MEGA Beauty Awards 2025: The Council, Choices, and Curation

At MEGA, beauty is meant to be fun, ruleless, and entirely yours. Trends? We flirt, we experiment, but we never simply acquiesce—because with authority comes great responsibility. You can’t recommend on a whim or a fleeting fancy.

So, for this year’s Beauty Awards, Beauty Director Agoo Azcuna-Bengzon and Beauty and Wellness Writer Mara Go take us behind the velvetVelvetA soft, luxurious woven fabric with a dense, short pile that gives it a rich texture and deep sheen. Historically associated with royalty and wealth, velvet is used in eveningwear,Go to Velvet Glossary rope, revealing how this year’s products made the cut and how the inaugural Beauty Council was formed.

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What sets this year’s Beauty Awards apart is the presence of a Beauty Council—a savvy circle of women fluent in every corner of the beauty world tasked with judging and selecting products, treatments, tools, and services worthy of the coveted MEGA Beauty Awards seal. 

This year’s council (the first-ever) reads like a who’s who of expertise: beauty content creators Lierge Perey, Belle Rodolfo, and Marj Maroket, Singaporean fashion insider and entrepreneur Savina Chow, makeup artist Thazzia Falek, founder of The Beauty Edit Nicole Morales, and board-certified dermatologist Anna Palabyab-Rufino.

How did you choose the Beauty Council guest judges, and why was their expertise essential?

Agoo: For the judges, Mara and I gravitated towards top-of-mind persons in the industry who are trustworthy, knowledgeable, and passionate about all things related to beauty.

Mara: We have also always honored how the beauty landscape is ever-evolving, and with this are strong voices that have helped improve the beauty narratives of the day. It’s a criterion we followed: to select experts who are also gamechangers and community leaders.

And now, the stars of the show: the actual winners. Every year, announcing the Beauty Awards feels like a delicate cocktail of nerves and exhilaration—for us, and for all beauty enthusiasts. After all, what do the authorities have to recommend? And, in the spirit of transparency and integrity, how did these winners actually make the cut?

What was the process and criteria for choosing this year’s Beauty Awards winners?

Agoo: The process begins with nominations from brands and advertisers. From there, the MEGA Beauty Committee evaluates the nominations based on the criteria for the awards. Guest judges also submitted their list of nominations and winners. 

Then, a shortlist of winners is created for further review by the MEGA Beauty Committee. We select winners based on these categories:

1. EFFICACY. Does the product deliver what it promises?
2. OVERALL VALUE. Is it worth the price or a second purchase? Is it something that you would recommend to a friend?
3. TOP-SHELF FACTOR: With the number of products on the beauty aisle, how does a product standout? Is it the packaging? The scent? The overall allure? This criteria is dedicated to products that you just can’t resist.

Mara: Admittedly, deciding on the winners—even shortlisting the nominations—is a challenge. There were a lot of remarkable launches this year that have made a good impression. But deciding on a winning product or service goes beyond a good impression.

Every year, we keep an eye on innovations that have made a lasting impact on a beauty enthusiast’s routine: something that gives them the excitement of seeing it in a beauty aisle, something that gives them that giddy feeling of incorporating it in their ritual… Simply put, products and services that have made a positive impact on how beauty enthusiasts see or feel about themselves are at the top of our minds.

This year, we prioritized nominations that were launched from October 2024 to June 2025.

Ready to meet your next holy grail? Discover the full list of MEGA Beauty Awards 2025 winners here.

Curated by AGOO AZCUNA-BENGZON and MARA GO, Special Selections by DR. ANA PALABYAB-RUFINO, SAVINA CHOW, MARJ MAROKET, THAZZIA FALEK, LIERGE PEREY, BELLE RODOLFO, and NICOLE MORALES, Photographed by PAOLO PINEDA, Creative Direction by PATRICK TY, Art Direction by CLARE MAGNO, Produced by THESSMAR LECTURA, Makeup by KENRIC CARPIO of PAINTED BY KENRIC, Hair by GAB VILLEGAS, Styling by JASON MAGO