Revenge of the Nerd

Charade Galang used to be overweight, withdrawn and riveted to her books. She also lost her father Abelardo when she was a little girl, and when he passed away, her financial security was buried with him. The Galang family had to move to a smaller house, and Charade was pulled out of the expensive school she was enrolled in. She had to seek a scholarship in a different school in order to finish her studies.

“I remember those days,” recalls Charade. “From having five to eight maids, we suddenly had nothing. From an exclusive Catholic school, I had the option to go to a public school. So I told my mom I was going to apply for a scholarship. It wasn’t fun for me because during school fairs, I would be the one collecting all the entrance stubs while the rest were enjoying the rides. I would arrange all the books in the library after class. I had to work. But I had this ambition, to be somebody — not to everybody — but to be somebody for myself. I had to endure all the pains. And then when I got to college, it was the same thing, I had to apply for a scholarship, I had to maintain high grades.”

Anybody in life who once nursed an inferiority complex knows it can work both ways. It can make you strive to go beyond your deficiencies and prove yourself to all those who once bullied, pitied, or looked down on you. Or, it could make you a loser, content to wallow in the pits.

Charade chose to make her inferiority a motivation, a springboard to her dreams. She wanted to prove herself to her worst critic — herself. She lost weight and studied hard to keep her scholarship. Chemistry was her favorite subject.

The pharmacist at work.

 “When non-chemists see things, the substances look so simple. But if you try to play around with these substances, twist them, they create something more than you expect. So for me, Chemistry is a never-ending journey, it shows continuity. It makes you aware that there is always something beautiful that you can make out of the ordinary. So that’s the way I feel about Chemistry up to now.”

She had to be a nerd. After college at the UST, Charade placed 10th in the board exams for Pharmacists. Today, she is a strikingly beautiful, slim and accomplished professional. But despite her beautiful clothes and her svelte form, “I am hardly seen outside my lab.”

Aside from having her own brand of 100-percent organic cosmetic and lifestyle products ONE Naturales, Charade supplies department stores and other cosmetic chains with her own formulations that do not duplicate those of ONE (O for organic, N for natural, E for eco-friendly) Naturales. Her “magic” potions are concocted in her own lab, and she brings the formula abroad, where they are produced in commercial quantities.

“I develop products!” is how this sexy lab rat sums up her work, and her success. “Describe to me what you need and I will come up with it.”

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Two years after she launched ONE Naturales by Charade, the line is growing, with 36 all-natural products (available at Watson’s).

“They’re a niche product, organic natural eco-friendly products with packaging that’s also eco-friendly, like cartons,” says Charade of her trailblazing line. She has soap, shampoo, lotions, body scrubs, moisturizers and other skin-care products that smell and feel like they were formulated in your kitchen and then brought up to your bedroom and bath. They’re that fresh.

“My body scrub, everybody’s raving about it,” gushes Charade. “I made it out of sugar and salt, but the combination of all the organic natural ingredients has a whitening effect, which wasn’t really intentional. But many like it, because many Filipinas want to have fair skin. And the scent really lasts. I also have solid shampoo, which at first I was really hesitant to launch. But a lot of people are also raving about it because first, it’s very travel friendly, second it gives volume, and third, it has anti-bacterial properties that take away scalp problems.”

All these formulations use only ingredients that are locally grown, like malunggay, banaba and papaya. Though packaged in China and Korea, where labor is reportedly cheaper and technology more advanced, Charade claims her products are 100-percent Filipino.

ONE Naturales by Charade.

“I just feel that the best things are those that surround us, like malunggay. It’s just that we don’t take a look at them. The best ingredients are here but sometimes we take so much time looking at what other countries have. Now, we have a shortage of malunggay because the Japanese are buying them from us! My friends would always tell me, dapat ikaw pumalit kay Rizal, masyado kang makabayan. Most of my pharmacist friends are already in the US. They have a good job, they’re paid really well. I stayed here despite the good offers because no.1, I have this superhero vision, of making the simple things amazing.”

Like malunggay.

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Charade reveals that she will be coming out soon with “cosmeceuticals,” cosmetics with pharmaceutical properties. She mentions a two-way compact powder that gives you coverage as well as benefits if your skin is aging or has freckles; a patch that temporarily takes away wrinkles; eyeliner that lasts for 24 hours; mascara that makes your lashes grow as well.

She’s also making sense out of scents and is formulating fragrances that adjust to one’s body chemistry so that one scent won’t have the same effect on different women.

Beyond her ONE Naturales, Charade is also developing novelty products, like essential oils for fragrance burners that complement certain wines — you know, in order to produce the desired mood. She has, for example, a blend of lavender and red ginseng that emanates a scent perfect for those having red wine and puts them in the mood for… well, I can only guess at this point!

Charade also supplies Argan Oil that she imports from Morocco to a top department store chain and to several famous celebrities, who buy them from her by the box. Argan Oil, from the Argan tree in Morocco, is said to have several amazing curative and restorative ingredients for the skin and hair. Charade says other sources have tried to bring the golden liquid in, but the Argan Oil she supplies is the one most sought after.

Despite her gift for discovering ingredients that beautify and developing products that make beauty accessible and reachable, Charade says true beauty doesn’t come in a bottle. We draw it from our hearts.

“I think beauty comes from happiness. And what makes one happy is very relative. What makes me happy is being able to do things that I really want.”

So what does she really want?

“I just want to develop products. I don’t want to be anybody. I don’t want to be a model for my products, I don’t want going out there marketing my products.”

In short, she’s content in her lab. And instead of paying the price for it, she’s winning the prize.

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