Soul Sisters

Beauty indeed is in the eye of the beholder. What I think to be beautiful may not be the same for other people.

As a makeup artist, I have come across and worked with different types of women, all unique and beautiful in their own special way. It is quite an experience not only to see physical beauty but, most of all, to experience another person’s inner beauty unfold before you.

There is beauty in each of us. It can be physical beauty or inner beauty. This generation is fortunate to have great role models for what I think is beautiful inside and out. I admire such women – they not only have physical beauty but true inner beauty as well; they have depth, passion and such strength that is quite unbelievable. They are humble yet confident, mysterious yet open. Their life experiences, good and bad, have made them into what and who they are now. They are women of soul.

What is soulful beauty? The soul and intelligence magnify a natural woman’s beauty. Such women exude inner peace and exude a certain aura that leaves you in awe; their presence inspires other women. Though her soul is complex, she is able to focus on any of the emotions she feels. She is kind, humble, simple, supportive, sensitive, wise, loyal, nurturing, deep, yet light and fun. Her laughter is refreshing and addicting.

Among celebrities, there are definitely women with soul. We always see them in covers of most glossies or on billboards, read about them in the papers, or see them on the runways. But they are also very human and are so simple in many ways that is quite amazing. Lucy Gomez loves adobo and chicharon bulaklak. She cooks crabs, and loves to monkey around with her daughter Juliana. Angel Jacob sweeps and scrubs her floors and waits in line to get doughnuts for her daughter Arielle. Angel Aquino would call her daughters every now and then during a shoot to check if they already ate or did their homework. Oh! And did I forget to mention she loves Banana-Q? In one of our out-of-town shoots, Celine Lopez would sip her soda from a plastic bag, saying, "I miss doing this so much!" Isabel Roces is a vegetarian and only eats three cups of white rice, or fried rice, or garlic rice with vegetables and she is in heaven. Izza Agana, armed with her walking shoes, goes to Divisoria to source out materials for her work. So yes, they also do the things we do.

Beauty is also very visual and physical. So what do these beauties do to maintain their healthy, supple and young looking skin? They have their personalized beauty regimens. They know what works for their skin and yet are open to experiment and see if improvements can be made. One thing they have in common is they take their makeup off before going to bed. Most of them regularly visit their dermatologists. They have a healthy lifestyle. They eat right, except for bits of chicharon and doughnuts once in a while. They get enough sleep, and exercise.

Get the look:

• Prepare your face. Cleanse. Tone and moisturize if needed.

• Groom eyebrows.

• Apply concealer to even out skin tone.

• Set with loose powder.

On Lucy Gomez:

• Do steps from 1 through 4.

• Line eyes with brown eyeliner pencil.

• Create a smoke by using brown colored eyeshadow on entire lid area.

• Curl lashes.

• Apply mascara on upper and lower lashes.

• Brush mocha colored blush on apples of cheeks.

• Line lips with mocha lip color.

• Apply clear lip gloss.

• Using a powder brush, sweep face clean.

On Angel Jacob:

• Do steps from 1 through 4.

• Line eyes with black eyeliner pencil.

• Apply purple eyeshadow on lid area.

• Blend well on lid area going up to the crease of the eyelid.

• Curl lashes.

• Apply mascara on upper and lower lashes.

• Brush pink colored blush on apples of cheeks.

• Apply pink lip gloss.

• "Sweep" face clean.

On Angel Aquino:

• Do steps 1 through 4.

• Starting from the tear duct, line entire eyes with black eyeliner pencil.

• Line the inside of your eyes.

• Curl lashes.

• Apply first coat of mascara.

• Brush rose colored blush on apples of cheek.

• Line lips with natural colored lip pencil.

• Dab pink gloss.

• Apply second coat of mascara

• Carefully sweep face "clean" with powder brush.

On Izza Agana:

• Do steps from 1 through 4.

• Line eyes with black eyeliner pencil.

• Create a smoke by smudging with blue colored eyeshadow.

• Curl lashes.

• Apply mascara.

• Brush peach blush on apples of cheeks.

• Apply peach colored lipstick.

• Using a powder brush, sweep face clean.

On Isabel Roces:

• Do steps 1 through 4.

• Line eyes with black eyeliner pencil.

• Curl lashes.

• Apply mascara.

• Using a pink blush, brush on apples of cheek.

• Dab pink gloss on lips.

• Remove unwanted pigments off the face by lightly "sweeping" entire face with the powder brush.

On Celine Lopez:

• Do steps from 1 through 4.

• Line eyes with dark brown eyeliner.

• Apply brown eyeshadow on the crease and eyelid area.

• Blend well.

• Curl lashes.

• Apply mascara.

• Brush bronze colored blush on cheeks.

• Line lips with natural color lip pencil.

• With a lip brush, carefully apply red lip color

• "Sweep" face clean.

Beauty does not have to be skin deep; it can be manifested from a woman’s skin to her core. A memory of her smile or love can last forever. There are so many facets to beauty, and all play an important part into making beauty everlasting. When a woman creates a memory in another because of her beauty, that makes her immortal.