The truth about whitening creams

My manikurista Paloma swears to skin whitening products – soaps, lotions, exfoliating creams and anything that her pocket can afford. If there is a new product in the market that she wants to try, she’d mercilessly punish her nail cutter and nipper to work overtime. Paloma madly desires to have white skin. She is a strong, feisty woman in her late 40s. She has beautiful brown skin that shimmers with the coconut oil that she religiously applies. Highly-opinionated, she would debate and sometimes lash out at her customers her opinions on issues she strongly believes. When Erap was booted out of Malacañang, she could have gone to the streets but even without participating in pro-Erap rallies her voice was heard, at least among her customers. She gives you blunt, straight forward answers on any questions you ask her. She always has something to say and without trying, she is hilarious! She even lashes at herself.

Paloma is the typical Filipina woman – strong, independent, industrious, driven, opinionated, and conscious of her beauty. Barring financial status, it is true that Filipino women have the highest self-esteem among their Asian counterparts.

In a study made by Dove called The Real Truth About Asian Beauty: Asian Women’s Attitudes Toward Self-Esteem, Body Image and Media Portrayal, it reveals that Filipinas exhibit a stronger sense of happiness and satisfaction with their bodies and lives. And at the same time, family and religion have higher importance in their lives as compared to other Asian women.

But what makes Paloma feel beautiful? Still according to the study, religion and spirituality were the top drivers of beauty in the Philippines. It is highly debatable but it is also comprehensible. Having come from the clutches of Spanish domination when spirituality was highly ingrained in our lives, and being good means being beautiful, there is no doubt that when you feel strong, high and clean spiritually, you are also beautiful. How many mothers would name their daughters after saints? Theresa, Marta, Anna, Bernadette, Clara, Maria – the list is long. And what mother would not say to her young daughter "Kamukha ka ng angel?" because indeed, "ang mabuting tao ay magandang tao."

Once I was talking to smart and stylish Cosmo editor Ianne Evangelista, she said that the idea of beauty is evolving. Magazines according to her would prefer on the cover Eva Mendez over Nicole Kidman. It is a case of classic face versus a sexy face. She said this is because many women can relate more to Eva than to Nicole who is perhaps just too perfect.

But did you know that youth and sex appeal only come second to feeling beautiful as when you have humor? Paloma and her tribe should really rejoice. Filipino women, even at the lowest ebb of their lives, always feel beautiful. The Dove study says it all – "Half of the women from the Philippines said they felt beautiful that same day."

But does a man’s opinion count in the way women feel about themselves? In my interviews of different women in my show Private Conversations with Boy Abunda, most of them say, they beautify themselves not because of their husbands or boyfriends but because they want to. That men, too, are not of utmost importance in finding one’s happiness. But I’m not sure if this is representative of the Filipino woman.

Yes, it’s true that youth counts a lot to looking beautiful. It can be affirmed by the surge of beauty and surgical enhancements and procedures women go through to maintain a youthful looking face. From among the 2,000 Asian women surveyed in the Dove study, Korea ranked the highest at 53 percent when asked if they will go under the knife if they are not happy with their bodies with Taiwan coming in second at 40 percent and Japan at 39 percent. Only 20 percent of Filipino women would consider cosmetic surgery even if it were free and of the few who were interested in cosmetic surgery, it would only be mainly on skin whitening and wrinkle treatments.

Media has something to do with Paloma’s fascination on skin whitening products. "Gusto ko ring pumuti," she says like the stars she sees on TV. She has tried papaya soap, papaya lotion and some exfoliating creams. She uses an umbrella hoping that the sun would not burn her newly-exfoliated skin. Paloma has brown skin and I would often tell her, "Maganda ka." "Hindi. Mas maganda ako pag pumuti ako," she’d murmur, then she would proceed to ferociously attack my nasty in-growns.

Fashion Velocity

The finance class of the International Academy of Management and Economics (an extension of the Warnborough University of England) where Melanie Marquez attends, has just staged a fashion show billed, Fashion Velocity. It was a class project in Project Management and Operations Management Finance and Marketing. The show was held at the Rockwell Tent, Powerplant Mall, Rockwell Center in Makati.

Manila’s top fashion designers like Eddie Baddeo, Barge Ramos, Toni Galang, JunJun Cambe, Joji Aguilar, Frederick Peralta and Reneé Salud showed their creations modeled by top runway models and beauty queens with the special participation of Melanie Marquez. Joey Marquez, co-sponsor of the affair, displayed his collection of Harley Davidson motorcycles.

Proceeds from the event were intended for the various medical missions of the Mabuhay Deseret Foundation and the community projects of International Academy of Management and Economics.