College friends start Cebu Skin Care Swap frenzy

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Have you heard of the Cebu Skin Care Swap Facebook page?

Unlike other private groups that you may have already seen on Facebook, this one caters who women and girls who love makeup and other skincare products.

Ana Ting, one of the page administrators, said they allow their members to either trade their items or sell these to other group members at a discounted cost.

Makeups or skincare products don’t always have to be brand new.  They accommodate for swap or sale even the slightly used beauty products, she said.

“I wanted to start this with intentional consumerism in mind – buying only what you need. Since bartering has blown up in Cebu recently, I thought about skincare and makeup that a lot of people hoard and end up stashing away until they expire. I wanted to create an avenue that could help people use what they have,” said Ting, a fourth-year medical student from Barangay Capitol Site in Cebu City.

Ting, 24, said that her personal love for beauty products also pushed her to create the Facebook page on Wednesday, May 27, 2020.

One of the posts on the Cebu Skin Care Swap Facebook page

Just four days since its creation, the page now has 1,866 members.

Ting said that her friends, Deanne Geroche, Pauline Abella, and Carla Cueva, who are also medical students, help her manage the page. The three girls also share her passion for makeup and skincare products, she said.

“The rules are simple. Its a buy/sell/barter page where they post their skincare and makeup items either brand new or used to see who would be interested in them! They could buy it or barter it with anything,” said Ting.

She said that their Facebook page encourages all of its members to always be polite in their every dealings while the posting of fake items is a big no-no.   They also prohibit the posting of unrelated products or concerns on their page. And most importantly, they want all of their members to always be honest.

Ting said that she and her friends were overwhelmed with the number of posts and successful barters and sales that their members have so far accomplished.  They never even thought that they will be able to entice close to 2,000 people to join their private group in such a short period of time.

So, don’t waste time.  Start to trade or sell your unused beauty products before these reach its expiration date! / dcb