10 and Tenacious: Project Vanity's 10th Anniversary Celebration

Hey dearies!

Project Vanity, one of the leading beauty resource in the Philippines, just celebrated its tenth anniversary! 

Wow! I can't believe it has been that long. I remember, even before I started blogging, Project Vanity was one of the blogs I often visit to read reviews about certain products. I was a makeup newbie back then and I usually ask my sister for advice, and if I needed more information, I read blogs. To be honest, since I've already established who my favorite beauty bloggers and beauty gurus way back then, I barely check out others so I'm not familiar with most of the recent ones out there. It's not that I snub them, but I became curious and adventurous with my makeup and skincare that I would like to try them out myself to see how it works on my skin... and probably because life also got busier as well.

And being adventurous is what made me still active with this blog. My thirst to try products is still there after all these years and it has not died down one bit. But I do have to admit that I'm not as enthusiastic as I was when I started when it comes to writing here. Our output is fewer by half because I have to do more adult things and I had to give up some of the things I like to do and one of them is the hours I spent writing content for the Peachy Pink Sisters. But seeing Project Vanity thrive after all these years inspire me! From a one-man team, Liz was able to expand it and the blog just grew massively! You can see the passion from the team and you can tell that from the amount of readers they get as well as the success they achieve when it comes to their events. I also want to mention the brand In Her Element which is also a product of the hard work and passion Liz has poured into. So I guess it's obvious how much I look up to her when it comes to the Beauty Blogging industry and it seems like the reign of Project Vanity as one of the top blogs in the Philippines will not fade anytime soon.

Now that PV has entered its tenth year, the team celebrated with an event and I was lucky enough to get invited.

The motif for the event was pink and when I got to the venue, there was a crowd of women in pink! Upon entrance, you'll receive the Project Vanity 10th Anniversary Kit housed in a cute faux leather bag. You also get these...

I got a list of categories I can join to get prizes, a discount voucher for In Her Element products, instructions on how to join the Baby Foot Finding Cinderella game, and the PV 10 and Tenacious Bingo game. 

The Bingo was an exciting and fun game to get to know the amazing people who joined the event. There were 25 boxes each has something written on them which describes a person, particularly a beauty enthusiast or a certain Project Vanity writer. The participants go around introducing themselves and asking if they fit in a certain category. Then if you were lucky enough to find one, she'll place her signature on the box. When you complete all 25, you can drop the bingo card off at the entrance booth and at the end of the program, you can be one of the lucky winners of the raffle draw. I usually sign the "Has used the COSRX pimple patch" or the "knows what BYS stands for." Some also asked me to sign the "is eye makeup goals" too, which I was flattered by. 

There were booths set-up that you can check out. They were there for the crowd to participate in and hopefully win more beauty products. One of them is the Finding Cinderella game hosted by Baby Foot. If you don't know what Baby Foot is, it's a Japanese brand that's very popular in making your feet literally look like baby's skin! You just soak your feet for a time and after some days, it will peel off calluses! 

Anyway, the Finding Cinderella game is pretty easy but I was very nervous to do it. Haha! Good thing my seatmate, Nadine (Hi Nadine!) was kind enough to take the photo and also served as somewhat my cheerleader because I was just too awkward to get my photo taken. Why? I was embarrassed that I had to remove my footwear. My feet are just not pretty. Haha! What made me even more embarrassed was that the "Prince Charming" was the one who will kneel down and help you put your foot in the glass slipper. But hey! I did it! Check out my photo below.

The glass slipper fits!!! Haha! I get to take home a long-stemmed rose and a Baby Foot Peel Set (every one who gets a picture will get the set even if the slipper doesn't fit you by just uploading your photo on Instagram).

And if you think Mr. Prince Charming here looks familiar, you might have seen him before on TV as Kuya Omurice! He's a Japanese student who sells omurice in the streets of Manila. You can read this article to know more or visit his Facebook Page or Instagram. Btw, he speaks a bit of tagalog. When my foot fit the glass shoe, he said "Dahil nagkasiya sayo, mayroon kang bulaklak!" I was pleasantly surprised! 

Ooooohhh by the way, there's free cotton candy toooooooo!

Hello my beautiful cloud of sugar! 

And there's this super pretty pink booth that you can have your photo taken at. Some PV girls are there to help you snap the perfect photo. 

Here's mine:

When you upload your photo, you can win a Project Vanity Kit too!

Let's get to the program proper...

The host of the event is Karotitay (Instagram). I've been to events that she has hosted and she's really good and entertaining. She's really nice too and made sure to keep the energy and conversation going. 

The first one to hit the stage is none other than the Project Vanity Editor-in-Chief and founder, Liz Lanuzo. She gave us an introduction and a brief history of the Project Vanity Blog. She even told us about the time that she felt unsure about continuing the blog. I'm happy that she did and even strived for more! 

The next speaker is Rosario Juan / Ros. She's a social media strategist and ownder of Commune. She talked about how powerful social media can be. She mentioned how much influence it can generate and the important issues it has helped in creating awareness and change such as the #MeToo movement. Although it can also create negative effects such as cyber bullying and that is why she also gave pointers on how to be a responsible social media user. 

I wasn't able to take down notes in this segment (I was guilty of finishing some of the activities. :( Sorry ) so I'll just list what I can remember... 1.) Unfollow the people or pages that create negativity to your life and instead read and visit those that can inspire you to be a better you. 2.) Value your time and by customizing your feed to what is relevant or important to your life. Don't let your time get wasted watching or reading about unnecessary things. It's also important to have time for yourself. I know many people who are online so much (I think I can consider myself one of them) and there's so many beautiful things to see and learn elsewhere! Leave your phones and other electronics behind and discover what other things the world has to offer! 3.) Be yourself. I know that in social media you can create this image that you want to become. I don't think that that is wrong but there is a line somewhere where it becomes to idealistic and can result to misleading people (or becoming pretentious perhaps?). Through social media, people can get an idea who you are and at the same time, it can also help you connect with people and learn about them and establish relationships. It's also a way for one to actually get to know oneself. Ros mentioned that it can even provide one self-acceptance. And I agree! I was able to meet like-minded individual where I felt very comfortable hanging out with and that made me know what I like and who I like having conversations with. It also gave me the opportunity to meet people who have succeeded in their ventures whom I can learn from and make me aspire to do better. They became connections that I can eventually use  create something I can be passionate about. 

So yeah. Social media definitely is a huge deal in our generation and it's not something we should not take for granted. Let's be aware of its influence and use it with respect and consideration and for the betterment of ourselves!

The next part was a talk with these inspiring people behind beauty companies in the country and they shared their passion, struggles, and successes in their respective businesses. Liz hosted the segment and the panel consists of Andrea, the President of AGC (the group who brought us Etude House and Tony Moly in the Philippines to name a few), Laveen, the founder of Pink Sugar, and Theresa, the founder of Ellana Minerals. 

I am currently in a dilemma on what to do with my life, specifically my career. I want to move on to a different field, but I am still unsure on how and where to start. This informative talk inspired me in so many ways. Here are the things I learned from these amazing people when it comes to creating a business:

- Believe in your ideas and try to envision it/what it would look like in five to ten years.

- Find your resources. Don't just jump into something. Learn what you have and the connections you have established.

- Know your audiences. What do they need and want?

- Do your accounting. Always have your figures to back your idea up!

- Make sure you are all in. 

- Turn off the noise—negativity, but learn from constructive criticisms.

If you do not have an idea yet, here's more advice they shared:

- If you're a student, join orgs. These organizations will help you gain experience and connections.

- Do your research and look at trends and know the classics.

The last part of the program was a Q and A with some of the people behind Project Vanity. The panel consists of Liz, Denise (Managing Editor), Tita Tels/Tellie (Writer, Blogger-BeautyByTellie, and Professional Makeup Artist), and Sam (Creative Director).

They answered some of the beauty questions from the audience. Even though I also blog and read and even hang with some of the fellow bloggers, I was still able to learn so much from this segment. I like the part where the question was "if they could only have three beauty products, what were they" and Tellie said that one of them is an eyeshadow. It's because whatever is safe for the eyes is most likely safe to apply on other areas of your face because the formula used on eye products are usually milder. Interesting, right?

The program ended with the announcement of the winners. I stayed a bit longer to get a cotton candy (because I want one! What diet???), claim my prize from Baby Foot and my Spincam File.

YES! I had the courage to try the Spin Cam. I was so awkward (hello stage fright!) but I overcame it! Here's mine (I cut out the awkwardest part):

I also had to take a selfie with Liz! Yay!
I've been blogging for almost eight years and I've met her like seven years ago? Wow! How time flies!

I was able to hang with the girls of Project Vanity too because Tita Tels and I were craving the same food. Haha! I was fortunate to get to know the other girls. The conversation is always fun when you hang with those who like the same things, in this situation—beauty enthusiasts!

I went home feeling great and my love for beauty and blogging felt revived. I also felt giddy opening my Project Vanity Kit which contained the following:

Woah! That's a lot! The entrance fee for the event is PhP 1,250.00 and you get to take home PhP 5,000.00-worth of products, plus you get to learn from the talks I've mentioned above. It's an awesome deal I have to say!

To close this blog post, I just want to say that Project Vanity has helped me with my beauty-related adventures along with the other blogs that I follow. It has been and still is one of the blogs that inspire me to continue writing here in the Peachy Pink Sisters blog. 

Congratulations for the ten years, Project Vanity!

And cheers for more years to come!

DAWN