The company describes Kemans as an “expertly formulated skin care and personal care solutions brand” focused on delivering real results.[1]

Founding

Kemans emerged from the vision of Vina Yapjuangco, a pharmacist and beauty-and-wellness enthusiast. While the company states that Kemans was established in 2020, contemporary media coverage reports the brand’s public launch in 2021. This distinction reflects the difference between the business’s incorporation and its market entry.[1]

Vina and her husband, Eric Yapjuangco, sought to develop health and beauty products that combined quality, effectiveness, safety, and affordability for consumers. Vina’s pharmaceutical background became integral to the brand’s product-development positioning.[3]

Early product range

Kemans initially concentrated on facial serums designed to address prevalent skincare issues, including dark or uneven skin tone, blemishes, acne scars, and dull or dry skin. The brand subsequently expanded into hand sanitizers and hand-care products, responding partly to heightened hygiene concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

Expansion

By 2022–2024, Kemans had broadened its portfolio beyond facial serums to include sunscreen, body products, beauty bars, underarm products, and various skincare sets. The company also expanded its physical and regional footprint, pushing into the Visayas and Mindanao markets.

The brand has participated in major industry events. At BeautyCon 2024, for example, Kemans promoted skin analysis services and showcased its products alongside Miss Universe Philippines 2023 Michelle Dee.[5]

Vina Yapjuangco

Vina Yapjuangco, RPh is the founder of Kemans. Her pharmacy background is central to the brand’s identity, as she has described being personally involved in product research and development. Rather than positioning Kemans solely as a cosmetic or fashion label, Yapjuangco emphasizes formulation, ingredients, product safety, and consumer-specific skincare needs.[3] She has also been associated with The Icon Skin Clinic, where she served as COO, while her husband, Dr. Eric Yapjuangco, is the clinic’s physician.[4]

Dr. Eric “Yappy” Yapjuangco

Dr. Eric Yapjuangco is Vina’s husband and a key figure associated with Kemans. Contemporary coverage identifies him as a board-certified plastic surgeon and notes that the couple are the figures behind The Icon Clinic. Their combined medical and pharmaceutical backgrounds have helped Kemans cultivate an image centered on science-informed skincare and professional formulation rather than purely trend-driven cosmetics.

A central tenet of Kemans is that beauty and wellness constitute a lifestyle rather than an occasional activity. Using the concept “Your Way to Better Skin,” the brand positions itself as a long-term partner in consumers’ skincare and personal-care routines.[4] Its positioning is broadly summarized through four pillars:

1. Real results — products address identifiable skincare and personal-care concerns.
2. Accessibility — premium-style formulations remain affordable to Filipino consumers.
3. Filipino relevance — products are developed with Filipino consumers and their environment in mind.
4. Quality and formulation — ingredients and product development serve as key differentiators.

Kemans has specifically cited factors such as the Philippine tropical climate, common local skincare concerns, affordability, and consumer preferences when describing its product strategy.

Kemans has evolved from a serum-focused brand into a broader beauty and personal-care company.

Facial serums

Serums remain one of the brand’s best-known categories. The range has included formulations such as:

• Vitamin C Brightening & Regenerating Facial Serum
• Ultimate White Radiance Serum
• Retinol Skin Renew Serum
• Other targeted brightening, rejuvenating, and skincare formulations

The Vitamin C serum, for instance, is marketed around Vitamin C and botanical extracts. Watsons describes this specific product as hypoallergenic, dermatologically tested, paraben-free, fragrance-free, and FDA-approved.[6]

Sunscreen

Kemans expanded into sun protection with its Daily UV ProTech line, which includes face and body sunscreen as well as tinted facial sunscreen. These products are marketed with SPF 50 PA+++, UVA/UVB protection, lightweight textures, and protection-oriented features. The brand has also promoted the tinted version as a makeup-base option.[5]

Brightening and body care

Brightening and body care constitute another significant portion of the portfolio, with products targeting uneven pigmentation, underarm appearance, body moisturization, skin radiance, and general skin maintenance. This category includes Ultimate White products and various beauty sets.

Beauty bars

Kemans sells cleansing and beauty bars, including the Ultimate White Radiance Beauty Bar and MaxWhite Beauty Bar. These items reflect the brand’s move toward affordable, everyday personal-care products rather than an exclusive focus on higher-priced facial treatments.

Hand and personal care

During its early development, Kemans introduced its Protect line, comprising hand sanitizers and hand cream gels designed to combine personal hygiene with skin comfort and moisturizing.[4]

Formulation and ingredient selection are central to Kemans’ marketing identity. The company states that ingredients are carefully selected and that products are manufactured in world-class, state-of-the-art facilities. It further describes its products as expertly formulated and compliant with applicable FDA requirements.[1]

Individual products may carry additional claims depending on their specific formulation. For example, Watsons lists the Vitamin C serum as hypoallergenic, dermatologically tested, paraben-free, fragrance-free, FDA-approved, and Halal-certified.[6] These are product-specific claims; formulations and regulatory status vary across the catalog.

Kemans primarily targets consumers seeking affordable alternatives to established premium and imported skincare brands. According to the founders, target consumers tend to be digitally savvy, interested in skincare ingredients and formulation, open to emerging local brands, price-conscious yet quality-conscious, interested in visible benefits, and looking for products suitable for everyday use. The company has particularly emphasized Filipino consumers’ concerns regarding oiliness, dryness, dullness, uneven skin tone, blemishes, and acne scars.[3]

A primary differentiator for Kemans is its “proudly Filipino-made” identity. The company explicitly presents its products as being developed and produced in the Philippines while aiming for world-class quality. This allows Kemans to occupy a position between inexpensive mass-market personal care and higher-priced imported skincare.[1] This local positioning supports the brand’s ambition to become a familiar Filipino beauty and wellness staple rather than simply another imported-looking label.

Kemans employs a predominantly omnichannel and e-commerce-oriented distribution model. Products are sold through:

• Watsons
• Shopee
• Lazada
• TikTok Shop
• Kemans’ official online stores
• Distributors

The brand’s current Shopee storefront lists products ranging from facial serums and sunscreen to beauty bars and underarm-care products, illustrating the breadth of its present portfolio. Watsons has also carried Kemans products, including the Vitamin C serum and sunscreen items.[6]

Affordability is a core component of Kemans’ positioning. Upon introduction, founders cited facial serums in the approximate ₱600–₱800 range, alongside lower-priced hand-care products.[3] Current marketplace pricing varies substantially due to promotions, bundles, retailer discounts, and product size. For example, the official Shopee storefront currently lists individual products and sets ranging from roughly ₱120 to ₱950+, depending on the item and bundle. This strategy enables Kemans to compete for consumers who might otherwise choose either inexpensive local skincare or significantly more expensive imported brands.

Kemans’ marketing combines medical and professional credibility, Filipino identity, affordability, and lifestyle-oriented beauty. Rather than presenting skincare solely as glamour or cosmetics, the brand frequently connects it with wellness, self-care, confidence, and everyday life. Participation in events such as BeautyCon and collaborations with personalities like Michelle Dee have helped move the brand beyond a purely clinical image toward mainstream beauty culture.[5]

Kemans promotes distributorship and business opportunities. During its regional expansion, the company described its distribution model as a way for Filipinos to generate additional income or start entrepreneurial ventures. Consequently, the company functions not only as a product manufacturer but also as a consumer beauty brand with an entrepreneurial and distribution component.

Within the Philippine beauty market, Kemans occupies a distinctive middle ground: local beauty brand, affordable skincare, formulation-focused, professional/medical association, and mass-market accessibility. Its competitive advantages include its Filipino origin, the pharmacy and medical background of its founders, affordable pricing, broad skincare portfolio, e-commerce presence, focus on common Filipino skincare concerns, and combination of skincare and personal-care products. Simultaneously, Kemans competes in a crowded market where local brands, Korean and Japanese skincare, Western brands, dermatological labels, and social-media-native startups all vie for consumer attention.

The company behind Kemans is 8 Sonaka Incorporated. The company’s profile describes Kemans as its skincare and personal-care brand and identifies Vina Yapjuangco as the founder.[1] Regulatory evidence also connects 8Sonaka Incorporated with Kemans products; for example, a Philippine FDA cosmetic notification identifies 8Sonaka Incorporated as the company associated with a KEMANS Fresh Citrus Blend Hand Sanitizer.

Kemans is a Filipino-founded, Filipino-made beauty and personal-care brand that seeks to combine professional formulation, accessible pricing, and products designed for everyday Filipino skincare concerns. Its history is closely tied to founders Vina and Eric Yapjuangco, whose pharmacy and medical backgrounds shaped the brand’s science- and safety-oriented positioning. Starting with targeted facial serums, Kemans has developed into a broader beauty ecosystem encompassing facial skincare, sun protection, brightening products, body care, underarm care, cleansing bars, hand care, and bundled beauty solutions.[3]

The brand proposition is effectively “professional-looking, results-oriented skincare that remains accessible to Filipino consumers.” Its differentiation lies not necessarily in a single revolutionary ingredient, but in the combination of local manufacturing, pharmacist and medical-founder credibility, affordability, Filipino-market relevance, and increasingly broad distribution.

1. About – 8 Sonaka Incorporated
2. 网上网赌不给出款怎么办
3. Manila Bulletin – Meet Vina Yapjuangco’s brainchild: Kemans
4. Commit to your skin with Kemans, Vina Yapjuangco’s new local beauty brand
5. Kemans, Michelle Dee turn heads at BeautyCon2024
6. KEMANS, Vitamin C Brightening & Regenerating Facial Serum 30ml | Watsons Philippines