Matter by Issy Turns a Makati Beauty Store Into an Experimental Café

Filipino beauty brand Issy has taken its retail experience outside the mall with Matter by Issy, a roughly 150-square-meter standalone space at 149 Legazpi Street in Makati.

Part beauty store, part café and part creative playground, Matter was designed as somewhere the brand could launch products, stage collaborations and experiment beyond a conventional cosmetics counter. The space uses reflective surfaces and flexible furniture that can be rearranged for different concepts and events, while shoppers can browse Issy’s makeup, fragrance and newer releases in one place. Issy’s official store directory now lists Matter separately from its mall-based Space Issy locations, confirming the Legazpi Street address as part of its current retail network.

The café side is where the concept becomes more unusual. Instead of offering only standard drinks and pastries, Matter divides its menu into classics, signatures and rotating “experiments.” Recent listings still feature creations such as Strange Pairing, a dark chocolate cookie combining strawberry jam, blue cheese and prosciutto, and Manila, Two Seasons, a layered drink inspired partly by puto bumbong flavors. Another launch item, Croissant in Suspension, turns coffee and croissant-infused milk into a drink topped with an actual piece of pastry. The experimental section is intended to change periodically, giving the space room to test new combinations rather than maintain one permanent menu.

Matter also represents a larger shift for Issy. The company already operates beauty stores and counters around Metro Manila and beyond, and previously explored drinks through Issy Cafe in Glorietta 4. Matter gives the brand a street-level destination where beauty, food, product launches and collaborations can exist under one roof. Recent October coverage continues to describe the Legazpi Village location as active, with its experimental café functioning alongside the full beauty assortment. Current published information lists operating hours of approximately 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, though visitors may want to confirm hours and menu availability before going, especially because the experimental offerings are designed to rotate.

Would you visit Matter for the makeup, the café experiments—or both?