TO BE YOUNG in any field is to be given the task to explore the new. In youth we find eyes unclouded by whatever it is that makes us jaded, and see through eyes that are wide open.

CULT-FAVORITE Japanese skincare brand Hada Labo has finally launched in the Philippines, a feat which took years to do, according to a brand representative.

I HAD previously used Hada Labo products from the core line when they were sent over from Japan by relatives, and while I remember that my skin loved the products, it was a problem getting them regularly enough to become staples so I stopped using them for a couple of years.

FOR LUXURY BRANDS, worries about Chinese politics switched last week from the impact of Hong Kong street protests to the output of their own design studios.

THE “Agimat” series of the highly popular shoe line of National Basketball Association superstar LeBron James is back with its latest iteration and this time it features the collaboration between global brand Nike and major local specialty sneaker store Titan.

RECENT EXTREME weather conditions and regular pollution may stress someone out, something health and beauty retailer Watsons Philippines is attempting to address with its ongoing health and wellness promotion which provides discounts for select brands and products until September.

ACTRESSES Joanna Ampil, Angelica Panganiban, Cherry Pie Picache, Lorna Tolentino, Agot Isidro, and Mylene Dizon all agree that there is more to being a tita (aunt) — in this case referring to middle class, middle-aged, urban aunts — than work meetings, yoga sessions, salon appointments, tea time. The actresses star in the new iWant original series, Call Me Tita.

AFTER a sold-out concert in June, Filipino rock band Mayonnaise is reprising its Akalain Mo ’Yun concert in September due to insistent public demand, according to the band’s frontman.

ANNE CURTIS Smith-Heussaff is returning to her roots as a sexy, romantic drama actress in Jason Paul Laxamana’s Just a Stranger, a film about infidelity and its consequences. The film hits theaters nationwide on Aug. 21.

THE FILM starts out as a fevered dream: oddly warped feet walking across the screen, their steps spreading outwards like a malignancy; the camera shifts and we realize we’re looking at water reflections of three men’s legs crossing a concrete floor. For some reason your eye focus on the leading man’s hands: they hang down from limp heavily resigned arms. Why?

6 films to see on the week of August 16 — August 22, 2019

TWIN Bill Theater presents Mark St. Germain’s Dancing Lessons on Aug. 16 to 24 at Power Mac Center Spotlight in Circuit Makati.