By Red Dimaandal-Escamillas
Mae Layug-Madriñan–founder, CEO, and President of GRWM Cosmetics–is a busy woman. As a mom of two and girl boss of the proudly Filipino makeup brand she appreciates a good quality and effective beauty routine. So much so, she created a brand to meet her skincare needs and for a lot of Filipinas.
“I have seen gaps in the Filipino market that I wanted to fill in. I’ve done market studies and I noticed that a lot of Filipinas with medium to tan skin tones aren’t able to find their shade in the local beauty market. Whether it’s a makeup base or a colored product, I believe that everyone deserves to find a shade that compliments their skin tone and undertone,” she said.
Despite beauty being so personal, we all live a shared experience—and Mae gets that. She’s not just creating products to solve skin-deep concerns, but she’s listening and building communities around them.
In our newest beauty series, we caught up with Mae to get to know more about her and here, she reveals her beauty routine, holy grail products and self-care practices. Join as we discover her tips, hacks and beauty mantra.
What is your skincare routine?
“I use a toner, a night repair serum, and sunscreen. The only difference between my daytime and nighttime routine is sunscreen. It’s something I’d never ever skip.”
What are your holy grail beauty products?
“For skincare, my holy grail is the GRWM SPF BFF sunscreen. It is lightweight, moisturizing, non-sticky, doesn’t peel, and it’s a primer in one. We specifically created this sunscreen for makeup wearers.
As for makeup products, I love our Face Card customizable full face palette. It’s a dream come true to build the palette and the colors that match you. You can basically customize your own palette from brow products, base products, eyeshadow, blush, bronzer, highlighter, lips, and more. It’s basically a lifestyle in a palette.”
How do you practice self-care?
“I like to have an uninterrupted sleep. As a mom of one toddler and one infant, it’s quite a struggle. But thankfully, I have the freedom (most of the time) with my schedule and I take a break from the hectic work, I just need to make sure everything is on schedule, then I’d just hibernate.”
What is your beauty mantra?
“I’ve always believed that beauty will always and always be personal. Beauty, for me, has never been about perfection or based on a certain set of standards. It’s about connection, memory, and the quiet confidence that grows when you start choosing for yourself.”
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Barbie Forteza is on the cover of STYLISH Magazine right now, as she shares her thoughts on her new phase in her career with her new television series Beauty Empire.
Read our cover story here.
The #StylishPodcast episode with Barbie Forteza is now up! Watch it here.
Stylish Magazine is “your source of self-love, style & inspiration” first introduced in June 2020. Our television series format, Stylish TV, once ranked one of the Top 50 Most Watched Multicultural Shows in the USA, can be streamed on iWantTFC and be watched on TFC (The Filipino Channel) in more than 50 countries. Watch it online here.
Style Visionary Network is a lifestyle-business online platform where #WeCreateVisionaries. Also introduced in June 2020, Style Visionary Network is also the digital home channel of media brands Stylish Magazine and Stylish TV.