This Local Beauty Brand Is Giving Away Over 100,000 Blushes for Free

Beauty is not always rainbows and butterflies. Like other industries, the world of cosmetics contains a truth that’s not very pretty: It’s a big contributor to negative environmental impact. This is due to various issues such as overproduction and unsustainable packaging, and Issy is currently facing a crisis in relation to this.

After months of tests and trials, the homegrown brand successfully created a multi-tasking blush that they loved. Unfortunately, it could never see the light of day—at least, not as a product to be sold. “We recently discovered over 100,000 blushes that never made it to shelves because of a packaging issue,” Joel Martin Andrade tells Preview. This production equates to over P24 million in retail value.

An Instagram post by the brand explained this further, saying, “The blush shrank, cracked, and broke inside its pan—not because it wasn’t good, but because its packaging couldn’t protect it.”

It was a lightweight cream-to-powder formula that they were proud of; the co-founder and creative director called it “honestly one of our best.” The campaign for the Pressed Velvet, as it would have been called, was all ready for launching until they decided otherwise—but that doesn’t mean that the products should all go to waste.

Issy is bringing the Pressed Velvet in stores, not to sell them, but to give them all away for free. Don’t get it wrong, this is not to promote a new product disguised as a mishap. It’s an effort to take accountability for a genuine mistake.

Simply make a purchase in any of the participating stores, and with no minimum spend, you automatically get four. The shades are pre-packed and distributed at random, and it is recommended to transfer the product into a clean container or palette before use.

The blushes were meant to be used, and while the road was rough, they're still bound to reach their destination. Until supplies last.

Participating stores: One Ayala, Alabang Town Center, Greenhills Mall, Ayala Malls Vertis North, SM Megamall, Uptown Mall, Ayala Malls Fairview Terraces, UP Town Center, Market! Market!, SM Dasmarinas, Festival Mall, SM Fairview, SM Clark, SM Telabastagan