Beauty Roundup: Issy Spoils Its Own Q4, Dala's Two-Shade Lip Tint, Ferca's MainBase, and More
In the Philippines, the holidays start the minute September does, which means by October every beauty brand is technically running late. Most deal with it the usual way, with a cryptic teaser, a blurred photo, and a great deal of patience. Not everyone, it turns out, is feeling patient this year. Let's get into it!
Issy's founder skips the launch calendar and shows us everything
On October 1, Issy founder Joel Martin Andrade posted a 14-slide carousel that opens on a black screen: "I don't believe in launch calendars anymore. Proceed with caution." What follows is more or less the brand's entire fourth quarter, captioned like the embargo never existed. Monster lipstick is coming back ("This one's for the alt girlies"). Frosty lipsticks are back too, with a shimmery rose-bronze swatch to prove it. There's a gray Fat Gloss ("Apparently yes."), and one existing shade is finally getting its own Lip Bait set, though he doesn't say which.
The newer territory is more interesting. Issy is making brushes, red-handled with black-and-white bristles, and "obviously we couldn't make normal shapes." Fluid Flex Concealer is apparently becoming a full-face product. Shade-testing pans labeled "Best Match" and "Not Approved" point to a blurring powder ("Your skin, but blurred. And somehow still skin."). There are cool-toned mauves and berries for the people who have been "yelling" at him about it, glittery pots in pink, gold, and icy blue for the holidays, and an Issy lighter case clipped to a bag strap, for reasons we'll presumably learn later. The most mysterious slide is a grid of lip swatches, captioned "Concealer for your lips. You'll understand soon," with handwritten combos naming shades like Bombgirl, Bebot, Half Truth, and Ghost.
None of it comes with names, prices, or dates, and the last slide does the apologizing: "Anyway I think I just spoiled our entire Q4. Marketing team please don't call me." The brushes and the full-face Fluid Flex are the ones I'd keep an eye on, since those are new categories for the brand. The lip concealer, whatever it turns out to be, is the one I'll keep wondering about until then.
Dala puts two lip tints in one tube and leaves the rest to you
Dala's Lip Layover Duo Glossy Lip Tint is dual-ended, with a coordinated glossy tint on each side. The brand's Stayover Technology promises lasting color, comfortable wear, and buildable coverage, and the pairing is meant to be flexible: wear each shade on its own, blend them into a gradient, or use the deeper one to define and the lighter one to fill. There are five duos, ten shades in all. Spritz & Sip pairs a cool petal pink with a caramel-leaning terracotta nude, and Fizz & Fig a watermelon pink with a warm coral red, both for fair to medium skin. Twist & Tonic sets a toasted apricot nude against a deep berry rose for light to medium. Chill & Cheers (burnt mandarin and cherry red) and Nectar & Noir(guava coral and a muted raspberry) are made for medium to tan.
It's a thoughtful idea, and it's nice to see each duo matched to a skin-tone range instead of leaving you to guess. The range does stop at tan, though, so deeper skin tones are left out of this first batch. Gradient lips are the obvious use, but the define-and-fill trick is the one that might get more of us reaching for both ends. Available everywhere since September 28.
Ferca's MainBase wants your makeup to do some skincare on the side
Ferca's MainBase Collection is built around light, buildable coverage, with peptides, squalene, and centella asiatica extract in both products. The MainBase Skin Tint SPF50+ (P675) adds sun protection and lightweight hydration, and the brand says it keeps skin comfortable through heat, sweat, and movement. Its color-adapt technology covers three shades: Light, Medium, and Tan. The MainBase Concealer (P499) comes in Light Neutral, Light Warm, Medium Golden, and Medium Neutral.
Three shades is a short list for a skin tint, so color-adapt has a lot of work to do here, and swatching before you buy would be wise. The SPF50+ is a welcome extra, but treat it as a bonus layer, not a replacement for your sunscreen. A tint usually goes on too thin for the number on the tube. At under P700, this is easy to try on a humid day just to see. Now available everywhere.
MAC's new cushion lets you decide how much glow
MAC's Studio Radiance Serum-Powered Cushion Foundation SPF50/PA+++ has a formula that's 79 percent skincare, and it promises buildable glow, breathable coverage, and a plumper, smoother-looking complexion. MAC says it boosts hydration 2.3 times and wears comfortably for up to 12 hours. The fun detail is that the glow is adjustable: the more you tap, the more radiance you build.
That puts the finish in your hands, which is more than most cushions offer. With only four shades in this local launch (N18, NC25, NC7, and NC30), finding a match may take a little trial and error. Now available everywhere for P2,750.
And that's it for this week's Beauty Roundup!
