Meet Hollywood’s favorite Filipino beauty brand

A dive into the world of Sunnies Face and an interview with co-founder Jess Wilson 

Did you know that behind many recognizable makeup looks is a Filipino beauty company you may not recognize, but has graced the faces of celebrities including Euphoria’s Alexa Demie, Lola Tung (The Summer I Turned Pretty), and more?

Since Sunnies Face’s launch in 2018, celebrity makeup artist Pati Dubroff has unwaveringly raved about the Manila-based beauty company’s debut product, Fluffmatte, a matte bullet lipstick. She continually utilizes its distinctive powdery texture to create a diffused effect on clientele ranging from Margot Robbie to Priyanka Chopra, and Fluffmatte in the cool blue-toned crimson shade Major quickly became Dubroff’s go-to red lipstick. 

As the brand quickly grew, Dubroff added their products to her makeup kit, such as the Fluffbalm, a matte lipstick and moisturizing lip balm hybrid, in Perfect Mauve, which she used on Robbie for the Australian Vogue Barbie party red carpet, as well as the Healthy Touch Eyeshadow Palette in Everyday Browns, which she applied on herself in a tutorial.

Just as acclaimed makeup experts are vocal champions of the brand, so are their clients, like Barbie Ferreira, Debby Ryan, and Amandla Stenberg, who’ve even included Sunnies Face in their own personal beauty routines.  

By its sophomore year, Sunnies Face launched a collaboration with Victoria’s Secret Angel alum Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and her cosmetics brand Rose Inc. Now, Sunnies Face has expanded across just about every product category, and more.

For instance, the brand has three distinct blush products—as in three differing product lines, not just shades. They offer cream, liquid, and powder options, and both velvety matte and dewy serum finishes. 

Sunnies Face’s rise may be less remarkable in the United States, but across the Philippines, it’s anything but under the radar. The brand boasts sizable and sleekly designed stores throughout the country, and has expanded to Thailand with five new locations. In a saturated beauty market, this is not only a great feat, but signals how it's authentically struck a chord with so many—from the average shopper to entertainment icons and beauty giants who happily sport and promote Sunnies Face outside of branded partnerships.

Jess Wilson, British Pinay it girl and Sunnies Face co-founder tells me, “We focus on creating modern makeup and skin care staples in design-forward packaging. It’s about editing the beauty routine down to essentials that feel comfortable and natural to wear.” 

Wilson continues, “In many ways, this connects to Filipino beauty sensibilities. Filipino beauty often leans toward soft and healthy-looking skin. It’s about enhancing what you already have rather than trying to change it completely.”

In addition to connecting with Filipino beauty sensibilities, Wilson put her finger on the essence of the hype and what’s behind it. The company’s ethos has materialized in a brand identity, one exemplified by its polished retrofuturistic design language and tailored beauty product experience. 

Sunnies Face’s aesthetics are translated online and in their marketing, where you’ll find animation, as well as screengrabs and references to film, anime, and Filipino and global pop culture history, all while relating back to their items, bridging how beauty, art, and culture inform each other. 

Whether it’s a callback to the color grading of a movie or capturing the atmospheric experience of an ethereal yet powerful Sailor Moon, Sunnies Face builds their brand and merchandise to shape an evocative experience. “There isn’t one specific ‘face’ for the brand. It’s more about a feeling; someone confident in their own skin, using beauty as a tool to feel good and show up as themselves,” says Wilson. 

In doing so, the brand translates that feeling into daily life. Wilson reflects, “The guiding idea behind the brand is ‘beauty that gets you.’ We want beauty to feel like part of everyday life, something people don’t have to think too much about.” 

Part of the intuitive beauty shopping they’ve cultivated are the options in products, sometimes even for the same ones; like their aforementioned blushes, Sunnies Face offers multiple formulas for sunscreen alone: matte stick, spray mist, and gel cream. Whether meeting different skin type needs or styles, their offerings curate from the best of the beauty zeitgeist, demystifying a saturated market. 

Enhancing full feathery brows, a soft-focus glow, and a healthy flush, Sunnies Face’s products are akin to many in-demand luxury ones, but are far from dupes; they constantly innovate in every product category and should be on your radar. 

“The brand started very simply, we wanted to create beauty products we personally enjoyed using every day,” recalls Wilson, who co-founded Sunnies Face with her cousins Georgina Wilson and Martine Cajucom-Ho, and their friends, married couple Bea Soriano Dee and Eric Dee. Jess Wilson continues,“Co-founding with family and friends is meaningful because there’s a strong base of trust and shared passion for the brand. Everyone is invested not just in short-term success but in building something that can last.”

As expansive as their product verticals and reach are, Sunnies Face is but one offshoot of a wide range of various lifestyle brands from Sunnies Studios. What began as fashion-forward eyewear and sunglasses, has since extended to picturesque coffee cafés and robust coffee blends, the chicest water bottles, and Sunnies Face skin care, sun care, and cosmetics.

Sunnies Studios’ customizable thermos line, Sunnies Flask, boasts more than 300,000 possible color, size, and design combinations. In a viral video by Filipino Australian influencer Angelo Marasigan, viewers get a look at the massive selection at Sunnies World stores. 

When you look at the entirety of Sunnies Studios and Sunnies World, the extensive yet curated range of Sunnies Face is astounding, but unsurprising. Across the brands, there’s an evident emphasis on elevated essentials, where style meets utility meets play. 

Wilson illustrates,“The different Sunnies lifestyle brands share a similar philosophy of being modern, accessible, and designed for everyday living. The goal isn’t necessarily to make all the lines look the same, but to create a consistent feeling across them, ease, confidence, and simplicity,” before sharing how Sunnies Face is in conversation with the many Sunnies lifestyle lines, “The beauty line sits within the larger lifestyle space by supporting how people want to feel when they go out and live their day.”

For Wilson, this vision is indicative and representative of Filipino beauty beliefs, 

“Filipino beauty is getting more visibility now, especially because social media helps local aesthetics reach a wider audience. Trends like soft, fresh, flushed makeup styles show that Filipino preferences are becoming part of the larger beauty conversation.”

Amidst its many evergrowing expansions and releases, Sunnies Face has returned to its first product, Fluffmatte lipstick, and given it new life with six new shades. Wilson explains,“Fluffmatte has always been very special because it’s the product that introduced the brand to many people. As the brand grew, it was important to stay connected to what people first loved. Revisiting Fluffmatte felt like going back to our roots. Adding six new shades was about listening to the community and giving more options for different skin tones and preferences. At the same time, we wanted to keep what made the product work; the lightweight, comfortable, soft-focus finish that people can wear every day.” Sunnies Face stays grounded in its originating philosophy while looking forward.