Philippine delegation wins awards at hair & make-up tilt in Taipei

MANILA, Philippines – The Asia Pacific Hairdressers and Cosmetologists Association (APHCA) was organized by Ricky Reyes in 1991 to unite beauty practitioners in the Asia-Pacific region. Its member countries include Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.

The Philippines will host next year’s hair and make-up competition, which was first held in 1997, and Ricky is preparing for the event as early as now. He’ll make sure no stone is left unturned to make it a big, grand and successful affair.

We joined his delegation of participants at the 19th Hair and Make-up Olympics held in Taipei, Taiwan from Nov. 9 to 11. It was indeed a happy occasion with more than 2,000 people from various countries attending the affair held at Chuto Plaza Hotel in Taoyuan.

As president of APHCA, Ricky delivered the opening remarks during the welcome dinner. He was treated like a superstar among cosmetologists and hairdressers from other countries, who were lining up to have a photo-op with him. The leaders of other countries are Airene Wong of Malaysia, Theresa Tam of Thailand, Koji Yokoyama of Japan and Johnny Tai of the host country, Taiwan.

Ricky said in his speech: “I’m so happy that... we’re all together, the representatives from 15 countries, bonding under one roof as good friends. As the chairman of APHCA, I will continue to promote the salon industry in our region to be globally competitive. I extend my greetings to all the delegates as we venture into another milestone in the beauty industry.”

The Philippines sent five beauty experts as members of the board of jurors: Nestor “Ness” Astilla (his shops are in Shaw Blvd. and Libertad St. Mandaluyong, also in Del Monte Ave.), Ma. Antonette Zabarte-Moreno, Antonio Edgar Caballas (who works at Ricky’s shop in SM Megamall), Atlas Leonen (whose shop is in Pasig), Dina Marie Reyes (who owns the Reyes Haircutters chain with 120 plus branches all over the country).

The country won four awards in the contest. Federico Stefanie Ilagan won the grand prize in the Evening Party Makeup Category, with Ameerah Aburayan as his model who he personally brought to Taipei from Manila. In the Men’s Haircut and Ladies Haircut and Blowdry, Vicente Hisola won second runner-up in both categories.

In the Bridal Make-up category, Raquel Pangilagan (who came at the last minute because her visa for Taiwan was not yet approved two hours before our flight but was finally given a go-signal through the intercession of Jullie Yap Daza). Other Filipino hairdressers in the delegation were Aerie Angeles, Giovanni Luague, Roland Esperanzate, Ruby Ann Valderrama and Paula Aquino.

The winners in the other categories were Thailand for men’s cut, Japan for ladies’ cut and creative color styling, Macau for fantasy make-up and Hong Kong for bridal make-up. Some countries didn’t win anything but you can feel the good vibes and warm camaraderie as the event ended with all the country leaders singing Auld Lang Syne on stage. And so, on to the 20th APHCA Hair and Makeup Competition to be held in Manila in October next year.