offering! The Radiance Tint (P349 / 8ml via LazMall or ShopeeMall) is a tubed concealer line that comes in 12 shades and 12 possible uses.

What was your foundation game like five or ten years ago? Or if you’ve been using makeup for longer than that, do you remember what the formulas were like when you first started? There was a time when it was all about matte, and the coverage options seemed to be either full or fuller and, dare I say, cakey. We’ve come a long way since then, and the formulas feel more... efficient. The wear is generally more comfortable, while the finish of some varieties look more skin-like than ever. Most of all, these innovations are premiering at a fast pace while becoming more affordable!

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but there’s a gold rush in the drugstore foundation category. All the drugstore brands are trying to become The Chosen One for bases; everybody is trying to outdo each other when it comes to quality, shade range (hurrah for inclusivity), packaging, and value. Revlon’s new Candid line holds no punches in this regard. They’ve recently come out with 31 shades from light to very deep - their most comprehensive selection yet - of which 12 are available here in the Philippines. It comes in cute millennial pink packaging to boot!

Let’s take a look at the Candid line and see what I think about this intriguing collection.

The L’Oreal Infallible makeup line has been such a hit here in the Philippines, where the tropical weather constantly threatens to melt the makeup right off our faces. Their long-wearing makeup formulations have received generally good feedback, and I do think that it lives up to its “Infallible” branding. I actually find myself reaching for the pressed powder and lipstick even when I have more premium choices in my arsenal! It’s easily one of the top makeup lines in its price range, so when YouTubers started buzzing about the new Infallible concealer, I got very curious about trying it for myself.

I always come with a positive mindset whenever I try new products. In the decade that I've tested hundreds of products for Project Vanity, I've come to understand that each has its pros and cons and that what works for some may not work for me (that rolls the other way round too). Beauty, I love to say, is so personal. We buy things for different reasons and not all of them is based purely on how effective the product is.

That said, I didn't initially intend to write this review of some Glossier products I picked up online. There are other things for me to write about but Den our Managing Editor convinced me it should be out there. So why not? 

As the resident queen of dark circles, correctors are my life-long advocacy. I believe that people who are cursed with too much pigmentation in their eye area should be equipped with the means with which to defend and correct themselves. I, thank you.

Kidding aside, color correction is one of those ‘level 2’ makeup tricks. It’s not the first thing you get into when doing makeup, but once learned, can completely change your makeup game for the better. As more drugstore brands expand and improve their offerings with professional level formulas, I'm happy to see orange correctors becoming more accessible. But how well do they work? I test two locally-available budget correctors to find out.

Sonnets have been written about this concealer. After using it for a couple of months, I now understand why! The Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer (P399) is a cult favorite for a reason. Never mind its promises of being a "treatment concealer" - let's be real, this is not skincare - but it's a crazy good concealer that covers and plumps up the skin beneath flawlessly. 

The first time I got to try Ellana was through winning a contest sometime in 2008 or 2009. I joined the giveaway of a now defunct beauty blog called Kikay Exchange and won a few pots of this proudly local mineral makeup brand. I was still in college then so I didn't have enough money to buy a lot of makeup; Project Vanity was very young, and I was obsessed about finding new products to try and review. And so this is how my love affair with Ellana started. 

When I first started doing my own makeup, I thought that all good concealers were expensive and far beyond the means of my student budget. Even now, I have to content myself with reading about the NARS Radiant Creamy concealer, MAC Pro Longwear concealer, YSL Touché Eclat Radiance pen concealer, and the Tarte Double Duty Shape Tape concealer. I'm sure those are all amazing and I'd love to add them to my collection someday, but right now, my needs require me to use concealer almost all the time and it would be impractical for me to splurge on something I use every day.

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.

We love our flaws, blemishes and all, but it never hurts to conceal them when we need to look polished and professional. We'll need more than foundation for dark spots and serious eye baggage though, which is where the magic of concealer comes in! Benefit Cosmetics offers a great solution in its best-selling Boi-ing concealers. Recently, they've introduced a revamped concealer line and a new product. 

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.