From tropical-friendly formulations to the global Filipino diaspora, several factors could help Philippine beauty brands make a lasting mark on the international market
By Denice Sy
Recently, I saw local beauty brands like Ever Bilena, Issy, Vice, and Sunnies Face make the headlines, basically covering what’s happening in the Philippines’ cosmetics industry and fe from the outside looking in. 
Dr. Christine Hall (Photo: Dr. Christine Hall/Instagram)
I first met Dr. Christine through a friend at a coffee shop in BGC in July. She was just as she is on social media: deeply knowledgeable and culturally grounded without ever feeling intimidating. She was kind enough to accommodate my questions.
The rise of P-Beauty
I asked Dr. Christine where she thought Philippine beauty fit in the broader Asian beauty landscape. “I genuinely believe P-Beauty is the fourth force in Asian beauty,” she told me. When we say Asian beauty, K-beauty, J-beauty, and C-beauty are usually the first ones that come to mind. Each of them has its own distinct identities, ranging from Korean innovations to Japanese rituals and China’s power in scale. “The Philippines has something equally distinctive to contribute, and I think we’re only beginning to see the scale of it.”
She pointed out that the Philippines’ tropical climate creates genuinely different skincare needs than the colder markets that shaped K-beauty and J-beauty. Citing heat, humidity, sun exposure, and sweat, these “make P-Beauty much more than just a variation of K-Beauty,” she said. “It can be a response to a different environment, a different culture and a different understanding of beauty. P-Beauty doesn’t need to sit underneath another country’s beauty category. It can stand proudly in its own right.”
Don’t copy Korea
With K-Pop culture deeply integrated in our society, I thought it would be natural to consult her expertise on best practices that the Philippines can take from how K-beauty went global.
“I don’t think the lesson for the Philippines is to copy Korea. Quite the opposite,” she remarked. K-beauty’s rise came from a philosophy around skin health, constant innovation, sharp branding, and an entertainment export machine most countries simply don’t have.
But the Philippines, she expressed, already has its own unique proposition. Particularly, “an incredibly engaged domestic audience, a huge and passionate Filipino diaspora, a powerful creator culture, and an enormous amount of pride in Filipino identity.”
Social media, she explained, has bridged a gap that a generation ago would have been nearly impossible to close. “The opportunity is to build on what is already uniquely Filipino, not to recreate K-Beauty.”
