FIRST ON RADAR: HBC’s San San Cosmetics makes a comeback this October

The “skin-caring” 2000s brand returns to HBC’s online stores after five years.

HBC’s San San Cosmetics is making a comeback this October.

The homegrown “skin-caring” makeup brand that became a familiar name among Filipino beauty shoppers in the 2000s and 2010s will return to HBC’s online stores on October 4.

Rolan Hortaleza, CEO of Hortaleza Corp., said San San Cosmetics would return with “new features,” although he did not specify what these would be. He said in a Threads post that “Hortaleza Global Corporation and the Hortaleza Research Institute made sure it was worth the wait.”

San San Cosmetics launched as one of the brands under beauty retailer HBC in the 1990s, gaining popularity among consumers throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

Among HBC’s in-house brands, San San was positioned as a “skin-caring” line, fortified with vitamins A, C, and E and SPF 15.

Makeup junkies praised San San’s powder and base products for supposedly holding up well in the country’s tropical weather without causing skin issues. The brand also offered a line of lip, blush, and eye products.

The San San Cosmetics Facebook page stopped updating after May 2021, apart from a post promoting an HBC-wide sale in October 2022. The beauty retailer had since shifted to online sales amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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