Beauty Roundup: Two Days Left of BHW Manila, Issy's Fourth Perfume, YOU Beauty's Purple Powder, Hello Glow's Pouch Serum, and a Naive Makeover
There is a particular mood to mid-September in beauty: the big Q4 launches aren't here yet, so brands fill the gap with clever ideas and small adjustments, and that's where the good stuff hides. This week, we have a perfume with a strange note, a powder in an unexpected color, and skincare in a pouch. Let's get into it!
Liz Lanuzo at Beauty + Health & Wellness Manila in September 17, on a fireside chat with Coach Abby about the rise of P-Beauty
Beauty + Health & Wellness Manila is turning ten, and you have until tomorrow to see it
If you read our preview, you know the pitch: Beauty + Health & Wellness Manila is the show where the industry actually does business, and this year is its tenth edition. Day one wrapped yesterday with the organizers reporting a busy floor, and there are two days left. Today, September 18, doors are open from 10:30 AM to 6:30 PM, and tomorrow, September 19, from 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM, all at the SMX Convention Center Manila in Pasay.
For the tenth year, Global-Link MP Events has more than 75 local and international brands across 1,900 square meters, spanning skincare, makeup, salon and spa supplies, supplements, and wellness devices. It is built as a hybrid trade-and-consumer show, which means the aisles have both distributors taking meetings and regular shoppers stocking up on samples and show pricing. The side program is worth checking against your schedule: live makeup and color theory demos from Makeup Science Asia Academy, a DOST-ITDI session on cosmeceutical safety standards, a Philippine Mental Health Association talk, and a certification discussion from the Philippine Aesthetics and Wellness Association. Pre-registration at beautyandwellnessmanila.com is free; walk-ins pay P200 at the door. [TBC: confirm whether free pre-registration is still open for tomorrow or has closed.]
Issy's fourth perfume smells like jasmine that just had its nails done
Issy launched its first three perfumes last year with a numbering system instead of names (492 Scent of Possibility, 551 Scent of Familiarity, 030 Scent of Intensity), and the fourth follows suit. 536 Scent of Permission is the brand's interpretation of a floral gourmand: a delicate jasmine sambac "lacquered in nail polish," with brown sugar, cocoa butter, and vanilla melting underneath. Issy's own line for it is "floral in form, gourmand in feeling, and sweet only when it chooses to be," which is a nice way to say this is not a dessert perfume, even if it borrows the pantry.
The nail polish note is the interesting bit. That solvent-y, slightly metallic edge is the kind of thing niche houses have played with for a while, and it's a bold thing to put in a local perfume aimed at people who mostly want to smell pretty. Paired with the brown sugar and cocoa butter, it should read as a jasmine with a hard, glossy shell over something soft. It lands on September 21. Issy hasn't posted the exact price yet; but the existing three perfumes go for P1,499 full size and P599 for the 15ml travel size at issycosmetics.com, so expect the same range. If you like the idea but want to sniff first, the Perfume Discovery Set for the original trio is currently P300 on the Issy site.
YOU Beauty wants you to set your face with purple
Purple powder is having a moment, and YOU Beauty is putting the color theory right in the caption: purple sits opposite yellow on the wheel, so a lavender-tinted powder is meant to cancel out sallowness and the yellow cast that oil and heat bring out by 3 PM. The new Cloud Touch Airy Blur Setting Powder is the brand's entry, promising a brightened, airbrushed, soft-focus finish that holds through heat and humidity for up to 24 hours. That's the same wear claim the existing Cloud Touch Blurring Filter Loose Powder makes, so presumably the formula is a cousin.
Where YOU is differentiating is the skincare stuffing. The powder carries a 10 botanical complex for nourishing and calming, ceramides and vitamin B5 for the barrier and hydration, and 2% niacinamide-zinc for oil control and texture, plus what the brand calls a makeup lock-in film, a flexible, lightweight layer that keeps your base in place without stiffening it. For a powder that's a lot of claims, but the niacinamide-zinc combination is a real oil-control pairing and not just decoration. One practical note: color-correcting powders are only as good as their pigment load, so if you're deeper than medium, swatch it under the counter lights before committing.
Hello Glow's lifting serum wants to be your pocket Botox
Hello Glow, Ever Bilena's Korean-made skincare arm, has had its 3-in-1 Lifting Serum around for a few years, but the brand is pushing it hard again this month with a new angle: "no needles, no appointments, no drama, just instant snatch." The serum comes in a resealable 20g pouch rather than a bottle, which is either budget packaging or on-the-go convenience depending on how you feel about squeezing your skincare out of a sachet. The formula is a lightweight gel that claims three things at once: anti-aging, firming, and deep hydration, with no sticky residue.
The "just got Botox" tightness the brand is promising is the classic film-forming trick, where the gel dries down and pulls the skin taut for a few hours. It's a real effect and a temporary one, and there's nothing wrong with that if you know what you're buying. Earlier reviews of this serum noted a visible tightening within minutes and a subtle pore-blurring benefit from the pomegranate, seaberry, green tea, and apple extracts, so the new caption isn't inventing anything, just leaning in. Available wherever Ever Bilena stocks its skincare, plus the usual online stores.
Naive is getting a new face, same foam
You may have picked up Naive Facial Wash at Beauty Bar or a Japanese grocery without giving much thought to who's behind it. That would be Kracie, the company that used to be Kanebo Home Products and also makes Ichikami hair care and Hadabisei masks. Naive is one of its long-running drugstore lines in Japan, built on a 100% plant-derived cleansing base that whips into a dense, creamy foam and is gentle enough that the whole household can share a tube. The local lineup runs to three: Peach Leaf for normal skin, Green Tea for oily, and Yuzu Ceramide for dry, all free of mineral oil, parabens, alcohol, and artificial coloring, and all smelling exactly like their names.
The news this week is a packaging refresh. The brand says it's the same familiar Naive goodness in a fresh new look, so the formula stays put and the tube gets a cleaner design that'll sit better on a shelf. Naive is distributed locally by Beautybox Corp and sells for P295 a tube at Beauty Bar and on Lazada.
And that's it for this week's Beauty Roundup!
