Take a peek into a girlfriend’s makeup bag and chances are you’ll spot the usual suspects – YSL, Dior, MAC, Nars, Bobbi Brown, Lancome and perhaps even a bottle of SK-II or Sulwhasoo. The beauty industry is dominated by big name brands that are often associated with the West, or lately, Japan and Korea.
With Singaporean women becoming more aware of beauty trends and even setting them (hello Aarika Lee, Drea Chong and Jemma Wei!), we’re seeing the rise of local beauty and skin care brands that are specially formulated with Asian skin tones and needs (sun protection for Singapore!) in mind.
Most of these beauty brands started off as online only websites but have now successfully ventured into brick and mortar spaces, catering to traditional shoppers who'd like to test their products first. Eschewing traditional advertizing for their products, we’ve come to know some of these brands through the familiar faces of social influencers who wear their products.
From lipsticks, beauty brushes, and even a cult skincare brand, here’s our round-up of local online beauty shops that might just become your new favorites!
Faux Fayc was set up by Ms Eileen Poh and Ms Yuan Ng, after their failed attempts to not being able to locate the perfect fiber mascara. Designed for the Asian woman, the brand offers everything from mascaras, lipsticks, foundation, tools and even skincare.
While their fiber mascara is a bestseller, we stock up on their Fauxstix Matte Liquid lip color range that comes in a convenient and easy pen applicator. The colors glide on perfectly and stays on forever, even after a bowl of oily Char Kuay Teow!
Founded by
Marie Soh of 27A Co, a make-up and image consultancy, Inga Cosmetics is all about lipsticks. Inga’s range of lipsticks is designed to suit Asian skin tones and last for hours even in Singapore’s humid climate!
The great thing about Inga is the range of colors their lipsticks comes in, which suit different skin tones, which works well for Indian and Malay women. Inga doesn’t do advertizing but instead works closely with influencers such as Trishna G, Aarika Lee and Charmaine Seah. In fact, we found out about the brand after seeing Aarika and Charmaine model the beautiful lipstick shades on their Instagram!
If you're a beauty video binge addict like us, you may be familiar with
Roseanne Tang. Roseanne is no stranger to the beauty scene having started her make-up channel way back in 2008, sharing makeup tutorials and beauty product reviews. Since then, she has gone on to get a professional certification in make-up from London, and opened her own make-up school – Bloom by Roseanne.
Her foray into the beauty business is
BloomKIT by Roseanne – a complete set of make-up brushes that are made of synthetic fibers yet super soft. The brushes look good, pick up color really well and are super affordable. If you’re not keen to pick up the full brush set, Roseanne offers a starter kit of 3 at only S$39, a great deal! The metallic pink and white combination brushes will be a great addition to your make-up toolkit!
As everyone knows, make-up looks best on great skin. While brands like SK-II and La Mer are well-known in the skincare department, a local brand has been making waves both in Singapore and
internationally for its limited but amazing range of skincare products.
Allies of Skin was founded by
Nicholas Travis, a former agency guy who decided to pursue his passion instead. Nicholas’s passion for skincare comes from a
personal struggle with acne during his teenage years and his challenges finding the right products. Allies of Skin is designed to complement all aspects of a woman’s life, simple to use and highly effective.
While the products may be a little pricey, we say it’s worth the investment. If you’re not sure what to try, why not start with the
1A All-Day Mask, an innovative product that has garnered rave reviews.
Image credit: https://alliesofskin.com/products/1aalldaymask
Ready to try out some new make-up products? We hope these recommendations have inspired you to go beyond your tried-and-tested brands to try something new and made in Singapore! With PayPal, it’s now easy to shop online at these stores, simply log in using One Touch for easy payments.