What happens when a highly anticipated launch doesn&rsquo;t go as planned? Issy&rsquo;s answer: give it away. Here&rsquo;s how the brand is transforming a production misstep into a powerful lesson on transparency, accountability, and sustainable beauty.

In the beauty industry, mistakes are often swept under the rug. A defective batch might disappear quietly into landfills, and a failed product launch might never be spoken of again. But in a world where an estimated 120 billion units of beauty packaging are produced each year &mdash; most of which end up in landfills or oceans &mdash; the question of waste isn&rsquo;t just about packaging anymore. It&rsquo;s about formulas, too. And when overproduction meets imperfection, the cost isn&rsquo;t just financial; it&rsquo;s environmental.
That&rsquo;s why Issy&rsquo;s latest move has beauty insiders talking. The local brand known for its skin-loving formulations and minimalist aesthetic is doing something virtually unheard of: giving away over 100,000 blush pans for free &mdash; all because of a production flaw.&nbsp;
<h4 data-start="778" data-end="1142">A Blush That Never Happened</h4>

Back in October 2024, Issy was gearing up for what it believed would be a game-changing launch: the Pressed Velvet Insert, a multiuse blush designed to snap into the brand&rsquo;s Customizable Eye &amp; Face Palette. Its texture was unlike anything else in the local market &mdash; a &ldquo;slurry&rdquo; formula that sits between a powder and a cream, offering a delicate, buildable flush with a soft, lumi-matte finish. With its buttery, watercolor-like payoff and skin-like glow, it promised to be the ultimate &ldquo;clean girl&rdquo; blush, versatile enough for cheeks, lips, and even eyes.
But something went wrong.
&ldquo;When the products were finally delivered to the Philippines, we discovered a major problem: the formula separated from the pan and arrived broken,&rdquo; says Joel Martin Andrade, Issy&rsquo;s co-founder and creative director. &ldquo;Despite extensive testing &mdash; drop tests, shake tests, multiple reformulations &mdash; the issue only appeared over time, not immediately after pressing.&rdquo;
It turns out the very thing that made the Pressed Velvet Insert so special &mdash; its soft, emollient-rich texture &mdash; also made it fragile. During shipping, the formula shrank and dislodged from its pan. Issy was faced with two difficult choices: launch the product and risk disappointing customers, or shelve the launch entirely.
They chose the latter.
&ldquo;It felt wrong to release a product that we know will be destroyed in due time,&rdquo; Joel admits. &ldquo;But then another problem arose. Do we throw away a hundred thousand pieces of product just because we can&rsquo;t sell it?&rdquo;
<h4 data-start="2748" data-end="2778">From Mistake to Movement</h4>
Instead of turning those blushes into trash, Issy decided to turn them into a teaching moment. The brand is giving away the Pressed Velvet Inserts for free. A&nbsp;bold move that redefines what accountability looks like in beauty.
Here&rsquo;s how it works: from October 15, 2025, until supplies last, customers who make any in-store purchase at participating Issy stores will receive a curated Pressed Velvet Quad Mini Palette (with four shades, pre-packed and distributed at random). Because the formula can arrive loose or cracked, Issy is educating users on how to depot and repurpose the product, turning what might look like a &ldquo;defective&rdquo; pan into a fully functional blush, eyeshadow, or lip product.
<h4 data-start="3717" data-end="3747">The Formula Still Shines</h4>
Despite the packaging hiccup, the Pressed Velvet Insert remains one of Issy&rsquo;s most innovative formulas to date. Available in 12 shades across three color stories, like Tantrum (warm), Na&iuml;vet&eacute; (neutral), and Heartache (cool), the collection offers a spectrum of wearable tones, from Pollen, a mellow apricot, to Risque, a daring orchid.

Its emollient-encapsulated powder base gives the blush its signature texture: soft, airy, and impossible to overdo. The formula melts into skin for a blurred, watercolor effect that&rsquo;s as foolproof as it is beautiful. It&rsquo;s also multipurpose, doubling as a subtle wash of color on the eyes and lips.
&ldquo;It applies like a cream but has the blur and softness of a powder,&rdquo; Joel explains. &ldquo;Even if you build it up, it never gets too much. It&rsquo;s the ultimate beginner-friendly blush.&rdquo;

<h4 data-start="4588" data-end="4620">A New Kind of Transparency</h4>
For Issy, this initiative isn&rsquo;t just about salvaging product but about reshaping the conversation around beauty development. The brand is pulling back the curtain on what really happens when product testing goes wrong, showing that even with the best intentions, complications can arise. And more importantly, that honesty and creativity can turn those complications into opportunities.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s rare for a brand to admit when something goes wrong, but we felt we had to,&rdquo; Joel says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re taking accountability. This is a way of saying, &lsquo;We made a mistake, but we&rsquo;re not going to waste it.&rsquo;&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s a refreshing move in an industry that often prioritizes perfection over transparency, and one that underscores Issy&rsquo;s mission to disrupt the local beauty landscape. By giving fans a chance to experience &ldquo;the blush that never happened,&rdquo; the brand proves that innovation isn&rsquo;t just about new launches; it&rsquo;s about reimagining what&rsquo;s possible when things don&rsquo;t go according to plan.
And perhaps that&rsquo;s the real beauty lesson here: sustainability isn&rsquo;t just about recyclable packaging or refillable compacts. It&rsquo;s also about owning up to mistakes, learning from them, and finding creative ways to keep beauty out of the bin.

How Issy Turned a Product Mistake Into a Movement

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