The Ferrari of nail polishes is back

OPI, considered in the industry to be the Ferrari of nail polishes, is back with more affordable prices, four collections, and nationwide distribution (before, the brand was exclusively available at salons).

The US brand made its name with trendy colors that were so pigmented your manicure was done after two coats.  I love their witty shade names like Do You Lilac It, Pink-ing of You, and Can’t Be Beet.

Current collections include the OG Nail Lacquer, which is how OPI started — high-quality polishes that last for up to seven days and are the most affordable, at P495.

OPI Ph brand manager Mel Ledesma-Cruz says each collection has a different-colored cap to distinguish them from each other; the original nail lacquers sport black caps.

Then there’s the vegan line, Nature Strong, plant-based nail polish with gray caps made of recyclable material.  At P595, Cruz says they’re significantly cheaper than in the US, since OPI Philippines wanted affordable luxury for all here, and they agreed. “So now everyone can try OPI,” Cruz says.

For P100 more, Infinite Shine is OPI’s gel-like 3D nail polish. “OPI came up with a three step routine that doesn’t need UV light, and the finish is gel-like,” Cruz says. “It lasts up to 11 days, and the cap is silver.”

At present OPI has 250 colors, 300 SKUs, and typically release new collections every quarter, but since they’re making up for lost time here, next month they’ll issue a new collection.

The brand also offers nail care (the bestseller is the nail and cuticle oil for P595), polish removers and Pro Spa skincare for hands and feet. This is great news because these products, which were exclusive to salons before, are now widely available so you can achieve professional-quality mani/pedis at home.

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OPI is available at Rustan’s The Beauty Source, Beauty Bar, Watsons, Landmark, Robinsons, Lazada, and Shopee.

This J-Beauty brand’s mascara is a cult fave

Kiss Me, one of the Japanese brands Beautybox Corp. has brought to the Philippines, recently celebrated its first birthday.

Kiss Me made its name with its Heroine Make mascara, which is so good it’s become a cult favorite among beautistas. What I love is that it comes with a Curl Keep mascara base that thickens sparse Asian lashes before you apply the Heroine Make Long Up Super Waterproof mascara, which is the only mascara I have that doesn’t smudge, no matter how sweaty or oily I get! Kiss Me even offers a Speedy Mascara remover to take it all off at the end of the day.

Another product I highly recommend is Sunkiller Perfect Water Essence SPF50+ PA++++, an alcohol-free sunscreen that is so lightweight and refreshing to put on — no white cast or greasy feel. They also have Kiss Me Other Kiss Me products worth trying are Heavy Rotation Coloring Eyebrow mascaras, Heroine Make Rich Jewel eyeliners and Kiss Me medicated hand cream, which comes in portable tubes perfect for popping into your purse.

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Kiss Me products are available at Beauty Bar, Mitsukoshi, Watsons, The SM Store, Rustan’s The Beauty Source, Landmark, Look, Chimes and Island City Mall, or shop online at Shop.beautyboxcorp.com.

Self-refreshing skin tints

After the success of their Synchro Self-Refreshing foundations, Shiseido released Synchro Self-Refreshing Tints with broad-spectrum SPF 20, which offer the ideal combination of color, coverage and care. Infused with 70% skincare ingredients, the tints provide 24 hours of weightless hydration and come in 12 shades to match any skin tone.

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Available at the Shiseido boutiques in Mitsukoshi and leading malls.

Homegrown makeup company completes range

Since the last time I featured them, Issy & Co. has had about four launches, and the brand now has a complete range of makeup products, all boasting innovative formulations and colors for Asian skin.

I love the texture of their Ode to the Sand Crème Cheek Bronzers, which feel soft to the touch and are so lightweight they just melt into the skin to give a natural-looking, sun-kissed glow. These come in four shades at the unbeatable price of P349.

Issy brow products include clear Brow Fixing gel to set unruly brows; colored Brow Volumizing gels to fill in, add volume and create fluffy brows; Brow Detailing Pen, a micro-filling liquid liner to create hairlike strokes with a built-in spoolie to style; and my fave, the Brow Pencil Trio, which features a fine-tipped pencil to outline and fill in sparse areas, a triangular-tipped pencil to shade and add depth, and a built-in spoolie to blend and groom brows (all P349).

Issy & Co. also improved and expanded their popular Active Skin Tint and Concealer range, which now offer 12 shades of the oil-free, niacinamide-enriched tinted moisturizer (P499) and 24 shades of the oil-free, hyaluronic-acid fortified concealer (P399). They also added True Flex Powder Foundation, skin-blurring pressed-powder compacts (P549) and my fave, True Flex Illuminator, luminous complexion enhancers that amp up your glow (P349).

Finally Issy launched its Lip Bullets, 21 shades of lipstick (P349 each) in three different finishes (matte, velvet and satin) of seven shades each. These bullets come with a thoughtful, built-in mirror so you’ll never have to dig around in your bag or use your phone as a mirror again.

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Issy & Co. is available at Shopee and Lazada.

Ultra-affordable, multi-tasking cream blushes

Ever Bilena’s Pillow Pop cream blushes are bouncy, cream-to-powder blushes that give your skin a radiant pop of color. Enriched with vitamin E, they’re fragrance-free and very blendable and buildable. In three shades — Dreamy Coral, Dreamy Rose and Dreamy Peach — I enjoy these blushes’ plush, lightweight texture, the fact that they’re multitaskers you can also use on your lips and eyelids, and their ultra-affordable price (P195 each).

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Available at SM Beauty and the Ever Bilena shops on TikTok, Shopee and Lazada.

Matte lippies that moisturize

Hate the feel of matte lippies that dry out your lips? Careline has solved that with its Powder Matte Lip Tints, four pretty shades that help moisturize your lips with shea butter and glycerin (P180 each). If that level of moisturization isn’t enough, Careline also has a Serum Clear Gloss enriched with antioxidants and natural oils for a plumper, healthier pout.

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Careline is available at Watsons, Shopee, and Lazada.