Glow by Lady E

  In my latest Soft Saturday Diaries , I mentioned that I dropped by the BYS pop-up shop at SM Makati. I had a very interesting time there, talking to one of the, what I would call, Glow Guides — women who don’t just sell makeup, but help you glow from the inside out. Her name is Ceje.  I regularly see BYS at Watsons in a small gondola. This is the first time I've seen so many BYS products in one place!  I was immediately drawn to these stick blushes and bronzers My loyal Glow Ladies know that I have been experimenting with BYS makeup for the past month. I used to be an Estee Lauder Group girl. I used Clinique skincare daily. My makeup consisted of Bobbi Brown, MAC, Estee Lauder, and other high-end brands. However, years of autoimmune medication have wrecked havoc on my body, leaving me with a number of skin issues. At first it was chronic urticaria then painful cystic acne, and now the remnants of papulopustular rosacea. Clinique skincare wasn't working for me anymore. B...

Former Makeup Artist Confession Back in the day, my kit was full of Bobbi Brown, MAC, and Sigma brushes. As a MUA, those brands made me feel legit. And they were good—no doubt. But they also came with a price tag. (Php10,000 for a set of Bobbi Brown brushes, anyone?) Then motherhood happened. Suddenly, the budget went to diapers, formula, educational toys, and learning materials. My beauty kit gathered dust, literally! I still find some kits every now and then that are dusty! Hahaha!  One day, while looking around Miniso, I spotted a rose gold foundation brush in the makeup tools aisle. It was cute. It was very pretty. It was Php199 ($3.50), I think, or Php279 ($4.95). It was definitely less than Php300 ($5.30). I hesitated. “What if it’s scratchy? What if it falls apart?” But something in me said—try. Worst case? I give it away. It's been years, but this is still my favorite foundation brush!  So I did. And it worked! It's dense enough for foundation absorption and appli...

  For years, I couldn’t wear makeup. Not because I didn’t want to—but because I physically couldn’t. I went from chronic idiopathic urticaria to painful, huge cystic acne, and now I’m managing rosacea, MCAS, and histamine sensitivity. All side effects of years of medication from a wrong diagnosis. My skin became a battleground. It flared at everything—stress, heat, products, even food. So I stopped. I stopped wearing makeup. I stopped showing up on camera. And, in many ways, I stopped showing up for myself. I showed up for my son, my family, for other people. But forgot about myself. Why I Stopped Caring About Beauty (And Why That Wasn't Me) I used to know every new release. I used to swatch lipsticks in-store like it was a sacred ritual. But when your face burns at the mere touch of a product, beauty becomes the enemy. At first my reason was I was a new mom and my son came first...in everything. So, I started alloting all my time, all my money, energy, resources to this tiny human...