'Revenge beauty' at the country's biggest beauty event
Rustan’s The Beauty Source has always been my mecca for makeup, fragrance, skincare and personal care. They carry the most prestigious global brands and keep adding more to their lineup, so it was but natural that I became a Rustan’s Beauty Addict years ago.
Pre-pandemic they used to hold the biggest beauty events annually, where junkies like me could get the best deals and bargains from so many brands. During the pandemic they went virtual for a couple of years, but the country’s biggest beauty event is back, Rustan’s The Beauty Source is celebrating “A Decade of Beauty,” and this Addict is getting her “revenge beauty” fix.
This year’s event draws inspiration from the diamond, symbolizing inner passion and the enduring quality of Rustan’s the Beauty Source.
On the first floor of Rustan’s Shangri-La, L’Occitane welcomed me with beautiful dried flowers, a bag of cookies and samples of their new Immortelle products. Jo Malone London offered me chocolate truffles and wine. I played the “Which Nuxe Woman Are You?” game at the Nuxe counter, and won a sample of their new Super Serum (see the following item for all the deets on this product).
More prizes and surprises awaited guests from almost 40 beauty brands at their respective booths. I played “Spin the Wheel” at Clinique, “Guess Our Mystery Object” at Guess, “Match the Notes” at Issey Miyake, “Armani My Way Square Maze” at Giorgio Armani, “Lips Don’t Lie” at Furla, “Hit the Notes” at Elizabeth Arden, “Lip Touch Up” at MAC, “Know What Makes You Irresistible!” at Givenchy, and “Which Flower Are You?” at Kenzo.
Beauty and fashion maven Nicole Andersson hosted the program, which featured a spotlight dance performance and fashion show highlighting the Faces of Beauty throughout the years.
Among the attendees were beauty influencers such as celebrity makeup artists Anthea Bueno, Jelly Eugenio, Gery Penaso; models Jessica Yang, Wanda Chen, Mika Reins; content creators Janeena Chan, Chelsea Robato, Kally Araneta, Ashley Colet, Rhea Bue, Jeff Ong, Kai Javier, Marj Maroket, Sam Valenciano, and Vanna Garcia.
Aiming to bring audiences back to where it all began, the program touched on the different beauty themes that the Rustan’s Beauty Addict Events celebrated from 2013 to 2022.
The program ended with a celebratory toast led by senior vice president for Support and Development of Rustan Commercial Corporation, Michael Tantoco Huang, and president of Rustan Commercial Corporation Bienvenido “Donnie” Tantoco III.
Their partners from HSBC Philippines, Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Miles, RMK Beauty, Shiseido Philippines, Beautybox Corp., Estee Lauder, Luxasia, The Peninsula New York, Buckley London, Camille Albane, Carol Lee, Dyson, Finders Keepers, Lotus Gin Room, MAC, Malin+Goetz, Mario Badescu, NARS, Phyto, Ricardo Preto, Sisley, Stila and Tadashi Shoji helped make the event possible.
As we Beauty Addicts partied and shopped, celebrity DJ Jimmy Nocon kept a bouncy beat going all the way until store closing.
In Beauty Addict’s month-long promos, you’ll receive a complimentary Rory and Sloan Mini Croft bag with a minimum single-receipt purchase of P20,000 when you shop in-store or on-call from now until Oct. 31.
Exciting raffle prizes exclusive to Beauty Addict members include a chance to win a four-day, three-night luxurious stay for two at the five-star Peninsula Hotel in New York City, USA, plus flight miles courtesy of Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Miles. From now until Nov. 30, every purchase of P2,500 entitles Beauty Addict Members to one raffle entry.
If you have an HSBC Card, double your chances of winning and get two raffle entries for every purchase of P2,500 when you use your HSBC card at Rustan’s the Beauty Source.
* * *
Find out more about Rustan’s The Beauty Source Anniversary deals at bit.ly/RTBSMoreDeals. To get the latest updates on all your favorite beauty brands, events, and first dibs on special offers, join the Rustan’s The Beauty Source Viber Community at bit.ly/RTBSonViber. Visit their website https://rustans-thebeautysource.com and follow them on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram @RustansTheBeautySource.
Shop your most-loved beauty products hassle-free with Rustan’s Personal Shopper on Call service, message/call 0917-111-1952, online at http://rstns.shop/RTBS or at your nearest Rustan’s store.
Vegan serum promises skin 10 years younger
Nuxe, whose iconic beauty dry oil Huile Prodigieuse is the number-one dry oil in France with one bottle sold every nine seconds, has now combined its 30-year expertise in oils and anti-aging to create Super Serum [10], a universal age-defying concentrate that promises to make skin behave as if it’s 10 years younger, according to Nuxe International training manager Jessica Ecolasse.
“The product is vegan, made in France, and 95% of its ingredients are natural,” she says. “The box and the glass bottle are 100% recyclable. Super Serum is really our solution to restore the functioning of young skin, meaning that it’s capable of stimulating the skin’s natural youth mechanisms thanks to thousands of micro-spheres of fractionated botanical oils dispersed in a powerful serum base containing a patented botanical complex and vitamin B3 (Niacinamide).”
Personally I love the texture of this serum. You can feel the micro-spheres bursting on your skin and releasing their hydrating botanical goodness. From the first application my skin already appeared smoother, plumper and more luminous.
In a clinical trial on 31 women, after 28 days of use they reported that their wrinkles and fine lines had faded, 84% felt their skin was smoother, 71% felt their skin was firmer, 81% felt their complexion was more even.
Looks like Nuxe has another winner on their hands.
* * *
Nuxe is available at Rustan’s The Beauty Source, leading Beauty Bars, Rustans.com, Zalora and Beauty MNL.
Skincare minus the ‘suspicious 6’
Now we can get drunk on great skincare, because Drunk Elephant is now in the Philippines! Yes, the brand founded by Tiffany Masterson that eliminates the Suspicious 6 ingredients that cause most skin problems will launch in the Philippines with retail partners Watsons and SM this October!
I love the brand firstly because it doesn’t contain the Suspicious 6: essential oils, silicones, chemical sunscreens, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), fragrances and dyes, and drying alcohols.
Also, how can you not love that packaging? Drunk Elephant instantly sets itself apart with its colorful containers that look great on a vanity and are easy to grab because of the color-coding.
But most important of all, this skincare is safe and it works — with each other and your skin, being bio-compatible. In fact, they advise layering — they call it “making a smoothie,” but I think of it as mixing your own cocktail.
My own personal cocktail is cleansing with the Beste No. 9 Jelly Cleanser then mixing together the Protini Powerpeptide Resurf Serum, the TLC Framboos Glycolic Night Serum and the Lala Retro Whipped Cream on my hand and applying to my face, massaging it in with a gua sha.
Masterson named her brand Drunk Elephant because she loves African Marula oil and read that elephants get drunk after eating the Marula fruit. Am so happy that now Filipinos can get drunk on Drunk Elephant!
* * *
The collection will be available online at lookatme.com.ph and at Look at Me SM Aura Premier, SM Megamall, SM Makati, and SM Mall of Asia. Also visit @drunkelephant to learn more and share your skincare journey.
Get the eyes of a manga heroine
Heroine Make is a Japanese beauty brand based on manga. Taking inspiration from movies, the brand is known for its mascaras and eyeliners, which have become cult favorites worldwide.
To get the doll-like look of a manga heroine, start with Smooth Liquid Eyeliner Super Keep. With its ultra-fine 0.1mm brush and water-resistant polymer film, drawing on eyeliner is super easy and holds up to sebum, sweat and tears.
KissMe Heroine Make Curl Keep mascara base contains shape-memory polymer for instant curl, four types of fibers for increased length and volume, beauty essences like camellia, argan and wild rose oils for healthy lashes, and a curved brush that applies without clumping.
KissMe Heroine Make Long Up Mascara Super Waterproof has new and improved Long Fiber Ex formula with six beauty serums (from royal jelly to almond oil) to lock in curl and make lashes longer, thicker, and more smudge-proof. No wonder it’s a bestseller.
Then to easily take off the previous products, KissMe Heroine Make Speedy Mascara Remover — free of alcohol, fragrance, color and ionic surfactants — instantly dissolves waterproof mascara with no rubbing, so it’s lash- and lid-friendly.
* * *
Exclusively distributed by Beautybox Corp., KissMe is available online and at Beauty Bar.
An easy way to bronze
Issy & Co. recently released its third and final act for summer: its ode to sand, Crème Cheek Bronzer, a lightweight face bronzer that gives a natural-looking, sun-kissed glow.
“The Crème Cheek Bronzer is our first foray into dimension products,” says cofounder Joel Andrade. “People don’t usually associate bronzers with any Filipino beauty brand. We wanted to address that.”
The soft-touch, buildable bronzer comes in four shades: Toast, a soft clay bronze; Molten, a medium umber bronze; Torrid, a medium golden bronze; and Blaze, a deep sienna bronze.
Thanks to its jojoba and Meadowfoam seed oils it’s so creamy and weightless I love applying and blending it with my fingertips. Truly this is easy, effortless beauty and a great way to keep glowing now that we’re into the rainy season.
* * *
Available for only P349 each at Issy & Co.’s TikTok shop, Shopee and Lazada.
