For Aleisha Yap, Beauty Should Feel Like Freedom

The founder of Absidy believes makeup is less about perfection and more about confidence, a way for women to play with, grow into, and make their own.

In the early afternoon on a Tuesday, Aleisha Yap arrives at Uma Nota on her own, quietly settling into the day’s shoot. Throughout the session, she listens closely to each brief, moving from one setup to the next with ease. While she appeared reserved at first, her perspective became clear once the conversation turned to beauty. “As far as I am concerned, beauty is not perfection, but more so confidence, individuality, and self-expression.”

Aleisha belongs to a generation that has grown up watching beauty evolve (from rigid contour rules to 10-step skincare routines!) shift into something more personal. This has also become part of an ongoing online conversation on TikTok and slice-of-life and commentary podcasts: makeup isn’t just about covering flaws anymore; it’s a means of experimentation, creativity, and identity. As she puts it, “It’s not about continually changing the definition of beauty; it’s about understanding the emotional and social shifts in our beauty culture.”

For the 22-year-old entrepreneur, that understanding began long before she founded Absidy as a college student. Growing up, lipstick was one of the first beauty products Aleisha gravitated toward. What began as childhood curiosity gradually evolved into a deeper understanding of the industry, shaped in part by working with her parents’ beauty brand. That awareness eventually grew into Absidy.

“Being a brand builder in this space, I feel it is only fitting that you are conscious of all the pressure that beauty culture can put on individuals, particularly women,” she says. While trends will always have a place in beauty, she believes they should never leave people feeling as though they have fallen short of an ideal. She continues, “Makeup should feel like it is part of the individual, not what the individual must wear to be accepted.”

This philosophy, Absidy says, extends beyond the products themselves to the way she presents itself. Across its platforms and retail spaces, the beauty brand embraces clean, understated packaging and a visual language that feels polished without becoming distant. “We believe our products should be relevant and useful long after the initial viral moment online, and not just for that one day.”

By the end of the conversation, Aleisha affirms that she isn’t interested in telling women how beauty should look. Instead, she hopes to create space for them to define it themselves, whether that means wearing a bold lip, keeping makeup minimal, or choosing not to wear any at all. For Yap, it’s a philosophy rooted not in perfection but in freedom. Or as she says,

“Confidence is always more powerful than perfection”

For more information, visit Absidy’s official website. Follow Absidy on Instagram.

by CHRISTINA ZABAT. Photographs by BORGY ANGELES. Sitting Editors JOYCE OREÑA and DANYL GENECIRAN. Styling by NEIL DE GUZMAN. Lighting Director ROJ MAGUYON. Hair and Makeup by NIX INSTITUTE OF BEAUTY. Multimedia Artist LARA CASTAÑEDA. Produced by BELLA MARISTELA. Account Manager ALICIA ESGUERRA. Project implemented by ESAB RAYMUNDO. Shot on location at UMA NOTA MANILA.