You don’t need an app to fool your social media followers into thinking you have pore-less, blemish-free skin.

The trick is in a tube of an app-like-named cream called InstaBeauty Blur Cream, one of the latest additions to the arsenal of the beauty brand Happy Skin.

Happy Skin, launched in late 2013, has clearly found its footing in the beauty game as it adds this summer a couple of new exceptional products. One of these is the blur cream, a sort of primer that leaves the kind of matte, powder-like finish sought by Filipinas who shun shine on their faces. It can also be used for touch-ups in place of powder. It claims to have anti-aging ingredients and vitamins.

Then there’s the Eye Am The One Holy Grail Mascara, a product that has been in development even before the brand was launched, because the Happy Skin founders “wanted it to be perfect.”

When it debuted, the Filipino brand only had a selection of foundations, a concealer, and a selection of hydrating lip crayons that has spawned a cult following among Filipinas. One hook was the cheeky and clever product names. Then add to that the colorfully attractive packaging, also designed by a Filipina, and reasonable price points. Early fans of the brand are known to collect the lippies, which now has some 15 shades.

Limited edition

Happy Skin was founded by two young Filipinas who are pros in the beauty industry. Ramp model Rissa Mananquil Trillo is a beauty columnist, while Jacqe Yuengtian Gutierrez was a longtime brand manager at Unilever who handled brands like Pond’s. So when it comes to makeup and skincare, they know whereof they speak.

The products are all made abroad, in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, the same suppliers of popular high-end brands, according to Gutierrez.

The Eye Am The One was developed in Japan, which makes outstanding mascaras, she added. “We found the right formula that curls, has 76 percent more volume, but still made of film. Other film mascaras drop and don’t curl. And our version is so easy to wash off,” she said.

For the summer, Happy Skin has two limited-edition shades for its best-selling Shut Up and Kiss Me Moisturizing Lippie line, and, due to high demand, has added two formerly limited shades from last year—The Morning After and Summer Crush—now in the form of multitasking lip-and-cheek mousses.

“People are very loyal when it comes to skincare. It’s hard to make them switch,” Gutierrez said. “But makeup, they’re always open to try. There are likely five brands in a typical makeup bag. We’re happy to be in that mix. We now get compared to popular global brands. Even if it’s a local brand, we have quality products.”

Expansion

Happy Skin is now available in 60 counters—at Rustan’s Makati and Shangri-La, Beauty Bar, Plains & Prints, SM Makati and Mall of Asia, Watson’s MOA and soon in Landmark. Overseas expansion is in the works, but “we’re not rushing because our range isn’t complete yet,” Gutierrez said.

Next up is a flagship store, the desired space of which the duo is hoping to get very soon.

Happy Skin’s early success is owed to the founders’ good working chemistry. Trillo is in charge of PR and product development “because she’s finicky,” while Gutierrez takes care of marketing, store operations and expansion.

“Rissa’s taste is sophisticated, mine’s more masa,” Gutierrez said. “We meet halfway. She’s morena, I’m chinita, so any lipstick should suit us both. We have a great collaboration.”

That seems to show through in the products. Just ask the legion of Shut Up and Kiss Me lippie collectors and fanatics out there.