Makeup is my life because it’s part of my job as a beauty editor and product developer, but even I use makeup much, much less than I did before. My guess is that it’s the same for you too! The last two years saw our makeup kits languishing in half-forgotten drawers, waiting to see the light of day. Now that the world is opening up a little bit more, you may not help but wonder: is this still ok to use? How do you decide what to keep and what to throw away?

Do you ever see products and think, wait, this looks a lot like this other one that came before it? It’s becoming more and more common as supply chains become global. The good news for us here in the Philippines is that our local brands are truly world-class and highly competitive, with brands like Hello Glow (under Ever Bilena) investing heavily in their product development. I love that they have their ears on the ground and commit to making products that can go toe-to-toe with other global brands.

A fascinating truth: Even before you become fully aware of it, cleansing is the earliest form of skincare you take on. It’s a ritual most people even take for granted. But why aim for just getting it over with, when you can pay attention to flaunting that fresh, oil-free glow by choosing the ideal cleanser to deliver those results?

I remember visiting the LOOK store last year a few days after it opened. It was during the thick of the pandemic, but I was so proud to see a concept store like it exist here in the Philippines. It’s about time! It really placed Manila in the map as a world-class beauty shopping destination at par with other countries like Hong Kong and Singapore.

Our work-from-home setup has really changed the way we work. Being on-call even during the wee hours of the night can be unkind to our skin. Our usual skincare products like our cleansers and moisturizers, although important, aren’t enough to address our skin concerns. We need to use more potent, concentrated products to really target our specific skin concerns and have glowing skin through these stressful times. These potent, concentrated potions are serums.

Do you notice that after a good night’s sleep, you wake in the morning with plump and bouncy skin but then lose plumpness throughout the day? Now we can bounce back and get bouncy and youthful skin that lasts for 24 hours with Olay Collagen Peptide-24.

If being in the midst of a global pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that trying to take on healthy habits should be a conscious year-round practice rather than a half-hearted New Year’s resolution. It also means learning to be more in-tune with our bodies’ needs and selecting the right tools to help our wellness journey along. Bonus beauty benefit: A healthy system can translate to a glow that shows on the outside!

The Belo Pandemic Effect ad released last night touched a raw nerve among us women. It showed a fit, pretty person slowly get hairy, large, and pimply as the pandemic dragged on, with an invitation from Belo in the end to come give them a visit. It was the height of insensitivity, which Belo apologized for, but I think it’s worth a conversation because at the core of it is truth. This has happened to all of us, in varying degrees.

Okay, I know we’re not really in a TGIF mood because it’s the first day of ECQ again today. However, I have something that might cheer you up or at least be a good distraction - it’s time for another beauty roundup! This week, we’re talking about Pili Ani’s Self-care Night Recovery Oil, Laura Mercier’s Tinted Moisturizer Oil Free, and Fenty’s Eau de Parfum!

Ever since the start of the community quarantine, online marketplaces like Shopee have helped give us convenient access to certain things from the outside world. Learning a new hobby? You're likely to find competitively-priced supplies. Forgot to pick something up from the last supply run? Perhaps one of your favorite sellers has it. Want to try something new? There’s tons of listings to discover.

When I was younger I believed with all my heart that if things were not perfect, they were worthless. It started when I’d watch shampoo commercials with beautiful women bearing only shiny, straight hair. Comparing my curly, frizzy hair with it - often described as the enemy in those commercials - made me hate my hair with a passion. I was seven or nine. I almost poured boiling hot cooking oil on my head thinking that’s how hot oils worked. Luckily I didn’t but that’s only because the plastic container melted.

While I’ve started using scented candles since 2019, it became a daily habit in 2021. I have discovered a candle enthusiast community consisting of chandlers (candle makers), suppliers, and fellow candle enthusiasts. After trying over 70 candles in a span of two and a half years, I have narrowed it down to my top 11! Here’s what’s worth the splurge.

I recently accompanied my boyfriend to his office in BGC. Since we were already out, we decided to go to Uptown Mall for dinner. Before heading back home, we walked around and did a bit of window shopping. Looking around, I couldn’t help but remember the days when I would go to the mall just to shop for makeup.

Pantene celebrates pride month by highlighting the stories of two Salontastic women. Just like them, we want you to love and enjoy greater hair days everyday, and in every way. Flaunt your Pride with Pantene.

It’s no secret that Innisfree’s Green Tea skincare line is one of the brand’s most popular and enduring collections. Versatile and moisturizing Jeju Green Tea has been a fan favorite since its launch back in 2008, and the creme de la creme has always been the Green Tea Seed Serum for its potent balancing and hydrating properties.

Since we are mostly still stuck at home, some of us have probably tried to DIY our beauty and grooming rituals that we usually do outside. And while it might even be fun to try to cut our own hair or do our own nails at home, there are some things that should be left to the experts. Here are five beauty procedures that you should never try at home.

All movements, when successful, end up permeating our daily lives. The clamor for sustainability in beauty used to be just a niche affair, but over the years we’ve seen bigger brands commit - in their own ways - to practices that are better for the environment. This gives us consumers more options as things become more affordable and easily available. There’s still a long way to go, of course, but Watsons is going forward with its commitment to sustainability.

Before you whirled into our lives like a tornado in 2015, you were just a half-forgotten 90s trend. You were something our mothers and aunties wore on their lips in oxidized moldy photos of when they were young. (Remember when people printed out photos and kept them in physical photo albums?) You were something we only saw in old movies and magazines along with jumpers and boyish hair cuts. But Kylie Jenner changed all that with the launch of her lip kits.

The other day I was watching a BBC documentary about apetamine. It’s this Instagram-famous drug in syrup form that makes people gain weight in order to achieve a “slim-thick” body. Think Cardi B, Kylie Jenner, and Kim Kardashian! It was appalling to find out that this drug is so easily available online and off, and that the side effects are not a joke.

Being on a work-from-home setup has its own fair share of challenges. I thought that not having to wake up early to brave the traffic would mean that I would have more time to take it easy and get some more sleep, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! As the lines between work and life get blurred, I find myself saddled with a big workload that I often stay up until the wee hours in the morning.