Glow by Lady E

My son practicing gentle healing with his plushies by sleeping as much as he wants.  And can we take a moment to appreciate our shark, Maxie’s pose? It’s like he’s posing for GQ - Shark Edition. I didn’t pose him. I found him like this that’s why I took the photo.  Healing is not another deadline. We are so used to measuring progress that we try to measure healing, too. How many days has it been? Shouldn’t I feel better by now? Why am I still tired? Why can’t I do what I used to do? At some point, even healing becomes another task we think we are failing to complete on time. But perhaps healing was never meant to work that way. I have a habit of turning everything into a project. There is always something to finish, something to improve, something I should already be better at. Apparently, I do this with healing, too. I noticed it recently because I kept thinking about when I would be back to normal . When would I have my old energy again? When would I stop needing so ...

Hi, Glow Girls!  This issue will be a little different. Instead of arriving all at once, I’ll be sharing it with you over the next two weeks, a few pieces at a time. There’s a reason for the change, and I’ll tell you more when we get to From the EIC’s Desk . For now, three stories are waiting for you Monday night. Issue 04: Gentle Healing starts tonight.  —- With elegance and quiet fire, Lady E Founder, Glow by Lady E An editorial space for stories, art, and intentional living

Right after writing about my inexpensive KKV makeup brushes, I saw these. KKV Mini Cake Powder Puffs. They’re cute. They’re cheap. They’re ₱99 for a box. I can’t remember if there are 4 or 6 or 8 in one box. I just know there’s a lot because I already  own another version of them in purple. Unfortunately, I don’t particularly like them. Which feels like an appropriate continuation of my argument that the price of a beauty tool doesn’t necessarily tell me whether I’m going to like using it. My inexpensive KKV brushes? Some of them are genuinely good. I reach for them despite owning much more expensive brushes because they simply work with my hand. The powder puffs I bought? Not so much. There wasn’t anything particularly impressive about the way they performed, and I found myself reaching for other puffs instead. They were too dense and not very flexible. And they sucked up foundation a lot! The cute but awkward shapes also didn't help.  Expensive doesn’t automatica...

I own a lot of expensive makeup brushes. And after years of doing my own makeup, other people’s and developing my skills, I’ve realized something: I don’t really care how much a makeup brush costs anymore. I don’t even care that much about the brand. Sometimes, yes, it’s the tool. But most of the time? It’s the artist’s hand. Of course, there are limits. If a terrible brush keeps fighting me every time I try to use it, I’m not going to spend my morning negotiating with it. 😆 But inexpensive doesn’t automatically mean terrible. These KKV brushes are a perfect example. They’re very affordable, with most of the brushes in this particular line priced at around ₱89 to ₱159, and they work. That’s it. They do what I need them to do. And once you’ve developed enough technique, I think that becomes far more important than having an impressive name stamped on the handle. I actually own several KKV brushes already, and I’ve mentioned some of them here over the past few months. KKV ...

I keep seeing these Pentel Vistage Watercolor Sticks at SM Stationery. And every time I see them, I look. Then I leave them there. I was curious about them, but my friend told me they were student grade. Apparently, that was enough to lodge itself somewhere in my brain as you don’t need those. So I didn’t buy them. I actually saw them again just last Saturday. Looked at them. Still didn’t buy them. Except this time, I had completely forgotten about something rather important. My $4 Mont Marte watercolors. I’ve been exploring painting more seriously lately, and those inexpensive little watercolor tubes surprised me. They may not be fancy, but they work really well with my hand and the way I naturally paint. And that’s making me rethink the way I’ve been judging art materials. Maybe the question isn’t always: Is this professional grade? Maybe sometimes it’s: What can I do with this? Because a material can have all the impressive credentials in the world and still fight my...