There’s so much happening in the world that it feels like the sixth year of 2020 rather than the sixth month. We all have our own ways of coping. The way I do it is by remembering that I still have power. I can’t control what goes on externally but I have a choice on how it affects me and what I’m going to do about it.

From a beauty perspective, one of the ways I exercise choice is through my purchases. Through everything that happened this year, let’s not forget that SMEs are the hardest hit businesses. We all know and love Ellana, Colourette, Pink Sugar and our own In Her Element but here’s a list of local small businesses with products that you might have overlooked!

Mermaid Island

Mermaid Island is the business baby of former-blogger-turned-entrepreneur Encyclopevia. The range of beauty and skincare that this brand offers is insane. On the skincare side, they have everything from double cleanse basics to serums, moisturizers and eye cream. They even sell shampoo bars!

On the beauty side, Mermaid Island leans towards multi-use pigments and lip products. Their Shell Yeah! Highlighter (PHP 170) is perfect for pocket beauty since it comes in a little tin roughly the same size as a ten peso coin.

The texture of the Shell Yeah! highlighters are somewhere between a balm and a powder - it looks like a powder in the tin but applies almost wet. The highlighter is a demure, office-friendly highlighter rather than a blinding strobe though the balmy texture also makes it a nice base for powder. The shade “Fish Off” is a pretty champagne color while “Oh Ship!” is a subtle pink. Anne Clutz uses Fish Off! in one of her videos here

Fair warning: it has a pleasant but strong fragrance so those with sensitive noses take note.

Lip Pinas

From their Social Media copy to the names of their lipsticks, Lip Pinas is a proudly Pinoy brand.

I’m not a fan of their cool tones - the pastel pinks especially look streaky - but if you have a warm undertone they have so many options for you. Their Kulay collection (PHP 119/pc) is a set of earthy, warm tones and morena-friendly reds. My yellow self is dead for all the shades! I feel like if you try on enough lipsticks, you get a spider-sense of which shade works for you. This whole collection is making my lipstick-sense tingle.

“Petra” is calling my name, it knows it belongs in my makeup kit. “Petra” is a pigmented terracotta, straddling the line between red and brown. I could see this working as a drunk blush for medium skin tones. “Simeona”, a mid-tone orangey brown, would work well as a nude lip color.

One sticking point is that it’s in a plastic Chapstick-type packaging but if you’re not too fussy about that sort of thing, PHP 119 is a fair price for a pigmented lipstick.

Everyday Love +

Everyday Love prides itself on it’s curated and well-thought out products and I completely agree. This brand is the Batmobile of liquid lipstick. I have no idea how it’s possible to make affordable, high-performing products in such chic packaging. The Nude Lips are just PHP 179 each. EACH. And they come in a beautiful, black and ombre packaging that would not look out of place for YSL or Teviant. Performance-wise, I’ve worn these for literally 24 hours of talking and eating and they did not come off.

Nude 06

Nude 04

Photos from Everyday Love +

Speaking of colors that belong in my make-up kit, the shades in their Nude Love collection are so good, picking just one makes me want to cry. Still if I had to choose, Nude Lips 06 is a good pick if you’re on the fairer side since it’s a light mauve. Nude Lips 04 is it’s warmer sister, perfect for light to medium skin tones. Either can be paired with natural make-up for a girl-next-door look or they can set off long lashes and dramatic eyes. You can buy both lipsticks at the Everyday Love website here

Filipinta Beauty

Small beauty businesses usually start with lip tints and multi-use blushers but Filipinta Beauty went the unconventional route by starting with an eyeshadow palette in bold colors. Fortune obviously favors the bold, the brand’s Diwata Palette (PHP 700) was sold out even before its official launch.

It’s easy to see why: the palette has nine beautiful shades in gold, orange and green in three finishes. The two glittery shades Lambana (green) and Encanto (orange) layer perfectly over the matte green Acacia and matte orange Mayari.

Thankfully, the palette is back in stock on their website. If eyeshadow palettes aren’t your thing, you can also try on their new lipstick shade Isla by using their Instagram filter. Genius!

Painted Cosmetics

If Filipinta was bold with a nine-shade eyeshadow palette, Painted Cosmetics went full throttle with a monster fifteen shades in Beach Sunset (PHP 850). Like its name, the palette is made up of mostly browns, oranges and reds in satin and matte finish.

Beach Sunset is versatile with a good mix of bold colors and neutral bases. Apart from sunset eyes, this palette could also be a sakura blossom-themed look by layering the pink metallics over the vibrant reds. It also has enough variation in brown shades and finishes to make a nice daytime smokey eye. One caveat is that some of the oranges look too similar. It would have been nice if they replaced one with a matte black just to make the palette even more versatile.

Reading this I hope you found something cool from a new and exciting local brand, but more than let this be a reminder that choices have power. Over the next few months, we’ll all have to make more difficult choices than which color lipstick to get or which brand to buy from. Whatever you decide on, I hope you have something that comforts you and reminds you that your small and big choices matter everyday.

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