On a daily basis, it seems that we’re constantly hearing about beauty brands launching new collections and experimenting with new trends consistently to compete and produce the best quality for consumers.
The local beauty scene is no exception. As years pass by, more independent local brands have been popping up and coming up with various types of products that can arguably hold their own against the international standards
We wanted to give a shoutout to some of our hardworking local brands, so here are 14 Malaysian brands that manufacture their products right here and have been keeping themselves busy producing high quality offerings.
1) Painted Malaysia
The idea to start Painted Malaysia began when three best friends and co-founders Adam, Angelyn and Celine wanted to create a range of makeup that would be affordable yet plant-based/organic.
They launched their first collection in July 2016 and currently have 6 shades of matte liquid lipsticks that range from light to dark. Their best-sellers happen to be their PAINTed drawers where customers are given the freedom to pick 3 shades to mix and match and it is packaged in a sleek black and gold box.
“We definitely love hearing our customers complimenting our products and saying they’re long-lasting and comfortable (not drying) on the lips as compared to a lot of existing mattes available,” said one of the co-founders to Vulcan Post.
Price: Individual liquid lipsticks are RM49 and the PAINTed drawers are RM139.
2) Velvet Vanity
This brand started in March 2016 by founder, Adlina, who decided to bring in Lush Cosmetics to Malaysia.
However, her application was turned down so she realised that it was better to start her own homegrown beauty brand instead. She used her passion for art and beauty to spur her drive and did a lot of research on international independent makeup brands before starting Velvet Vanity.
“The biggest achievement for Velvet Vanity so far is, we managed to get a few official retailers in Singapore and Indonesia to carry our products on their website. It was done is less than 6 months since we started and we are planning to get more retailers in the Philippines and other countries,” shared Velvet Vanity to Vulcan Post.
Price: Individual liquid lipsticks are RM49.
3) DIDA For Women
The brand was founded by fashion entrepreneur, Tengku Chanela Jamidah, together with her best friend and partner Didie Nasir back in May 2016.
Dida cosmetics started out by offering velvet matte lip crèmes but have since expanded their range to include eyeshadows and eyeliners as well. The beauty brand prides themselves over the beauty philosophy of by women for women and are known to be cruelty-free.
Price: Individual liquid lipsticks are RM45, Eyeliner is RM36, and the Eyeshadow Palette is RM115.
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4) Breena Beauty
Breena Beauty started 2 years ago in May 2014 by founder Sabrina Taijudin. Before her business, she was running her own beauty blog.
It was only after trying out many beauty products, she decided to pursue the art of creating her own line. She currently has a set of makeup brushes as well as 6 shades of liquid lipsticks in her product range.
“People these days love to express themselves towards many ways, one of them is makeup. It’s nice to see the beauty scene grow into a makeup community that is fun, especially in the social media world,” said Sabrina to Vulcan Post.
Price: Individual liquid lipsticks are RM39 and her makeup brushes range from RM25–RM45 with her essential eye kit priced at RM139.
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5) Stage Cosmetics
One of the bigger names to make it in the local beauty scene is Stage Cosmetics. The company as a group has over 15 years of cosmetic industry expertise and the team launched Stage Cosmetics as a profesional makeup artist brand back in 2008.
Their website that recently launched in February 2017.
“Saying this right off the bat, we are so inspired by the local entrepreneurs and even more so to know most of them are female—empowered, independent and self-sureness are real sexy qualities. We’re definitely looking at #GirlPower in action!” said Stage Cosmetics to Vulcan Post.
Price: Individual lipsticks are priced at RM35 and their makeup brushes are sold from RM25 to RM100.
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6) CanCans Handmade
The brand started off in April 2015 by making handmade skincare products. When the founder was younger, she was left to believe that having deeper skin tone was seen as a flaw so she was encouraged to try whitening creams to achieve fairer skin.
In her college days, she met her partner who had an unfortunate experience in buying a makeup product overseas. So combining their frustrations and discrimination together, they decided to create a beauty brand that manufactured cosmetics exclusively for middle to deep skin-toned women.
“Malaysian cosmetic brands have picked up tremendously in the past 2–3 years. When the local crowd would much rather support local brands instead established international brands and when there is demand overseas which helps in the transition of local brands into international brands, it shows that we’re doing a great job,” said the founder to Vulcan Post.
Price: Individual liquid lipsticks are priced at RM69.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
7) Zhuco Cosmetics
Zhuco Cosmetics is based in Sabah, Malaysia and launched at May 2016. The founder, Zura Anwar, started a small business by selling beauty products in 2014 until she realised that business and cosmetics is her passion.
She wanted to start her own cosmetics line but it was hard to find a manufacturer that could produce matte lipsticks due to lack of equipment and research back then.
It wasn’t until 2015 when she was finally able to find local manufacturers that would be able to produce her matte lipsticks. Currently her range of products focus on selling matte liquid lipsticks that have a wide range from light to dark shades.
“We manage to get international customers as far as United States. We feel proud because we know that many cosmetics brand are growing in their country but they choose to try some of our products,” said the founder of Zhuco cosmetics to Vulcan Post.
Price: Individual liquid lipsticks are priced at RM35.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
8) Chique Cosmetics
Chique Cosmetics launched on April 2016 and is the brainchild from two founders who graduated from an Architecture school. The lessons they learned from their studies showed how people are easily attracted to nice visuals.
So they wanted to incorporate that element into their cosmetics line where they have packaging that gives off an international look while producing high quality products.
“We are currently expanding our brand rapidly to Singapore now. They really appreciate and are in love with Malaysian’s product which is very good so we took that as opportunity for us to expand more to other countries as well,” said the founder of Chique Cosmetics to Vulcan Post.
Price: Individual liquid lipsticks are priced at RM43.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
9) Sugarbelle Cosmetics
Sugarbelle Cosmetic was established and founded in 2015 by 2 well-known online mogul for Muslimah Fashion, Eyqa Sulaiman of Sugarscarf and Belle Al Yahya of Bella Ammara. Their current range includes eyeshadow quads, eyeliners, mascaras and their liquid lipsticks with multiple colours.
Price: Individual liquid lipsticks are priced at RM59 while their eyeshadow quads are priced at RM39.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
10) So.lek
This brand was founded in 2016 and was inspired when the founder went to America. She discovered the wide ranges of cosmetics available there and how it was very well received.
So she wondered if she could start her own line and as she had just left her previous job as a corporate Digital Brand Manager to look into exploring other territories. Since she collected lipsticks, she felt that was the right product to start off with.
Price: Individual liquid lipsticks are priced at RM35.
11) Fame Cosmetics
Fame Cosmetics is a brand that launched in 2015 where their first product was their Matte Lip Cream, which till today is a local cult favourite among many professional makeup artists.
They started off with 5 shades but have now expanded to 9 with plans on adding more. Their line has also increased to include BB Cushion, Mascara and Eyeliners.
Price: Individual liquid lipsticks are priced at RM29.
12) Madu Cosmetics
Having been a radio and TV personality, Hunny Madu then founded her own makeup range that focus on being paraben free and not tested on animals. Currently her line consists of lipsticks varying from 7 colours which she calls ‘The Artiste’.
The inspiration behind her lipstick name comes from song titles, some modern and some classic.
Price: Individual lipsticks are priced at RM55 while the artiste collection is priced at RM350.
Website | Facebook | Instagram
13) Simply Siti
Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin is widely known as one of the best singers in our country but she’s also quite known in the beauty community for her own makeup line.
She launched her brand in 2010 and has since then produced multiple products for her range. From lipsticks to foundations to face oils, most of her products have been talked about by many local professional makeup artists.
Price: Please refer to her website for a full list of her products and their prices.
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14) Nita Cosmetics
The founder of this brand, Aznita Azman founded her line and the character ‘NITA’ in 2016. Her products incorporates local customs, traditions, and even cuisine, into the names and packaging of the products.
Her cosmetics carry a wide range of hypoallergenic makeup products to suit all skin tones at an affordable price.
Price: Individual liquid lipsticks are priced at RM69 while their lipsticks are priced at RM53.10
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Feature Image Credit: Compiled from Velvet Vanity, DIDA cosmetics, Madu Cosmetics and Stage Cosmetics