Filipina-Founded Beauty Brands to Know in 2026

For most of the past two decades, the beauty counter in Manila—Filipina-founded beauty brands—belonged to someone else.

A 2022 report from the U.S. International Trade Administration shows American, Korean, and Japanese brands dominating the market.

Moreover, Filipina-founded beauty brands remained a footnote.

That is changing, and the change is being led by women.

Moreover, the following ten brands, profiled by Philippine outlet The POST in March, were each founded by Filipino entrepreneurs.

Most of them solved a problem imports ignored: formulas for a tropical climate and shade ranges for Moreno skin.

Ellana Cosmetics

Founded by Theresa Carbonel and Coney Avellana, Ellana makes mineral-based makeup and has made packaging a point of difference, with an approach The POST describes as eco-friendly.

Lana PH

Riza Lana Sebastian built Lana PH around natural sunflower oils. The brand’s environmental positioning has earned it a devoted following.

GRWM Cosmetics

Founded by beauty content creator Mae Layug, Filipina-founded beauty brands GRWM makes cruelty-free cosmetics designed around Filipino skin concerns.

It grew out of the audience Layug had already built.

Pili Ani

A mother-and-daughter venture from Rosalina Tan and Mary Jane Ong, Pili Ani is built on oil from the pili tree, sourced from the Bicol region. It is one of the few brands on this list whose hero ingredient is native to the Philippines.

SkinPotions

Jonah Sison created SkinPotions after her own skin struggles. The pitch is fuss-free skincare.

Colourette Cosmetics

Nina Elaine Dizon’s Colourette has become one of the most recognized names in Philippine color cosmetics by focusing on shades suited to Filipino skin tones. The U.S. Commerce Department named it among the country’s notable local brands.

Filipinta Beauty

Founded by multimedia professional Hana Acabado-Kirchhoff, Filipinta is explicitly heritage-driven, with products that reference Filipino tradition.

Clocheflame Beauty

Raiza Contawi’s Clocheflame balances artistry with affordability, a functional makeup line for daily use.

Happy Skin

Founded by Jacqe Yuengtian-Gutierrez and Rissa Mananquil-Trillo, Happy Skin built its name on makeup with skincare ingredients, and was also singled out by the Commerce Department as a leading local brand.

Issy

Jasmine Chua’s Issy makes cruelty-free, customizable palettes with an emphasis on everyday wearability.

A note on access

Several of these brands sell to the U.S. through their own sites or through Filipino-owned retailers, but distribution changes often and the Journal has not verified current U.S. availability for each. Readers in Long Beach, Carson and the rest of Southern California’s Filipino communities are usually the first to know when one arrives. If you carry one of these brands locally, we would like to hear from you.