Beauty

A multimedia designer who built a beauty brand out of homesickness, turning Filipino childhood nostalgia into limited-edition cosmetics that sell out on the strength of one TikTok post.

The brand that started when a Filipino woman bought oil from a farmer she felt sorry for — and ended up building a sustainable skincare company around the only tree native to the Philippines.

A Philippines-born film producer who won an Academy Award, burned out in Manhattan, flew home to Cebu, pressed fresh aloe vera into her face on a beach, then came back to New York knowing exactly what kind of beauty brand the world was missing.