From Las Piñas to LA, An F-beauty success story

Heart Evangelista travels all over the world’s fashion and beauty capitals as a top influencer, but when it comes to her lashes, she flies in her lash tech from the Philippines.

This beauty emergency happened in 2019. New Lounge, only two years in the business as a lash extension and nail salon in Talon Uno, Las Piñas, was booked by Evangelista for a touchup before an important engagement in China. Evangelista, who at the time was only a home service customer, knew it had to be New Lounge or nothing.

Filipino beauty has been making great waves in cosmetics and skincare. In the competitive lash and nail salon industry, what’s the Filipino edge?

Fresh off the successful New Lounge opening in Beverly Hills, New Lounge CEO and founder Rachelle Bravo says, “It’s our hospitality. Our pride is our talent and our tender love and care.”

This TLC translates to an attention to detail. Besides the usual Classic, Doll-eye and Cat-eye styles, New Lounge is known for expanding their offerings to custom lash designs like Evangelista’s Icon based on the needs and preferences of their “Lash Dolls” which include entrepreneur Rissa Trillo, Manny Pacquiao’s wife Jinkee, and beauty queens like model and Miss Universe Philippines-Taguig 2024 Christi McGarry. Their marketing is predominantly organic. When you look your best, you just can’t help but post a selfie.

Located in The Rodeo Collection, a luxury shopping mall that houses brands like Givenchy and Bulgari and some of the country’s top surgeons, dermatologists and spas, New Lounge is already drawing in clientele like Adrianna Lima, Bella Poarch and the reality stars of Selling Sunset. Here, they offer the bolder LA Exclusive style as well as expanding to waxing, dry foot spas, and express mani-pedis as the complement to their meticulous three-hour freehand nail art. They offer these services in their Philippines lounges with the same standards; prices, of course, are adjusted for the US market.

2019 was a pivotal year for Bravo. Only two years ago, she was a banker who couldn’t find a lash salon to lift and perk up her downward lashes. When she and her husband opened New Lounge in 2017 as a “minimalist Beverly Hills-inspired” salon, lash salons were set up with beds side by side like assembly lines, and they set themselves apart with Japanese technology and a lounge-like, relaxing environment and technicians who underwent not only technical but also personality development classes, befitting its premium prices. Seven branches later, her next move came to her in a vision.

“I was awake when I saw myself in a coffee shop with a black and white stool and a white marble table. Beside me is a pedestrian lane and (model) Jessica Yang was walking towards me. I realized we were shooting a campaign,” Bravo recalls.

Next in her vision she saw The Rodeo Collection. It was daunting at the time, but that was when it became clear that her next expansion is in Beverly Hills. At the time, she didn’t have access to the US market. Signing Evangelista as their endorser that year gained the brand traction. After the pandemic in 2021, Bravo started pursuing the expansion and got the company visa only last year. When she finally went to Beverly Hills, she saw the coffee shop in her vision.

Even then, she was skeptical. She avoided searching for a space in Rodeo Drive. “I wanted to start conservatively,” she explains. She and her husband would search for a year and after narrowing down to three spaces, “mawawala.” Just when they were close to giving up, they got an email offering a space – The Rodeo Collection. She couldn’t believe it. It was located in the heart of Beverly Hills. Positioning themselves as a one-stop-shop luxury destination from the Philippines has definitely helped; they’re the only place offering lashes on top of other services in the complex.

Then there was the challenge of securing visas for the Filipino technicians. She recalls that even US immigration found it odd for a Filipino to invest in the US; that normally it was the other way around. But Bravo was determined. “I want to open the opportunity for them. We have technicians who started na walang kuryente ang bahay nila. When they joined us, their first goal is magpakabit ng kuryente,” she shares. On the day of the after-party, they got the Visa approval for their first local technician who will be sent to the Beverly Hills flagship. “Yun talaga ang goal. We want to bring in Filipino co-workers from our team, our homegrown talents.” Right now their first roster is made up of LA locals, including a Japanese technician, trained in New Lounge’s Filipino-style hospitality and meticulousness.

New Lounge has also been making beauty news with their men’s lashes, spotted on model Cole Micek and Garage magazine editor-in-chief Jerico Villamonte. Characterized by its natural flutter while still looking masculine, Bravo says this is just one signature of the New Lounge brand. “We don’t go with the trend. We are attentive to the customers so we create designs and services depending on what they need.”

Micek wears their freehand nail art, too; it’s one their most popular services in their Beverly Hills salon, aside from their LA Exclusive lashes.

The event also unveils their new logo, with a J curl lash at its center, as well as a new lash curl option specially catered to Asian lashes: the V Curl.

During the after-party, Evangelista congratulated Bravo: “This is not just your dream, but also mine,” she says before a toast.

Bravo responds, “This is a milestone not only for New Lounge, but also for the Filipino beauty and wellness industry in making an impact in the global scene. We’re beyond proud to showcase the Filipino talent to the world.”

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In the US, New Lounge is in The Rodeo Collection, 421 N Rodeo Drive Suite G-1, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, United States. Contact +1 310 994 7668 for appointments.

In the Philippines, New Lounge has three Prestige Lounges, 13 Regular Lounges all over the Philippines, and a mobile home service in Pampanga, Cagayan, Cebu, and Bicol. Contact (0905) 338 8941 for booking inquiries.