By Nicole Ng - published
If Filipino beauty brands are taking over your FYP feed and Shopee homescreen, and you have been wanting to dip your toes in, we’ve got you. Below, find everything from details on what makes Filipino makeup brands special to eight of the best ones to shop right now.
What’s The Difference Between Filipino Beauty Brands And C-Beauty, J-Beauty And K-Beauty?
Fans of Asian beauty brands are likely more familiar with Eastern beauty brands (Fwee and 3CE from South Korea and Flower Knows from China, for example) and for good reason—these brands are affordable compared to a lot of their Western counterparts, and have a great reputation for continuously producing products of great quality.
As of recent years, Southeast Asian beauty has also started to gain traction within our region. Along with Thai beauty brands, Filipino makeup brands serve up affordable makeup that actually stays on in our humid climate, and are often vegan and cruelty-free as well. What’s more, their shades are also more varied compared to Eastern labels, most likely due to a greater range of skin tones in Southeast Asia, so you’re probably able to find colours that suit you well here.
Functionality aside, we love that Filipino brands such as Issy Cosmetics and Vice Cosmetics, for example, are ahead of the curve, creating products with cool, sleek packaging you’d want to carry around and innovative formulas.
Related article: 10 Thai Makeup Brands You Need To Know—And Where To Buy Them
Where Should I Shop Filipino Makeup Brands In Singapore?
Compared to K-Beauty, C-Beauty and even Thai beauty, Filipino beauty brands seem to be less accessible here in Singapore. However, you can still get them online—just refrain from shopping counterfeit products.
There are a number of Filipino beauty brands on Shopee, but you can also buy your products from retailers such as Beaubit or directly from the brand’s site.
1. Sunnies Face
Sunnies Face was one of the first Filipino brands to take off internationally, and for good reason. Its line of makeup and makeup accessories have a minimalist and trendy vibe, yet they don’t compromise on quality or affordability. The brand’s standout product is the Fluffmatte Lipstick, perfect for those who love a diffused, blurred matte effect. Something else to try is the Healthy Touch Blush Duo, a pressed powder blush that comes with two complementary shades, so you can use each one solo, mix them, or create the trendy gradient effect by layering the deeper shade in a smaller area on top of the lighter one.
Where to buy: Beaubit on Shopee Mall | Beaubit on Lazada
Fluffmatte Lipstick in Major, $20, Beaubit on Shopee
Wearing a red lip can be intimidating, but a soft matte, blurring formula like Fluffmatte’s makes even the boldest shades wearable, giving it a softer watercolour-like finish. Major is a cool-toned bright red perfect to make a statement, though more wearable shades like On Repeat and Nudist are also available to match any skin tone and various shades.
2. Issy Cosmetics
If you want products with colours and formulas that are intuitive to use and versatile, reach for Issy Cosmetics. Founded in 2019, the brand is popular on Shopee for its high quality products that come at an affordable price. Its bestsellers? The Creme Flush Stick, a soft matte formula that comes in a wide yet sleek stick packaging and 12 natural-looking shades to imbue your cheeks with a healthy dose of colour. Or, for the finishing touch on a clean girl-style look, Fat Gloss is a non-sticky gloss that promises to smooth out lip lines and leave a mirror-like shine in its place.
Where to buy: Issy Cosmetics on Shopee
Fat Gloss in Macabre, about $16, Issy Cosmetics on Shopee
This gloss deserves a place on your vanity for so many reasons. It’s moisturising, comes in 15 shades to match every preference, and has a silicone applicator for an even application.
3. Blk Cosmetics
Of course, we had to include Blk Cosmetics, co-founded by our former cover girl, Anne Curtis. The vegan and cruelty-free brand focuses on creating products that are not only versatile and easy to use, but also formulated carefully, avoiding sensitising ingredients such as mineral oil, dyes, SLS and more. Its selection offers up quite a number of innovative items, such as its volumising and lengthening mascara that comes with a foldable mini comb attached to the handle to separate your lashes, or a gel powder that mattifies your skin throughout the day without any patchiness.
Where to buy: Blk Cosmetics’ site
Universal Skin Tint Sun Shield in Cinnamon, about $46, Blk Cosmetics
If you see this bestseller in stock, grab one—or three—before they sell out. This niacinamide-infused lightweight tint simplifies your morning routine, protecting your skin from the rays while blurring imperfections. It’s even accompanied with a brush to blend on the go, and comes in various shades to match different skin tones.
Related article: 10 Multitasking Sunscreens That Do More Than Just Protect Your Skin
4. Vice Cosmetics
For those of us who prefer to experience makeup rather than use it, and are looking for fun textures and bold colours, Vice Cosmetics is where it’s at. The brand is founded by Filipino comedian Vice Ganda and is popular within the beauty community, amassing almost half a million followers on Instagram alone. While its Lock Liner seems to be the most popular product for how it glides smoothly yet stays budgeproof for hours, we’re itching to get our hands on the new ‘aura mochimo’ line, a range of blushes, ‘brontours’ (a bronzer and contour hybrid), highlighters, eyeshadows and more, that has a bouncy mochi-like texture.
Where to buy: Vice Cosmetics on Shopee
Aura Mochimo Soft Bouncy Brontour in Sesame, about $14, Vice Cosmetics on Shopee
There’s nothing we love more than a versatile product. The Brontour comes in a slim compact and a soft-matte formula that you can use your fingers, a brush or a sponge to apply. Try the warm leaning Sesame or Cinnamon shade, which can function to give your cheeks some warmth and your eyelids some depth as well.
5. GRWM Cosmetics
For makeup that performs well at low price points—and we’re talking full-sized skin tints, powders and more under $20—check out GRWM Cosmetics. The brand has a number of steady sellers: its gel lip liner with a built-in sharpener for precise lines, a multi-use brow gel for snatched brows and colour correctors in shades that are specifically designed for deeper skin tones.
Where to buy: GRWM Cosmetics on Shopee
Browlift Maxx, about $16, GRWM Cosmetics on Shopee
Want a DIY laminated brow moment that you can remove anytime? Try the rose gold iteration of the bestselling Browlift brow gel. It comes with two brushes, a regular one to comb the product through and press it into place, and a smaller one for more hard-to-navigate areas. For a more everyday look, opt for the Pro version, which comes with a bigger brush for a fluffier, fuller look.
6. Strokes Beauty Lab
Strokes Beauty Lab is aceing the makeup and packaging game. If you prefer minimalist packaging and thoughtful design, you’d love its range of brow products (including a pomade, pencil and clear fixer), oil-free concealer and colour correctors and bestselling face and eye brushes.
Where to buy: Strokes Beauty Lab on Shopee
Eyeshadow brushes, from about $10, Strokes Beauty Lab on Shopee
Strokes Beauty Lab’s Small Angled Brush.
There’s a brush to fit every makeup need of yours at Strokes Beauty Lab. Their brushes feature a slender and curved handle for easy holding, plus soft faux goat hair bristles cut in all shapes to fit in your crease, define your brows, add colour to your cheeks and more.
7. Detail Cosmetics
For affordable makeup that is high performance and cruelty-free to boot, turn to Detail Cosmetics. We like that its lineup is in a cohesive colour palette, so any two products would work well together—pair the blush and bronzer sticks with the blurring highlighter, or the lip liner with the lip tints.
Where to buy: Detail Cosmetics on Shopee
Clay Pen, about $10, Detail Cosmetics on Shopee
The clay pens are made for the minimalist or the girl on the go. It comes built with a precise point and a blendable yet no-budge formula and is available in 11 shades that can be used all over the face to sculpt, highlight and add warmth to your cheeks, eyes and lips.
Related article: 10 Trending K-Beauty Products To Buy When You’re In Korea, According To A K-Beauty Junkie
8. Colourette Cosmetics
Established in 2015 to create colours and products suitable for the local community and climate, Colourette Cosmetics offers well-loved classics such as the Colourtint, a multi-use tint with a soft matte finish, along with trendier and more innovative options such as a budgeproof brow pen to mimic microbladed brows and a blurring matte lip stain if you want to achieve that trendy blurred lip look.
Where to buy: Colourette Cosmetics on Shopee
Colourtint, about $12, Colourette Cosmetics on Shopee
For something that lasts throughout the day without touch-ups, fans of Colourette love the brand’s popular Colourtint. The tint is offered in 10 wearable warm, cool and neutral tones, and can be used on the lips, cheeks and eyelids, setting into a natural, soft matte finish.
This article contains products independently selected by our team of editors and writers. If you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices listed are accurate at the time of publishing.