We all grew up seeing fair skin, light-colored eyes, and tall noses as beauty ideals. We also know by now that these beauty standards have caused many Filipinas to feel insecure with their own features, which are beautiful in their own way.
When your day-to-day literally involves creating all sorts of content—and consequently putting yourself out there—these beauty stereotypes could take a toll on your confidence. But these platforms themselves could also be a way for representation, which is what Nadine Lustre, Rei Germar, and Marj Maroket are now advocating for.
In a recent interview, they shared their inspiring journeys of overcoming these challenges and embracing their skin. At the same time, they also mentioned that they use Snail White Glow Body Cream and Snail White Body Booster SPF 30/PA+++ to help take care of their skin.
Nadine Lustre on struggling with confidence: "I used to hate my skin color. But now, it's the best thing that I have"
The confident and self-assured aesthetic queen that Nadine embodies today didn't come easily. Her journey to embracing her unique beauty was filled with challenges and personal growth. She shared that growing up, she was a very insecure girl and there were so many things she wanted to change about her body, including being morena.
"I used to not like my skin growing up because there were so many people that would tell me na when you're morena, you look madumi. And then when I go to castings, I'm always asked to go home...So I used to hate my skin color," Nadine opened up.
But the actress shared that the moment she started to accept herself and that's where she gained the confidence to thrive in the industry and her passion despite the existing beauty stereotypes.
"For me, it's all about acceptance. Like all of the things that I don't like about myself, all of the things that people don't like about me, I just embrace it because that's who I am and that's what makes me unique. So whatever those insecurities are, eventually you're gonna go through it and when you do, you're gonna be like, 'Okay, I'm good,'" Nadine shared.
Although Nadine has been as confident as ever, she also opened up that there are still days where she struggles with being confident in her own skin but reminds everyone that as humans, we all go through it and it is okay to feel that way occasionally.
"To be honest, there are days when I still struggle with it. I'm not gonna lie...Because, we're humans, you know, we have days when we're up there, we're very confident. Pero we have days that we don't really feel so confident—that we don't feel so beautiful. And that's normal," Nadine emphasized.
But as normal as it might be, Nadine also said that this is where self-care becomes a crucial part of building our confidence as well as our mental wellbeing. And self-care doesn't have to be grand like how most of us would assume. Nadine said that "self care doesn't necessarily mean you have to go to the salon, you have to get a manicure. It can be as simple as eating your favorite food, or taking yourself out, going to the mall, or just spending time with yourself."
Rei Germar on comparing herself with other women and why representation matters
Rei Germar was also a victim of beauty stereotypes leading her to compare herself to other girls—including her own sister. Like everyone else, the basis of comparisons were often about who had fairer skin and straighter, healthier hair.
"I'm the ugly sister. I grew up with a sister who's way whiter than me, who has straight hair. And during my time, having dark skin and curly hair wasn't pretty—the normal pretty—during that time. So, I grew up like comparing myself to my sister and seeing all these girls on TV," Rei opened up.
Rei Germar emphasized that not all Filipinas possess the commonly celebrated beauty standards of being tall and fair-skinned. "And that's why representation matters. Because I grew up thinking, 'Oh, I'm not pretty.' But that doesn't matter. I'm more than that. Social media plays a very huge part in feeling confident and seeing yourself out there and feeling seen," Rei pointed out.
She also added that that feeling is so important "because it validates you. It makes you feel good" when you're represented, seen, and heard. For her, celebrating yourself is the start of being confident despite the existing beauty stereotypes. It starts within you and acceptance is key because "you can't expect people to fill your cup and do it for you."
"The first step is really loving the image you see. When you're in the mirror and celebrate yourself. When you celebrate yourself, it radiates," Rei repeated.
Marj Maroket on the process of building confidence
Marj Maroket did not start feeling all confident and beautiful in front of the camera while filming her beauty contents. She shared that being confident in her own skin was something she had to develop and grow, and she admitted that being represented as a morena in the media helped with that.
"I don't think I started out super confident. It was something I had to develop. And I guess how it improved was being in camera all the time when I filmed my videos. You get used to it. But actually, representation matters also...Like with [being] morena, it's refreshing. It's nice to see when it happens, to be represented," Marj said.
She also said that negative and hate comments used to affect her confidence in social media. "Before, parang magugulo yung mundo ko with a mean comment. I would even like, tell my family, my friends, like, 'Oh my god, do you think this is, like, do you agree?'" Marj recounted.
Eventually, when she started taking care of herself, it also helped her to mentally embrace her own self, despite what other people say. She also encourages people to be committed to their own selves: "Take care of yourself physically, mentally, spiritually. Take self-care overall. And you're just gonna glow," Marj emphasized.
