Beauty advice...now

Uptown/Downtown has,  through the years, researched on ways to make your beauty routine quicker and more effective.

Along with the research came hours, days, weeks and even months of product testing. To help greet the summer at your best, we are daring five of our surefire tips and tested products to match!

The best way to remove makeup

Makeup oil is a godsend to women who want to thoroughly take off all traces of makeup (oil-based ones included) from their face, while thoroughly cleansing and moisturizing their skin at the same time. It takes only a minute for this miracle product to do all three tasks! Place a small amount of oil on your face and apply gently in small circles all over your makeup. Dampen your hands with water and continue to massage your face. This is where the alchemy occurs. The oil turns into a face wash! Rinse your face with water or (my preferred method), take a wet face towel and wipe off the residue. Your face is now clean and supple!

Product we love: Snoe’s Make Out Makeup Melting Cleansing Oil.

Keeping your skin perpetually young

Applying moisturizer is all well and good when your objective is simply to keep your skin smooth. Uptown/Downtown would encourage you, however, to take advantage of the skin rejuvenating technology that has been discovered in recent years and invest in a lotion that uses AHA (Alpha Hydroxy Acid) that encourages skin resurfacing, lightens dark spots and evens out the skin tone from within. This way your skin will go beyond soft! Think youthful, dewy and genuinely healthy skin! (Note: When using products containing AHA, it is advisable to apply sunblock as AHA makes skin photosensitive).

Product we love: VMV Hypoallergenics’ Illuminants+ Face-Hand-Body Lotion.

Put a pad on the polish!

There are many reasons to prefer nail polish remover pads over regular liquid polish remover. For starters, they save us the bother of fishing for cotton balls, are compact and easy to carry and do not have the danger of spillage. Most pads come with moisturizers and are lightly scented (so unlike acetone). For stubborn polish, keep the pad on the nail for a minute to allow the liquid to soak and penetrate. Press down gently and wipe off!

Product we love: Mumuso Nail Polish Remover.

Use BB Cream

BB Creams or Beauty Balms were discovered in Germany and were used as a way of protecting laser-treated skin. Nowadays, women use BB Cream to cut down their beauty regimen. Want a foundation that evens out your skin tone? Buy BB Cream. Hoping to use a product that is both a primer and a sunblock? Use BB Cream. Wishing for a skin fluid that provides nourishment to the skin but also reverses age and sun spots? Use BB Cream. The trick is to check the labels of a product to find out which BB Cream can answer all of your daily skin demands.

Product we love: Belo Intensive Whitening BB Cream with Kojic Acid + Tranexamic Acid (SPF 50).

Get glowing!

Highlighters make skin look dewy and level up any blush. They often give a pearlescent effect and are applied on the cheekbones or on the inner and outer portions of the eye in order to make these areas appear brighter. Contrary to popular belief, highlighters (whether in powder, liquid or cream form) can be used in the daytime and are especially beautiful when the sun touches the face!

Product we love: Wet N Wild Highlight in I’ll Have A Cosmo.

Product photos by JOANNE ZAPANTA-ANDRADA