Getting into the Sharon lifestyle

Sharon Cuneta was born blessed. How else would you explain the way all her dreams keep coming true. There may be setbacks here and there and it is not all smooth sailing. But on the whole, it seems like everything she envisions becomes reality. Not instantly. And in some cases it might take years but they do happen.

One of my early memories of Sharon concerned fragrance. She lived in a house where there were plenty of nice ones as her mother, Elaine Cuneta walked around bathed in Chanel or Halston or whatever she fancied at the moment. Her father, the former Mayor Pablo Cuneta also had his own preferences.

And that afternoon many years ago, Sharon, pen and paper in hand, was telling me about those she liked and where I could get them at really good prices. Nenuco, De Ne Nes, Monaguesca, airy Spanish scents with the smell of freshly bathed babies. Of course, she later moved on to grown-up perfume but she remained true to her taste for the light and refreshing.

And that is indeed how I would describe Loving, Sharon’s very own cologne created in France for Zen Zest. It was a dream come true for her and a way of bringing French perfume of excellent quality within reach of everybody. First released into the market was the eau de cologne but Sharon promised that this will be followed by others like room and linen scents and even candles to match. If you like Loving and I am sure you will, it is sweet and delicate, there will come a time when you can live and breathe its fragrance all around you.

I also recall Sharon talking to me about cooking. She comes from a family of excellent cooks and grew up in a house where the table is almost always set with assorted dishes for guests. Still, I was surprised at how serious she was about it while still so young. If I remember right, she was preparing to do sponge cake. She knew what she was doing and made it all look so easy.

What really got me though was how she would make sure the light bulbs were clean. These, she said, should be wiped clean always, because she did not want any dust or whatever was clinging to the bulb to fall down on what she was cooking.

As the years passed and I got to spend more time with Sharon, I would often find her with her Martha Stewart stuff. She had subscriptions to the home styling maven’s magazines, she read those from cover to cover and would make notes on items she liked. It was the same thing with all the books Stewart had written and she religiously watched The Martha Stewart Show on TV. She was by that time already the country’s Megastar, but she would spend hours dreaming of becoming somebody like Martha.

That dream has come true. She now has her own magazine, Sharon@home, which is really a great cover to cover read. Get a copy of the last quarter issue and I am sure you will agree. The magazine is so good that it is selling very well and has inspired the And even more like Martha was Sharon two weeks ago at The Block, where she launched her own line of kitchenware. Aptly named Celebrations by Sharon, the line includes pots, pans, baking dishes and accessories in stainless steel, wood and best of all, silicon. Everything looks like the top of the line kitchen items that you can only buy abroad at the cost of an arm and maybe even a leg. But thanks to Sharon we can now get these at Home World at reasonable prices.

Of course, every item you buy comes with the Sharon imprimatur. This is the knowledge of how seriously she takes lending her name to anything, of how she refuses to endorse anything she will not personally use and of what a great cook she is who only uses the best. Thanks to her dreams we can now also do the same.