My control freak self always likes to be prepared, but on the days that I get lax about it, things will go wrong. Case in point: last year, I was visiting nearby towns from Tokyo. It was summer, and I was dying from the heat. While I tried my best to summer-proof my makeup, I’m an oily gal and things are bound to move around. When I checked on my makeup in the bathroom, I was met with Grease Kelly and discovered that I had left my powder at our Airbnb! Luckily, there was a nearby department store that housed several beauty brands. I grabbed a pack of the blotting papers, and have never been without them ever since.

Kathryn Bernardo, to me, is the epitome of gandang polbo and lip tint. While I have not followed her body of work as an actress, I am a huge fan of her face and have admired her beauty journey through the years. In many past interviews, both she and her go-to celebrity makeup artist, Denise Go-Ochoa, would emphasize how little makeup Kathryn actually wears. She prefers to wear little to no foundation and would often stress the importance of good skin. Her signature makeup look consists of dewy skin, straight brows, defined lashes, flushed cheeks, and just a hint of lip color.

Can you even imagine what it was like before Happy Skin Cosmetics? This brand revolutionized the local beauty scene when it successfully introduced the concept of makeup with skincare benefits, offering stellar formulations to address specifically Pinay concerns. So it came as a pleasant (though not completely unexpected!) surprise to find out that the next logical step for them was to create a dedicated skincare line, Happy Skin Beauty!