Did you know that only 7% of Filipinas think they are beautiful? Would you believe me if I tell you that I am part of the 93% of Filipinas who think otherwise of themselves?
To better understand what I’m trying to say, watch this video.
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How do you feel after watching the video? Can you relate to the women who described themselves in a negative way? I can. I never really gave much thought about my physical appearance until I started working as a model. I grew up an ugly duckling, very awkward and a bit tomboy. I believe I am still a little bit awkward until now. I get conscious when people look at me, stare at me or even take a quick glance my way as I always feel like I have something on my face or I have a wardrobe malfunction going on. Either way, if I were to describe myself, I would always do so by stating all my flaws and I would never describe myself physically. I’ve always been critical to myself & would believe criticism rather than praise and I would shy away whenever one would compliment me. I guess this mindset has fueled my being uncertain of my real beauty even more.
I had a chance to further understand what real beauty is during the 2-day summit hosted by Dove last April 2-3, 2014 at the five star luxury hotel, Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila. I, together with tens of Filipinas came and celebrated our real beauty.
This is Dove’s first ever summit. The brand has been on a mission to help more and more Filipinas develop a positive relationship with the way they look – helping them raise their self-esteem and realize their full potential. It seeks to reach the 93% who don’t feel that they are beautiful, and change the way they feel about themselves. The Dove Summit is another paramount step in that direction. Through it, Dove hopes to reconnect consumers with the Dove brand and all it stands for, and ultimately inspire women to reconnect with themselves and their Real Beauty.
Lace cookies that my kids devoured overnight! Ha!
Dove products waiting in our bathroom upon checking in.
Apples Aberin, Head of Personal Care for Unilever PH & Lexi Schultze, model and host facilitated the two day summit that’s all about knowing one’s real beauty.
Unilver’s Marketing Manager for Skin Mian Datu-David delivered a short but inspiring speech, which I believe really reflects how much she believes in the brand she handles. “Dove is a brand that can make a difference. And with your help, we believe we really can. We invited you all here to the Dove Summit because you are movers and shakers of the industry and society. You have the power to spread a positive message. You guys can help change that 7% statistic by making all your readers and followers into believers—believers of real beauty.”
After checking-in, we were asked to unmask by removing our make up and go back to the Harbor Tent to participate in the first activity of the first day of the summit. I was really apprehensive to participate as I was concerned about how my eyebrows would look without makeup! Sure I go bare faced when I do errands and when I think I need to let my skin breathe. But to go bare faced knowing photographers are everywhere, I honestly felt uneasy. Like wearing a bikini when I know I have stretch marks and a jelly belly to show.
Sisters Alex & Sam Godinez-Valenciano weren’t bothered to remove their make up as they’re used to sporting their pretty faces sans make up.
Ingrid Go aka The Bag Hag unmasked.
After everyone got a feel of how it is to go bare-faced, Apples revealed that we were to be photographed by top women photographers Sara Black, Jo Bitagcol, Pilar Tuason & G-nie Arambulo. To be honest, I wasn’t too thrilled to know that I would go in front of the camera unmasked as I was breaking out and my eye bags were very evident! I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy posing and having my photo taken.
photo from Hola PH.
But surprisingly, my photographer Pilar Tuason made me very comfortable and at ease despite feeling “incomplete” because I’m used to being all dolled up before standing in front of a camera. Nonetheless, it was a good experience which made me feel confident. After the photo session, we had cocktails by the deck then went back to our designated rooms and got ready for dinner.
The set up was just lovely.
I really, really love the personal touch Dove incorporated. I felt I was beautiful not because of how I look but because I feel I matter.
While waiting for dinner to be served, we were surprised that our photos taken a few hours before were flashed in giant screens for everyone to see.
Here’s Ingrid Go aka The Bag Hag
Rowena Lei of Animetric.me
Aisa Ipac of Drowning Equilibriums
Lissa Kahayon
It’s samkinda hard to capture one’s photo as there’s about 80 of us who had our portraits taken, so abangan portion talaga! Good thing, Angela of Lush Angel captured mine! Heehee. Thanks Angela!
Nahiya naman meeee. Pa-shy effect! Hahaha. Pero in fairness,I like the photo Pilar picked.
Now for some food porn.
Gina Lorenzana, VP for Personal Care warmly welcomed everyone to the first ever Dove Summit.
Fashion Bloggers Kryz Uy, Nicole Andersson, Lissa Kahayon & Patricia Prieto
Shen Cala-or, Michelle Martinez, Marj Sia, Rowena Lei, Nikki Tiu, yours truly, Angela Nepomuceno & Christine Dychiao.
After dinner we turned in early as another day awaits us. But before I was able to sleep, I had to take a selfie sans make up as I felt really confident to go bare faced. The activity during the first day of the summit has given us, the attendees, positive self-worth.
Today I was confident to say that #IamBeautiful despite not wearing any concealer to hide my breakout nor wore any eyebrow make up. Why? Because I, together with hundreds of Filipinas decided to accept that each and everyone of us is beautiful in our own way. The imperfections remind us that there is such a thing as #RealBeauty Thank you so much @doveph for the inspiring day you’ve given us. Tonight I will sleep, knowing I made a difference.
The next day I was able to lounge by the pool and take in fresh air and just enjoy the warm breeze.
Early birds make tambay by the bay! Ahihi. Hello Donya Berriray & Xavi.
After the sumptuous buffet breakfast at Spiral, we head back to Harbour Tent where we were re-introduced to Dove’s three product categories- Hair, Skin & Deos.
The Harbour Tent was divided into three pavilions and the first stop of my group was Dove hair.
Like this block stacking game, if one’s hair isn’t protected from the inside, its bound to get damaged easily from the outside.
Carlo Isla, Dove Hair Brand Manager revealed that 8 out of 10 Filipinas have damaged hair. It’s important to protect one’s hair especially if you like to style it- blow dry, iron, color, and other kinds of treatment. I didn’t know that even the seemingly innocent act of brushing your hair and towel drying can damage it. Yikes!
The Dove team made a demonstration on how one can protect their damaged hair.
If your hair sinks when you put it in a tub of water, it’s a clear indication that your hair’s damaged.
One hair is washed with an ordinary shampoo while the other was washed with Dove shampoo and was applied with Dove hair serum.
Can you guess which one will sink?
You guessed it right! The hair washed & applied with Dove products was instantly made healthy as the holes and gaps were filled with Dove Keritin Actives that quickly replenished the protein in the hair.
Dove Hair Care Products have Keratin-Actives technology that goes deep into the cellular level to repair these gaps and holes. It nourishes and restores the hair structure by replenishing the protein it needs to be strong and resist damage-causing heat and pollution, bringing it back to health so we can again enjoy beautifully soft, smooth and damage-free hair.
The twins behind The Plump Pinay- Danah & Stacy happily posed with their Dove Hair Care goodies.
Next pavilion was Dove Deo.
Neil Trinidad, Marketing Manager for Deos said that 8 out of 10 women think twice about raising their arms because of the way their underarms look. The biggest issue that concerns us women is how our underarms tend to be rough and dark. It has been a long time issue for me too. When I was pregnant with both my kids, I had dark and rough kili-kili. One of the few underarm products that worked for me was Dove’s Ultimate Whitening Deo as it helps lighten my underarms.
Most women subject their underarms to constant damage through the act of shaving and plucking. Studies show that more than 80% of women regularly remove underarm hair, which leads to irritation and redness. To cope with the damage caused by shaving, our underarms generate melanin to protect and heal itself, but this leads to hyperpigmentation and skin darkening. In fact, our underarm skin takes around 20-30 days to heal itself, while women pluck or shave 2-3 times a week. Yikes! Ladies, we have to be kind to our underarms and I guess the best way to remove hair is by undergoing laser treatment as it penetrates the hair roots as oppose to temporary hair removal like shaving and plucking that can really lead to dark & rough underarms.
The lovely Deo pavilion was adorned with ribbons and doves. I was wondering what were they for only to find out, Dove wants us to reach high and aspire!
We were asked to write down our aspiration and stick it up high.
I always aspire to be the best version of myself not just for me but also for my family and for the people around me.
I wasn’t conscious to raise my arms because my underarms were in hiding. Heehee.
The last pavilion was dedicated to Skin. Everybody wants soft baby-like skin. But do you know that using soap everyday can divert your goal from soft skin to dry skin? Clinical tests also show that ordinary soap can leave the skin feeling rough and dry because it cleanses away moisture along with dirt without replenishing the skin’s needed moisture levels. And without enough moisture, the skin turns dull and rough. Remember back in the days when queens and royalties would bathe with milk? Milk is believed to help soften and smoothen one’s skin. That’s why body wash is a better option as it prevents the transfer of bacteria that can wreak havoc on the skin’s natural, healthy balance.
Lovely homey set up at the Dove Skin pavilion.
Jules Gollayan, Brand Manager for Dove Skin re-introduced Dove Body Wash. The new Dove Body Wash is far more superior than milk because it contains a rich blend of natural moisturizers that work together to replenish the skin and give it the deep nourishment it craves. It contains the innovative Nutrium Moisture TM, a breakthrough formula that combines gentle cleansing with deep down nourishment. It replenishes functional lipids that are lost during cleansing by deeply penetrating to the lower layers of the skin to deliver nutrients that replenish and restore. In-vitro tests show that in terms of mildness, absorption and moisturization, new Dove Body Wash is even better than milk! It delivers care from within that makes the skin look and feel soft, smooth and beautifully glowing.
We were able to try the new Dove Body Wash ourselves as we conducted a skin moisturising test.
On my left hand, a drop of milk was applied and I got a moisture score of 50.5 %
While my right hand was applied with Dove Deeply Nourishing Body Wash.
Amazed that I got a moisture score of 74.3%. It exceeded the moisturization milk can give. If Cleopatra was still alive, I’m sure she’d bath on a golden bath tub filled to the brim with Dove Body Wash.
Dermatologist, Dr. Ana Palabyab-Rufino, talked about the importance of having a good skin and how it can bring out one’s confidence.
Apples Aberin giving her parting message during lunch time on the second day of the Dove Summit. It was truly an inspiring 2-day beauty summit as Apples thanked each and everyone of us attendees for being there. The aim of the campaign for Real Beauty is to encourage other Filipinas to embrace their real beauty and be confident in saying I am Beautiful. During the 2-day beauty summit, the tens of Filipinas who attended kept on posting on their respective social media sites, garnering the campaign #RealBeauty a good number of impressions that has reached thousands of Filipinas, prompting them to post their unmasked selfies.
My OOTD on the second day of the summit. Wearing Uniqlo x Ines de La Fressange crisp white shirt dress for the all white dress code, outfit post to follow 🙂
Jackie Go unmasked by Pilar Tuason.
Thank you so much Dove Philippines for having me at your first ever Dove Summit. I went home realizing that despite my breakouts, eye bags and uneven skin tone, I do have real beauty. And in order for me to genuinely appreciate other people’s real beauty, I must embrace my own. Thank you also for believing that every Filipina is beautiful and that every woman deserves to feel and be beautiful inside and out.
you look beautiful jackie, even without the makeup. 🙂