Beauty’s Enigma: Gretchen Barretto as Audrey Hepburn
She has the charm and mystery that turned local show business upside-down.
Gretchen Barretto gingerly sits on a stool and places her long slender arms on a makeshift table in front of her. As the photographer trains the lights on her, she daintily adjusts herself and looks straight into the camera. As if on cue, Sara Black, sensing that the subject is ready for a round of test shots, peers into the viewfinder and clicks the shutter. Gretchen, in turn, arches her back more, flutters her lashes, purses her lips and widens her beautiful doe eyes.
It is sweet perfection captured on camera. It is also sweet seduction — between a pro and a camera — on display.
Since she made her big comeback, the world of showbiz, and perhaps the whole TV-watching nation, has been seduced by Gretchen Barretto. Endorsement deals from various beauty and clothing companies landed on her lap like manna from heaven. Magazine editors have put her face on the cover many times already, but to this day, not one of them would waste an opportunity to put her again on the cover. Interestingly, no list of the country’s most stylish — and most beautiful — would ever be complete without her.
The media, indeed, has an over-hyped love affair with Gretchen — and the public simply loves it.
Who wouldn’t be beguiled by the allure and charm of this woman? Most women her age have already perished in the hands of time, but Gretchen, still looking the smasher that she was more than 15 years ago, seems to have unlocked the secret to eternal youth.
“What’s my beauty regimen? Oh my, I think I’ve answered that question like 10 million times already,” she says with a laugh. “I always cleanse my face after every shoot. I make it a point to keep my face free of makeup. I only put makeup when I have to, especially during shoots and pictorials. Otherwise, I just keep my face clean,” she says, adding that her beauty regimen is incomplete without Olay Total Effects.
Being beautiful comes easy for Gretchen. After all, when one is born into the Barretto clan, being beautiful is not a gift; it is a birth right — and a rule.
Having started her career in show business at a tender age, Gretchen has long realized the importance of always looking her best. It’s not something that she would have to constantly remind herself every time she would go out of the house.
“I always want to look good. I have fun doing it, fixing and dressing up. It’s supposed to be fun. I don’t owe it to anyone,” Gretchen relates. “Beauty is not just about youth. It’s also about attitude. You don’t have to look your age. I’m 38, but I don’t look 38, because I don’t feel I’m 38.”
This sophisticated (but hopefully not complicated) woman, who has a fondness for custom-made items and ultra-stylish designer bags, certainly takes fashion seriously. Whether on the red carpet or at the mall, Gretchen, who dresses up for herself, has earned the approval of even the most discriminating style authority in the country.
Proof of her innate sense of style is when she appeared in a showbiz-oriented talk show a couple of months back to clear up the issue about her controversial relationship with long-time partner Tonyboy Cojuangco. Instead of looking bedraggled, the teary-eyed Gretchen looked splendid in her immaculate white cocktail dress.
But what was impressive about her whole appearance was the accessory fastened around her neck. It was a good string of pearls, no less, which according to Nancy MacDonell Smith in her book The Classic Ten, is the most reliable
Among the fashion icons, Gretchen looks up to Audrey Hepburn and Angelina Jolie. She admires Audrey Hepburn for her understated elegance, while Angelina for her effortless sexiness.
These days, however, it’s not Gretchen’s sense of fashion that puts her in the headlines. Whether by choice or circumstance, Gretchen, who is known for her blunt humor and for speaking uncomfortable truths, seems to attract controversies like nectar attracts bees. And yet despite the spate of all the publicity, Gretchen remains strong, unscathed and very much unpredictable.
Perhaps this is the real reason why we are hopelessly drawn to Gretchen. We want to play with the fire that seems to emanate from her and take delight in watching our fingers get burned. We are constantly drawn to the things that we don’t understand, indulgences we cannot control and desires that we cannot satiate.
Unpredictability, indeed, is part and parcel of Gretchen’s beauty and personality. She’s a tough nut to crack or a brilliantly cut diamond that no one can ever own. She’s like the proverbial wild card that could surprise anyone.
For this alone, Gretchen Barretto is a beautiful, independent woman, who has a passion for living and loving to the fullest.
