How does a brand find its niche in the cut throat beauty industry? Major global brands easily make up 500-1000 of the competition. Zone into regional brands and the number increases to 3000-8000. In the Philippines itself, there are 100-200 established local brands, and a total of 13,700 licensed cosmetic establishments nationwide.
Despite being new in the game, the CEOs of top local brands ISSY, GRWM, and Colourette Cosmetics were able to dream big, strategize, and put in the work to develop products that have an audience.
They are proof that if you know and believe in your audience, you will be able to develop the brand for them.
ISSY by Jasmine Ang Chua & Joel Andrade: Embracing Themselves Unapologetically
Jasmine and Joel met in their previous stints in the world of fashion. What developed as a friendship, eventually branched out into a strong partnership, paving the way for one of the Philippine’s top makeup brands, Issy.
Fuss-free, accessible, and high-quality. With its products backed by top research and development, the owners confidently strut their brand in the competitive beauty industry. The brand’s voice and look clearly reflects their passion for the line and is the fact that they are not afraid to take up space.
What paved the way for the brand? It started with addressing a need, specific to Filipinos or people with similar ones.
In a nutshell, ISSY says that you can look good, effortlessly, by embracing products that work for you and your lifestyle. Being a mother is one of the most challenging and busiest roles that a woman can take on. Jasmine Ang-Chua is a mother of two, who understands the need of uncomplicated beauty that simply works for the kind of life you lead.
On the other hand, Issy’s approach to shade development drew partly from Joel’s own experience of struggling to find foundation for his brown skin. Interestingly, it is Issy’s Active Skin Tint that first gained it traction, a product that addressed the need for lightweight, natural-looking complexion makeup.
The products of ISSY address very specific needs, because its founders experienced them first hand. Its branding and product innovation comes from understanding their customers as well as the vision that they have for the brand. “A local makeup brand…that thinks what it’s like here,” Joel explained in an interview. He imparted that he didn’t just focus on ISSY’s products, but on how the branding itself speaks to its audience or users.
The brand is inclusive, unapologetic, with a futuristic look. This factor quickly gives them recall and appeal, and also communicates its uniqueness as a brand. More than the product line that is already excellent, Jasmine and Joel were able to sell an experience that ISSY’s customers got once they formed a relationship with the brand.
ISSY’s voice translates to their brand’s growth and innovation. The owners ventured into opening several concept stores, offering experiences that amplify a user’s relationship with the brand. SPACE Issy mirrors the avant garde, bold look of its products. Space Issy Glorietta, takes it to another level by integrating a cafe inside the store.
The grandest venture to date is MATTER by ISSY, an approximately 150-square-meter destination combining cosmetics retail with an experimental café. It is located outside the shopping mall, which prompts its audience to go outside their comfort zone and explore.
“But the brand has been telling people to take up space since 2019, and saying it from inside someone else’s building started to feel like a contradiction.” Joel shared in another interview.
GRWM by Maryann Mae Layug-Madriñan
Get Ready With ME/ GRWM had a ₱300M company valuation in 2025. That is a big and prolific growth from ₱2.5 initial capital that the brand had. So, how did it find its way to the top?
Owner Maryann Mae Layug -Madriñan, built a community that shared the same dreams and values.
Being a content creator first, Maryann Layug learned the power of an audience’s voice. She was exposed to their needs and frustrations. In an article, she mentions one of these was the lack of affordable complexion products for morena skin tone.
“We make sure our followers feel involved. We listen to our community,” Maryann Layun shares in GRWM’s website content.
It made sense that GRWM’s first breakthrough into the industry was its Multiuse Milk Tint with a whopping 25 shades. It’s lightweight, but hardworking in its functionality. As a skincare ally too, the product features ingredients such as grapeseed oil, Japanese camellia seed oil, and panthenol. The product has undergone both product and packaging redevelopments, based on customer feedback, a reflection to the importance that the company has on its customers.
Similar to Maryann’s approach as a content creator, GRWM’s overall look is fun, approachable, and chic, incorporating shades under the pink and neutral palette in their packaging and retail aesthetic. On the other hand, the community-engagement and accessibility that the brand is known for expounded even further when it launched GRWM’s Festival Mall pop-up, which ran from December 2025- March 2026. The event featured customizable makeup collections, multiple testing stations, community activities, and a recycling initiative in partnership with Envirocycle.
Layug aims to continue innovating and filling in the gaps for the discerning customer. There is also the dream to bring Filipino beauty to the global stage. The brand’s presence is increasing in Southeast Asia with GRWM already shipping abroad.
Colourette Cosmetics by Nina Ellaine Dizon: When Your Journey Becomes The Brand
In 2024, Colourette secured US$2 million in funding from investors, including Singapore-based DSG Consumer Partners and Foxmont Capital Partners. It was a significant milestone for the company and the Filipino beauty industry as a whole.
With limited resources and a clear understanding of its audience, Colourette initially relied heavily on social media to reach customers. The brand gradually established its presence in the local beauty scene. One of its biggest breakthroughs came through Colourtint, a multipurpose makeup product that can be used on the eyes, cheeks, and lips.
Known for its pigmented formula, blendable consistency, and accessible price point, Colourtint became a defining product for the company. It also helped establish Colourette’s reputation for creating versatile makeup designed with Filipinos in mind. According to reports in 2024, the product had already sold more than two million units.
Beyond its products are the values that Colourette and its founder, Nina Ellaine Dizon, represent.
“We’re more than just a makeup brand: we are a homegrown socially-aware brand that empowers our audience by using our platforms the way we believe they should be used – and there’s also beauty in that,” Nina said in an interview with Rappler.
The passionate entrepreneur has regularly shared content about women’s empowerment, inclusivity, and diversity on her social media accounts. The way she stands up for her brand and herself is reflected in Colourette’s identity and how it has navigated its way into becoming an established name in the local beauty industry.
During the launch of her autobiography, Rooting for Me, Nina reflected on her journey of believing in herself, even when others did not.
Interestingly, the story of Colourette mirrors that of its founder.
Having left college to help provide for her family and support her business ambitions, Nina needed to find a way to survive and move forward. She built her business from the ground up, maximizing the resources and opportunities available to her.
Social media, for one, became an important platform for making her presence known.
Today, Nina has built a following of approximately 2.3 million, while Colourette has grown its own audience to more than 555,000 followers. Its posts continue to attract thousands of views and interactions, reflecting the audience that the brand has cultivated over the years.
From making ends meet to building a multimillion-dollar investment-backed business, Nina’s journey is a testament to persistence, resourcefulness, and the importance of believing in one’s vision.
Much like Colourtint, which was developed to address a gap in the local beauty market, Colourette itself was born out of the determination to create something that didn’t quite exist for its intended audience.
And perhaps that is what makes its success even more meaningful. Beyond the products, the sales, and the milestones is a story of an entrepreneur who found her place in an industry—and created opportunities for others to feel represented along the way.
For a long time, global brands have dominated conversations as well as shelves of the Philippine beauty industry. Now, local brands are helping reshape that conversation.
Using personal experience, first-hand information, and a deeper understanding of the market, Issy, GRWM, and Colourette Cosmetics are developing formulas suited to Filipino lifestyles, celebrating the diversity of Filipino skin tones, and creating brand identities that resonate with a new generation of beauty consumers.
More importantly, they are showing what Filipino minds are capable of. More than offer affordable alternatives, they can develop original products, establish their own creative identities, and build businesses that compete for attention in an increasingly global marketplace.
And perhaps that is what makes the stories of these entrepreneurs particularly inspiring.They didn’t simply follow the beauty industry. They saw opportunities to contribute something of their own.
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