Avon celebrates four women's shining moments
A lipstick that gives your lips a dazzling shimmer and makes you feel like a golden goddess is great reason for celebration.
Global beauty company Avon offers an all-new lipstick collection that gives lips dazzling shimmer for special occasions or everyday glam — Ultra Moisture Rich 24K Lipstick, the only lipstick infused with real 24K gold.
Avon marks the Ultra Moisture Rich 24K Gold Lipstick launch by giving recognition to four Filipino women whose golden shine is not only on their lips but also in the way they live their lives as advocates, entrepreneurs, champions, mentors, and role models.
Each Day is a Golden Gift
Ten years ago, Crisann Celdran at 26 was diagnosed with cancer. Compelled to connect with a cancer survivor to help her on her own journey, Crisann met with Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala. Together with two other survivor friends, Kara and Crisann formed the I CanServe Foundation.
“We knew very little and had different experiences but shared one dream: That cancer survivors should not go through this path alone,” said Crisann.
Today, the ICanServe Foundation (www.icanserve.net) is an advocacy group run by survivors. They empower women with information through high-impact campaigns so that they can have a voice in their own health care.
“Trusting that I could conquer life’s obstacles, no matter how my story would end, helped me rise above the disappointments,” she added.
Keeping the faith, learning to find strength in others, and believing in the strength of her own spirit helped Crisann in her battle against the big C.
“The support I got from family, friends, and fellow survivors carried me through my fair share of letdowns and tears,” she said. “I vowed I would do the same for others. It was frightening at first — and sometimes it still is — to have to face the possibility of your own death. But it is also enlightening to be able to see each day as a gift.”
That was a defining moment for Crisann. Instead of “battling” the cancer, she chose to embrace it. “There was a bigger purpose. My experience sends out the message that there is hope, that no one is alone,” she said. “As difficult as it is to perceive now, a lot of good comes out of all this.”
Crisann is a living proof that there’s indeed life after cancer. She is a doting mother to three-year-old twin boys. She just ran a 10-kilometer race, too. “I am living testament that miracles happen to anyone who trusts enough.”
The color gold for Crisann is wealth but not the material kind. “Wealth has long since taken on a whole new meaning,” she noted. “The people and things that really matter hold their weight in gold.”
Creativity Equals Golden Opportunity
Before Amina Aranaz-Alunan became co-founder of School of Fashion and the Arts (SoFA), she was a child who looked up to her mom, who owns a manufacturing company that exports bags. The factory served as her playground and the interaction with sewers and clients was one aspect of the business Amina loved the most.
Her self-discipline and tenacity as a ballet dancer for 12 years up until college are mirrored in the nine years — from the time she was a student up until she was a magazine fashion-assistant — that she had been designing and selling bags in bazaars at hotels and sports clubs. The 2004 bazaar at Citigolf Plaza opened doors for her as she was invited by one of the country’s major retailers to be one of its in-house brands. A bazaar in Rockwell also led to the opening of her own store at the main mall. Today, Amina has stores in two of Manila’s high-end shopping meccas.
This mother of two is a natural mentor. As a fashion student in Milan, Amina and her flatmate/classmate realized there was a lack of fashion schools in Manila. And so they eventually co-founded SoFA.
She counts holding the very first student orientation back in 2007 as a personal milestone. SoFA today offers associate degrees, certificate programs, and diploma courses to over a hundred students. The sight of them sharing their ideas makes her proud. She even brings her students to HK Fashion Week as an extension of her own traveling for seminars and ideas.
“Inspiration is everywhere: Divisoria, movies, museums, my mom’s factory archives,” Amina said.
Focused at present on learning the fashion industry’s retail side, she always tells her students that creativity and business go hand in hand.
“With focus, self-discipline, skills development, and prayer, you can turn your passion into your career,” she said. “Being an entrepreneur is a 24-hour job; it is intertwined with everyday living.”
Amina has a personal fondness for the color gold. For her, gold is glitz and glamour and reminds her of the cheery constancy of the sun. No wonder the sparkly yellow-gold studs adorn Aranaz bags!
A Golden Career Out of What She Loves Best
Anne Bella’s love affair with fashion began with her first Barbie doll. “I spent hours dressing her up for scenarios I imagined,” she said. “I was a kikay kid myself. Birthday parties and trips were chances to show off clothes and as I got older, I experimented on different looks.”
She didn’t know she would work in fashion until she explored options offered by the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. “Their short course in fashion styling and illustration made me realize I could make a career out of what I loved best: making people beautiful through clothes,” she said.
Back in Manila, working for Summit Publishing proved to be professionally pivotal. “Being around creative people honed my craft and developed my skills, confidence, and personal style,” Anne enthused.
Anne also cited giving talks to midwives about fashion as one fulfilling project. “Seeing their excited faces as they listened intently made me realize that making people feel better about themselves made my job worthwhile,” she added.
Bella improves her craft by constantly monitoring online sites on the latest fashions. “I also regularly check other people’s blogs to see what they are wearing,” she shared. “I find personal style the most inspiring, and am always in awe of people who get it spot on.”
Anne shares this advice with those interested in her field: “Be resilient and don’t be too picky because projects don’t come easily when you’re new. Invest in doing editorial work because you’ll need those tear sheets for your portfolio. Always be professional, be on time, return items in good condition and have a good relationship with shop owners and designers. It will make your job a lot easier. Roll with the challenges by finding comic relief in the situation, praying for guidance, and just going for it and doing the best you can.”
The color gold for Anne means success, opulence, and luxury.
Golden Girl of Motorsports
Pia Boren became the Philippines’ first female drifter in 2007 when she competed in the last leg of the Lateral Drift Championship in Manila.
“It was an exhilarating experience, being able to control the uncontrollable and to master the machine in that way,” Pia said.
She’s always loved speed. As a kid, she loved rollerblading. As a teen, she got involved in go karting. Then her dad taught her how to drive. Her first championship was the Arthur Tuason Memorial Cup in 2002 where she bested 25 guys. Early this year, as the only female drifter who competed, she placed fourth — the country’s highest finishing female. But just as special is her dad and mentor. After a ride from their house in Cavite, Pia’s dad told her: “I had fun. You’re a really good driver.”
Experiencing failure, Anne said, is part of being an athlete: “Konting palpak drives you to be better.” She recounted how a mechanical breakdown during her last competition disappointed her and how she felt bad for the mechanics who worked tirelessly and for free on her car. She just consoles herself with the thought that “there is always the next race.”
To prepare, she practices. She constantly meets with her team. She surfs the Net for the latest motoring and sports news. She watches racing videos. And she draws inspiration from women who would be racecar drivers if they could. She encourages women to be brave and to just “do what others think is impossible.”
She has already shown that it is possible. “Learn from the professionals. Join proper competitions. Contact drifting schools.” She has her own drifting school, Audio Drive. No limits.
The color gold for Anne is a champion’s trophy. It’s the perfect hue for a young woman with the passion to win.
The Ultra Moisture Rich 24K Gold lipstick comes in 10 radiant shades — ruby in gold, golden rose, natural gold, golden wine, golden raisin, amethyst gold, golden nectar, golden peach, nude gold, and 24K pink — for only P420, available through Avon representatives nationwide. For inquiries, call 864-2899 or visit www.avon.com.ph.
