What Cindy came home for

MANILA, Philippines — Cindy Kurleto is back in the limelight. This time around, she takes on the role of a Myra woman, not some female character in a romantic-comedy or fantasy-comedy-horror film.

“Absolutely,” said the then model-actress-VJ when asked if she missed the show business. “(You know) creating something with the other creative people, sitting together, working together, with all different kind of talents, with different kind of people from different walks (of life) creating one product,” she added. “That accomplishment, you know, (is what) I miss the most.” The creative process that TV and movie acting entails seems to have made a lasting impression on her.

The Cindy Kurleto that The STAR met recently for a one-on-one is the new version of herself, let’s say, 12 years ago. Her captivating personality remains but her sense of maturity (substance) shines through.

“I’m a mother of two, I’m a very happy mother of two,” said she who has a British partner named Daniel. They have two daughters Noa and Lima as their source of happiness. “I found that as a mother you are the glue of your family. I also found that it is a very taxing job. We, as women, often forget to look after ourselves because we are so busy looking after other people in our family.”

This selflessness is a universal quality among women, Cindy implied, that it’s their nature to put “the kids first, the man first and I realized after a while (but) it depleted me and that I needed to look after myself first. Self-love is so important if you wanna be able to love other people... You can’t care for everyone if you can’t care for yourself.”

In this endeavor, Cindy finds an ally in Myra Ultimate, a vitamin-based skin supplement with rich anti-oxidants which help reduce fine lines and lighten dark spots. The brand complements Cindy’s mantra of self-love and self-care.

Shifting from being a celebrity to a mother requires a change of lifestyle and mindset. Cindy handled the transition well.

...with (from left) Dr. Winlove Mojica, Myra senior product manager Ritz Tan and product associate Alyanna Chuatoco.

“I think being a mother is a full-time job. It doesn’t come hard if you have your priorities right,” she shared. “The changing of priorities at the start, that’s the difficult part… You’re gonna change your lifestyle. Your life is going to be different once you give birth. That’s just the given fact. But how you deal with it is from-person-to-person different.”

According to her, Cindy left the local tinseltown out of love. Her partner, whom she met in Manila and who appreciates Filipino food (like sinigang and adobo) and her cooking, was offered a position in another country. Since the couple had “a great sense of adventure,” she went with him, saying, “So I left talaga with no regrets because I like new experiences. The changing of mindsets didn’t come forcefully. I really wanted to experience other things in life, and not just what I had experienced up to that point. So, I believe if you love your children and if you love your life, it will be easy for you to change your priorities.” That’s what Cindy did.

Leaving the klieg lights and living a private life have allowed Cindy to grow as a person as well, as she experiences and embraces motherhood. “For any woman,” she said, “It’s a transition time. I think I was very lucky to be pregnant away from the limelight and give my children the quiet and peace that they deserve in their life ‘coz they didn’t choose the limelight. I think that was all very good. The experiences I gathered after (living) in a different country, (they) didn’t know my name, humbled me a lot.”

So life has given Cindy the opportunity to live in Europe (Austria), Asia (Philippines) and Peru (South America). “I have a feeling I had different lives already,” she said, “at the same time, you leave friends behind. It’s a sad part. But again with social media nowadays, it’s so much easy to stay in contact with everyone.” Although Cindy was in town for her Myra endorsement, she is now based in Vienna.

As for beauty talks, one may think of Cindy as an example to how women should age gracefully. (Taking Myra Ultimate is a step to look beautiful.) This begins, as she shared, “with confidence in yourself,” and by empowering “yourself that you know what’s in your arsenal.” Cindy also acknowledged the fact that “what we put into our bodies will really make a big difference. I believe very strongly in nutrition and in eating right,” and added that one should be physically active and have a healthy mind.

(Myra Ultimate is available for P20 per capsule in all leading drugstores nationwide. For details, visit https://www.myra.com.ph/product/myra-ultimate/.)