For the love of skin and hair: A mini-beauty roundup

Whether you're about to attend one of the many upcoming holiday parties this season or simply have a nice day away from the house, here a few skincare, haircare, and makeup products to help you look and feel fresh.

Hair Sonata

Violin bows are usually made of horse hair, but not the bows of the Philharmonic Orchestra on the evening of their mixed media performance last Oct. 17 at the NBC tent. These particular bows were crafted from human hair and treated with Cream Silk conditioner by Southeast Asia's most famous bowmaker, Archetier Paul S.J. Gon, in his Singapore studio.

Selected guests were invited to a mixed media performance headlined by the Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Gerard Salonga, and together with performances by Ballet Philippines and a short film by acclaimed director Gus Cruz. It was the human-hair violin bows that stole the show, however.

The bows, the first of their kind in Asia, were commissioned by Cream Silk and used in the world's first Hair Symphony Orchestra.

The orchestra featured a 10 member all-female string ensemble using hair bows. Aiming to gauge the strength of human hair, the bows were used continuously during throughout the evening’s twelve-piece performance. The entire show, over an hour long and bisected by a 15 minute intermission, went smoothly, every strand in place.

Happy Skin

“I’ve always been proud to be morena,” gushed model and beauty columnist Risa Mananquil-Trillo. “I dreamed of creating the perfect make-up line that would wonderfully celebrate Filipina skin.”

And it seems that her dream has finally come true. Risa is now co-founder of Happy Skin, a newly-launched local brand of skin-friendly makeup, alongside her friend and business partner Jacque Yuengtian-Gutierrez.

The duo's cosmetic line aims to provide Filipinas with makeup that works for them, not against them.
Happy Skin products come in shades complementary to morena skin tones while offering another range for the fair-skinned. All products are infused with special skin care ingredients, namely: the Japanese tea leaf, cherry blossoms, hyaluronic acid, and Argan oil which benefits the skin upon continued use.

Jacque, with her years of brand development and expertise, shared, “The reason I started Happy Skin is because I’m a firm believer in good skincare and I don’t like compromising the skin because of the makeup I use, so I combined skin care and makeup!”

Risa echoes this belief. “As a model, I got to try all kinds of makeup and my skin got the brunt of damage that went with it. So creating products that avoid that—not just for me but for other Filipinas—is a dream come true,” she said.

The Happy Skin makeup line contains such essentials as eye concealer, liquid and powder foundation, second skin crème, blush, lippies, and eyeliner. The founders believe that these basics are must-haves for any woman, thus concentrating their efforts into perfecting these key products.

“Good makeup should be easy to use and effortless,” said both.

Priced from P499 to a little over P1,000, the Happy Skin makeup line also comes in cute packaging and clever product names for easy recall: “Don’t Get Mad Get Even” says their foundation, “Get Cheeky With Me” reads the invitation of their blush, and their lipstick demands of you to “Shut Up And Kiss Me.”

Aloe Derma Hair Care Line

Since ancient times, the aloe vera herb has been called the “plant of immortality.” It can be used as an anti-inflammatory agent, a skin-soothing potion, and a hair problem remedy.

Organic Basket’s founders Bettina Osmena and Bing Bing Quiros are believers in the powers of aloes. Themselves users of the sabila aloe, the two launched a hair care line—the Aloe Derma Shampoo, made from a high concentration of aloe juice.

The line's conditioner and hair tonic compose the remaining two of the three-step hair care products. These rely heavily on the aloe vera’s amino acids, which are akin to keratin—natural proteins known to promote growth and restoration. The entire Aloe Derma Hair Care line is paraben free, and contains scalp residue-preventing organic ingredient, ammonium laureth sulfonate.

Businesswoman and finance magnate Vivian Yuchengco trusts in the Aloe Derma line. “Nature takes care of us and that is why we have to take care of it, too. I have a penchant for products that put premium on ecological sustainability while ensuring efficacy and consumer safety,” she said.

RJ Jacinto, a musician-entrepreneur facing problems of thinning, falling hair, attests to the effectiveness of aloe vera. “I feel my hair is starting to get thicker,” he shared.

The products are exclusively distributed at all Watsons branches. — VC, GMA News