Beauty Roundup: Kanebo's Best Cosme Wins, BoF on the Rise of P-Beauty, David Guison's Happy Skin Collab, and Ichikami's New Hair Mist
Today I've got two Japanese award winners worth knowing about, a Business of Fashion deep-dive into the rise of "P-beauty" that I can't stop thinking about, a homegrown brand making its first real play for men, and a new Japanese hair mist quietly landing on local shelves. A lot of it circles back to the same idea: the products winning right now are the ones built for how people actually live. Let's get into it.
Business of Fashion declares the rise of "P-beauty"
BoF turned its lens on the Philippines this week in a feature by Melissa Magsaysay, framing the country as beauty's next story to watch under the banner of "P-beauty." The piece roots the category's global appeal in product performance shaped by local conditions, quoting Issy Creative Director Joel Martin Andrade, who describes the Philippine climate as consistently hot, humid, and sunny (and when it isn't, it's a typhoon). Between heavy traffic, long commutes by jeepney and Angkas motorbike taxi, and the expectation of arriving at work looking polished, makeup here has to work incredibly hard. Andrade's point is that this practicality became a creative engine: beauty here, he says, evolved very functionally because consumers learned to make products work harder for them. The performance reputation is real and earned, the article notes Issy & Co's All Day Setting Spray went viral after a TikTok creator documented her makeup surviving a tropical storm.
Another part of the story is cultural confidence. Sunnies Face co-founder Martine Ho told BoF that what's changed most dramatically in recent years is the confidence around being distinctly Filipino, a shift away from positioning local brands against Western ideals and toward pride in brands rooted in the country's own climate and culture. Bini's Aiah Arceta echoed it: people are more open to celebrating beauty that looks like them. Writer Vince Rodulfo frames the community dynamic as Filipino collectivism versus American individualism, crediting a communal spirit that is very good at galvanising and supporting one another for how quickly P-beauty has surged online.
Andrade added his own coda to the conversation in a personal note, worth quoting in full: "Filipino beauty has never been about perfection. It's always been about adaptation. We learned to make products work harder because everyday life demanded it. Somewhere along the way, that practicality became an identity of its own. Maybe that's what P-beauty really is: beauty shaped by the realities of living here, not by the aspiration of living somewhere else."
Kanebo sweeps two categories at the Best Cosme Awards 2026
Kanebo had a very good awards season. Its Melty Feel Wear II Powder Foundation took 1st prize in the Powder Foundation category, while Generating Essentials, part of the Taishi Collection, pulled off a double: 1st prize in the high-priced lotion category and 2nd in the broader lotion category. The wins carry weight because of who hands them out. The @cosme awards are decided by real consumer reviews on Japan's largest beauty platform, which draws over 17.6 million monthly active users and more than 10.3 million registered members, making a top placement a popularity referendum rather than a marketing trophy.
David Guison brings beauty to the "modern man" with Happy Skin
Lifestyle creator David Guison is shifting the spotlight to the everyday guy. "Bida ang lalaki this time around," he declared, announcing a partnership with Happy Skin on the brand's first-ever men's collection. The five-piece "Happy Skin x David" line covers daily essentials (waxes, gels, a sun stick, and a lip balm), with gender-neutral formulas and deliberately compact, pocket-friendly packaging for guys who travel light. He's been testing the products since September 2025, secretly wearing them in his own content since December, all while juggling wedding prep with now-wife Angelique Manto. No firm launch date yet, but he's heavily teased a possible June 16 drop.
The pairing makes sense on both ends. Happy Skin is the Philippines' pioneering homegrown brand, founded in 2013 and credited with shifting Filipino consumers from prizing what's imported to embracing what's local, so a men's line is a logical next frontier. And the timing rides the "Manissance" the global industry has pegged as one of 2026's biggest growth stories.
Beautybox brings Ichikami's Hair Fragrance Fix Mist to the Philippines
Beautybox Corp. has launched the Ichikami Hair Fragrance Fix Mist locally, in Moisturizing and Smoothing variants, retailing at P465 for 60ml. Ichikami is a hair-care brand from Japan's Kracie, its name a play on "ichi" (number one) and "kami" (hair).
The brand is built around waso (traditional Japanese botanicals) like rice bran, camellia, and apricot oil, with formulas that are typically free of sulfates and silicones and carry a signature wild cherry blossom scent, the real draw of a fragrance mist like this. Beyond smelling good, mists in this family help tame frizz and lock in smoothness between washes. At P465 it lands in accessible-import territory, a fitting close to a roundup that keeps circling that sweet spot of premium quality at an everyday price
