What makes life better?

For some, it’s a tasting menu engineered to perfection, with a meticulously crafted drink on the side. Others think it’s a lippie or a pair of jeans they come across at a mall, and luckily so. Some might also mention a sun-soaked getaway that makes them want to ease into a slower way of living.  

While such a question yields a variety of answers, they all boil down to it being anything that adds joy to life. We have our own specifics when it comes to these things, but there are still many more that are tucked in somewhere, just waiting to be discovered or revisited.

For PhilSTAR L!fe’s fourth anniversary, we’re launching L!fe, but Better: The 100 List—an inaugural selection of our top recommendations for travel, food, beauty and wellness, and pop culture. Curated for the curious, this special project gives you unfiltered views on offerings that stand out in their respective fields, our country, and even the world.

We started L!fe in October 2020, a moment of uncertainty in the early days of the pandemic. I’ll always be in awe of how our small group of seven managed to make things work by checking out stories online and making them our own in our first months together. Back then, we were still getting to know you, our readers. But of one thing, we’ve always been sure: We’re here to give you everything you want, love, need, and more.

In four years, a lot has changed. Our team has different people now but doubled its number. The topics we cover are more diverse now, with original columns like Generations and other exclusive content. What has remained constant through it all, however, is our shared goal from the start—and The 100 List reaffirms our commitment to delivering that to you until now. It’s about restaurants and beauty/fashion items as much as places and experiences. Some are new, others are old but gold. We also turned the spotlight on the ones that don’t get the adoration they deserve.

Beyond it being a testament to hard work as it was a weeks-long research and discussion about our favorite brands with quality, inclusivity, reputation, timelessness, recognitions, and sustainability in mind, this selection is a full display of our ongoing love affair with providing you with everything you want, love, need, and more.

To make the most of The 100 List, we suggest that you go through each item as we explain why they made the cut, capture what it’s like to experience it—and then fill you in on where you can get it and how much it would cost.  

In this collection, we hope you find something you’ve always wanted to check out or stumble upon one you’ve forgotten how much you loved. Like what L!fe has been for you in the past four years, let this list inspire your next move and be your trusty companion as you go out of the mundane, see more of the world, figure out what a "better life" means for you—and live it.