#LifeLokal: Lippinas is the no-fuss local lippie that won't break the bank
With the number of new lipstick, lip oil, and lip tint brands emerging on social media, it can be a real challenge to make yourself stand out. But what if the best way to be seen is by actually going back to your roots?
Enter Lippinas, a lokal lipstick brand that champions itself by putting Filipinas and our heritage at the forefront of how they create their business. Established in 2019, Lippinas is the simple combination of the words lip and Pinas, and it also rhymes with the word "Filipinas."
The brand was borne by two friends, Jona Benzon and Jas Siscar, who couldn't find the perfect lip shade for themselves. So they decided to set up a business where they could choose colors and styles that would fit their demographic: the average Filipina looking for a quick and cheap swipe on the lips.
Jona and Jas didn't come with a background in the beauty industry, but they got hard at work and made a selection of tinted lip gloss, velvet matte tints, powder blushes, lip balms, and more—with each product selling for under P200.
"We want our customers to take pride that when they use our products, these are locally made, yet can compete with the quality of the expensive brands," the two shared with PhilSTAR L!fe.
The Cavite-based company has since been selling out products online, and getting rave reviews from lippie fans as well.
When did you first know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?
Jona is a financial consultant for one of the insurance companies in the country, while I, Jas, am an HR professional in a financial institution. We were colleagues then and love to try on different make-ups brands we buy online.
Since we couldn't find a perfect lipstick shade for ourselves, we decided to set up our own brand where we choose our own colors and the rest is history.
What’s the story behind the name LIPPINAS?
We both are big supporters of local brands. We wanted to create a name that would speak of our roots, history, and values. With a focus on lip products, we came up with the name LIPPINAS.
How does Filipino heritage or culture influence your brand values and identity?
Each of our product and shade names is carefully thought of. We make sure that with every product we launch, we are able to highlight something from our history.
May it be names of goddesses from ancient mythology, or names of the women who sew our Philippine Flag. From the different festivities that we have in the country, or the various dialects we use in the provinces.
How do you make your brand stand out from the rest?
We have a good concept, but it does not stop there. We see to it that in every product, every content, we stay consistent in highlighting Filipino values, knowing our history, and being proud of our work. As our tagline goes, “Gawa ng Filipina, para sa Filipina”.
We also don't have a physical store, so we only rely on social media to market our products. With the use of Instagram and Facebook, we were able to introduce our products to the market.
We initially had resellers and distributors, not only in the different provinces in the Philippines but also in different countries like Malaysia, Qatar, UAE, Australia and Canada. Now, our focus is to provide our affordable products to Filipinas through retail sales in e-commerce platforms.
