As a sought-after model and beauty columnist, Rissa Mananquil-Trillo’s face has been exposed to almost all kinds of makeup known to women.

 

Meanwhile, former Pond’s senior brand manager Jacqe Yuengtian-Gutierrez recounts how one of the best experiences she had working at Unilever was listening to women’s product testimonials. “The women positively glowed with happiness when a certain product worked well for them; I wanted to remain in the business of making women happy,” she said.

 

This led Jacqe to conceptualize Happy Skin, a makeup line with skin-saving benefits. Her search for a lab that could concoct the exact formulations she wanted brought her to Japan, where such  products are made.

 

Prototypes

 

After developing several prototypes, she approached Rissa, hoping the latter could give feedback about the products.

 

“When I first tried the samples, I loved them immediately. Only a few tweaks were needed and they would be perfect, so I asked if I could invest,” said Rissa.

 

A partnership between the two beauty experts was born, and last Friday, they finally brought out their baby for everyone to see.

 

Happy Skin’s initial lineup includes liquid and powder foundation, concealer, SS Creme, its version of the popular alphabet creams, concealer, hydrating lip crayons and makeup brushes. The lip crayons are named after happy moments in a woman’s life, such as “Just Married,” “My First Time” and “Summer Fling.”

 

“We wanted to focus first on creating a good makeup base, so we concentrated on our foundation’s formula,” says Rissa.

 

According to Jacqe, the Philippines has one of the lowest numbers of foundation users. “Makeup penetration is actually low here because women still tend to think makeup is bad for the skin,” she says.

 

Rissa adds, “We want to change women’s mind-set that makeup is harmful to the skin. Many still fear foundation because they think it’ll make them break out and clog their pores. That’s why we made sure our makeup base contained ingredients that are beneficial to the skin, like hyaluronic acid, Japanese cherry blossom and green tea extracts.”

 

Hyaluronic acid’s moisture-retaining properties are legendary; a gram can hold up to six liters of water.

 

Prices of their products range from P499 to P1,199. Happy Skin also plans to add eye makeup down the road. For now, its collection is exclusively available at select Plains and Prints branches.

 

PHOTOS BY ANDREW TADALAN

For more information, visit Happy Skin’s website at www.happyskincosmetics.com. Follow on Twitter and Instagram @happyskin_ph.