The company’s own materials describe Ellana as having been established in 2007 and as the Philippines’ leading/mineral cosmetics brand.

Origins: solving a problem with conventional makeup

Ellana’s origin story is closely tied to sensitive skin.

According to the company’s history, co-founder Coney Avellana had difficulty finding conventional makeup that worked comfortably with her sensitive skin. Around 2006, she researched mineral makeup and discovered that it could potentially provide a gentler alternative. However, existing mineral makeup options were relatively expensive, were not necessarily suited to the Philippines’ tropical environment, and had limited shades appropriate for Asian skin tones.

Avellana subsequently worked with cosmetic entrepreneur Theresa Carbonel-Buenaflor to develop a mineral cosmetics line aimed at filling that gap.

The result was Ellana Mineral Cosmetics, launched in 2007. One of the earliest and most important products was the brand’s Loose Mineral Foundation, which became a signature product and an expression of the original philosophy: makeup should enhance appearance without unnecessarily compromising skin comfort.

Development of the brand

Ellana was designed specifically with the realities of the Philippine market in mind. Rather than simply importing an existing Western mineral-makeup concept, the founders sought to adapt products to:

• hot and humid tropical weather;
• Filipino and other Asian skin tones;
• sensitive or reactive skin;
• consumers seeking lightweight makeup;
• customers looking for more affordable mineral cosmetics.

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines describes Ellana as a local brand that sought to create makeup “by a Filipino for the Filipino,” particularly addressing issues such as heavy makeup, oily finishes, limited shade options and formulations poorly suited to the Philippine climate 1.

Theresa Carbonel-Buenaflor

Theresa Carbonel-Buenaflor is one of Ellana’s founders and is particularly associated with the company’s product formulation and skin-first philosophy.

Ellana’s current website identifies Theresa as its founder and formulator, describing her focus as creating high-performance formulas that improve skin while avoiding unnecessary harm.

She has also described Ellana’s founding philosophy as going beyond conventional cosmetics: the goal was not simply to create makeup, but to help people achieve healthier skin and make beauty more compatible with environmental and social considerations.

Coney Avellana

Coney Avellana was the other co-founder and played an important role in the original concept.

Her personal difficulty finding appropriate makeup for sensitive skin helped identify the market opportunity that eventually became Ellana. Her experience also influenced the company’s emphasis on delicate skin, lightweight mineral formulas and products suitable for Asian complexions.

A useful way of understanding Ellana is that it sits at the intersection of cosmetics and skincare.

Rather than treating makeup as something completely separate from skin health, the brand promotes the idea that beauty products should ideally provide cosmetic benefits while also being considerate of the skin.

Ellana summarizes its philosophy through three broad ideas:

1. Skin first

The company says its formulas prioritize skin health and use skincare actives intended to provide benefits beyond immediate cosmetic appearance. It specifically states that its products are formulated with sensitive skin in mind.

2. Feel good about what you use

Ellana describes itself as vegan, cruelty-free and eco-conscious, connecting its product philosophy with ethical and environmental considerations.

3. Long-term glow

Rather than positioning makeup as purely an instant transformation, Ellana says its formulations are intended to help users maintain healthier-looking, radiant skin over time.

The word “Mineral” is central to Ellana’s original identity.

Mineral makeup generally uses mineral-derived ingredients such as pigments and powders as part of its formulation. Ellana built its original product line around this concept, particularly its loose mineral foundation.

Its approach was particularly relevant to consumers who wanted a lightweight base rather than the heavier, oilier foundations that were common in the Philippine market when the company was founded. The Philippine Intellectual Property Office specifically identifies Ellana’s mineral makeup as being developed for the country’s tropical climate 1.

The brand’s identity has since expanded, however. Ellana is no longer simply a mineral-foundation company; its present catalog includes extensive skincare and body-care offerings alongside makeup.

Ellana’s current portfolio can broadly be divided into three areas.

Makeup

The makeup range includes products intended for complexion, eyes, lips and other aspects of everyday makeup.

The company’s historical flagship is its Loose Mineral Foundation, while its broader makeup philosophy emphasizes lightweight, buildable and skin-conscious formulations.

Ellana’s formulation principles specifically mention intense pigmentation and buildable coverage while maintaining a relatively minimalist ingredient philosophy.

Skincare

Skincare has become an increasingly important part of the brand.

Current Ellana offerings include products such as:

• facial serums;
• acne-focused treatments;
• exfoliating products;
• brightening products;
• pore-care products;
• soothing products;
• eye-care products;
• skincare sets and combinations.

The company’s current site describes skincare as an area centered on mineral and active-ingredient formulations designed to progressively improve the skin.

Body care

Ellana has also expanded into body products, maintaining the same general philosophy of avoiding ingredients it considers unnecessary or undesirable and emphasizing skin-conscious formulations.

Ellana Loose Mineral Foundation

The Loose Mineral Foundation is arguably the product most closely associated with Ellana’s origins.

The company describes it as a bestseller and specifically connects the product to its original mission of creating gentle, high-performance makeup for sensitive skin. Its packaging historically incorporated paper sachets and refillable jars, reflecting the company’s interest in reducing packaging impact.

The foundation also illustrates why Ellana became distinctive in the Philippine market: it combined the mineral-makeup concept with consideration for tropical weather and Asian complexions 1.

Ellana says it has an in-house cosmetics formulator, something it considers an important part of its differentiation in the Philippine beauty market.

Its formulation principles can be summarized as:

• Make it better — continuously improve formulas, packaging and performance.
• Make it with less — avoid unnecessary ingredients and emphasize selected functional ingredients.
• Make it last — develop products intended to perform in tropical conditions.
• Make it easy to use — products should work with fingers or conventional tools.
• Make it multi-purpose — whenever possible, products should address multiple needs.
• Make it kind — the company says it does not test on animals, uses vegan formulations and seeks ethical sourcing.

This philosophy is important because it differentiates Ellana from a brand whose primary selling point is simply “mineral makeup.” The company increasingly presents itself as a broader clean/ethical, skin-first beauty brand.

Cruelty-free status is a significant part of Ellana’s branding.

Ellana states that its products are 100% vegan and that it does not test on animals.

Importantly, the cruelty-free claim has external support: PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies database lists Ellana Mineral Cosmetics as cruelty-free, stating that neither the finished products nor their ingredients are tested on animals and that the company requires the same standard from relevant suppliers and third parties 2.

That makes cruelty-free more than simply an unverified marketing statement.

Environmental considerations have been part of Ellana’s identity since its early development.

The original brand emphasized environmentally friendlier packaging, and its Loose Mineral Foundation was associated with paper sachets and refillable jars.

The company nevertheless acknowledges that sustainable packaging is an ongoing challenge. A 2020 Philippine Intellectual Property Office profile noted the tension between adopting more sustainable packaging and maintaining affordability 1.

This is an interesting aspect of Ellana’s business model: the company attempts to balance three potentially competing goals:

affordability + sustainability + premium/ethical positioning.

One of Ellana’s strongest differentiators is its Filipino origin.

The company wasn’t created simply as a generic international mineral-makeup brand. Its early product development was specifically motivated by problems experienced by Filipino consumers.

This included:

• tropical heat and humidity;
• oily or melting makeup;
• Asian skin undertones;
• Filipino skin-tone diversity;
• sensitivity to certain cosmetic formulations;
• the relatively high price and limited availability of mineral makeup.

The Philippine Intellectual Property Office described the brand’s approach as developing cosmetics specifically around Filipino needs and highlighted its efforts to accommodate different Filipino complexions, from lighter skin to deeper kayumanggi tones 1.

This gives Ellana a somewhat different identity from many Western mineral-cosmetics brands: the tropical Asian market is part of its original DNA rather than simply an export market.

Ellana experienced significant growth alongside the expansion of Philippine e-commerce and digital marketing.

In a 2020 founder’s letter, Theresa Carbonel-Buenaflor reported that the company grew from 100 people in 29 locations in 2019 to 220 people in 64 locations as it entered 2020. She also said the company had begun shipping internationally and was developing its U.S. e-commerce business.

The company has continued to develop an online-first presence. Its current website serves as a major storefront and includes international-oriented information and ordering resources.

Although Ellana originated in the Philippines and remains strongly associated with Filipino beauty, the brand’s current corporate information identifies Ellana Cosmetics Pte. Ltd. as being based in Singapore.

A Philippine trademark publication also records ELLANA COSMETICS PTE. LTD. as the applicant for the ELLANA MINERAL COSMETICS mark in a 2024 filing 3.

So, in simple terms:

Filipino-founded brand → developed around Philippine/Asian beauty needs → now operated through a Singapore-registered corporate entity with international ambitions.

Ellana has also taken steps to protect its intellectual property.

According to the Philippine Intellectual Property Office, the company trademarked its logo and its Mineral SkinShield formula-related mark in 2016. The company viewed trademarking as important for protecting its identity from copycats and similar-sounding brands, particularly as it expanded internationally 1.

A later Philippine trademark publication records an application for ELLANA MINERAL COSMETICS filed in January 2024 by Ellana Cosmetics Pte. Ltd. for cosmetics in Class 3 3.

Ellana can broadly be positioned as a mid-market/accessible clean beauty brand, rather than either a mass-market drugstore brand or an ultra-luxury cosmetics house.

Its differentiation comes from combining:

Mineral makeup

• sensitive-skin positioning
• Filipino/Asian complexion awareness
• tropical-climate performance
• vegan/cruelty-free ethics
• skincare functionality
• sustainability efforts

This combination is essentially the brand’s competitive identity.

The brand is particularly relevant to consumers who want:

• lightweight everyday makeup;
• products designed with sensitive skin in mind;
• mineral makeup;
• vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics;
• skincare-oriented makeup;
• products suited to hot and humid weather;
• shades and formulations appropriate for Asian skin;
• relatively accessible clean-beauty products.

It also explicitly markets products toward people with delicate skin and says its formulations are suitable even for pregnant or breastfeeding consumers.

That last claim should be understood as the brand’s own formulation/marketing position, rather than a blanket medical guarantee; pregnancy-related cosmetic suitability can still depend on the specific product and individual circumstances.

One point that can cause confusion is Ever Bilena.

Ever Bilena Cosmetics, Inc. is a major Philippine cosmetics company founded by Dioceldo Sy in 1983. Its corporate portfolio includes brands such as Ever Bilena, Careline, Hello Glow and others.

Ellana is not the same brand as Ever Bilena, and the sources reviewed here do not establish Ellana as an Ever Bilena brand. Ellana identifies itself as operating under Ellana Cosmetics Pte. Ltd.

So they should be treated as separate Philippine beauty businesses/brand stories unless a specific corporate relationship is documented.

If you had to describe Ellana in a single sentence:

Ellana is a Filipino-founded, mineral-makeup-rooted beauty brand that evolved into a broader vegan and cruelty-free skincare-and-cosmetics company, built around sensitive-skin formulation, tropical Asian beauty needs, and more ethical approaches to beauty.

Ellana’s significance in Philippine beauty comes less from being the biggest cosmetics company and more from the problem it chose to solve.

When it emerged in 2007, mineral makeup was relatively niche and expensive in the Philippines. Ellana localized the concept around Filipino consumers instead of treating them as an afterthought. Its founders focused on the country’s climate, skin sensitivity and Asian complexion ranges, while simultaneously incorporating environmental and ethical considerations into the brand 1.

That combination helped establish Ellana as one of the recognizable names associated with local Philippine mineral and clean beauty.

In a nutshell

Ellana Mineral Cosmetics = Filipino-founded + 2007 + mineral makeup + sensitive skin + tropical climate + Asian shades + vegan + cruelty-free + skincare + sustainability.

Its evolution is essentially:

Sensitive-skin problem → mineral foundation → Filipino/tropical formulation → broader makeup range → skincare → clean/ethical beauty brand → international e-commerce.

1. Ellana Mineral Cosmetics: A Filipino Modern Solution to Local Makeup Problems | IPOPHL
2. Is Ellana Mineral Cosmetics Cruelty-Free? | PETA
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