WHEN content creator and beauty enthusiast Mae Layug first conceptualized GRWM Cosmetics, she knew she wanted to create products that suited her morena skin tone. What she didn't anticipate was that, in just three years, she would build a local beauty brand celebrated not only for its wide range of products catering to diverse skin tones, ages, and genders but also for championing special causes.

'To be honest, I didn't expect it to grow this big. I expected that we would really work hard for it — as they would say, 'to hit the stars.' But I never expected it to blow up like this,' Layug shared in an interview with The Manila Times on the sidelines of her brand's event, 'Behind the Beauty.'