International Beauty Queens Gemma Cruz and Miriam Quiambao TEACH BEAUTY!!!

A lot of my classmates at St. Scholastica’s were surprised when I joined and won my first beauty pageant – The Miss Young Philippines. You see, I never really was considered a beautiful child once I got past babyhood. No, I wasn’t even close to pretty, not even cute. I generally ran around with scuffed knees, dirty hands and uncombed short hair. Sales ladies in Shoe Mart would pinch my legs and say, you have such nice legs for a boy!  So of course, many were quite surprised when this ugly duckling turned into a swan.

Dorky Joyce - Top Row with hand on coconut leaves.

But how did I become beautiful?  There are several reasons but the one that stands out in my head is my Mama Renee Salud and all the training and advice I got from him. He was (and still is) a beauty-maker who introduced me to the world of fashion and beauty pageants. Through him I met International Beauty Queens like Melanie Marquez, Chat Silayan and Desiree Verdadero. It was Mama Renee who made me attend all those dance and modelling classes as well as parties and social functions. He also included me in his line-up of catwalk models.

So…   it was there all along inside of me. And with a lot of help from Mama Renee, I slowly became confident and BEAUTIFUL.

Top Stylist Teng Roma, Mama Renee, Me and Desiree Verdadero in Papua New Guinea for a fashion show

And that is why I took great interest in an email from my friend Pido Aguilar about his workshop called the “I AM BEAUTIFUL LIFESHOP.” Even more interesting was that GEMMA CRUZ, our country’s first-ever Ms. International and MIRIAM QUIAMBAO who was a Ms. Universe runner-up would be leading the classes!!!   How I wish that there were things like Pido’s BEAUTY LIFESHOP in my day.

GEMMA CRUZ,l Ms. International 1964

MIRIAM QUIAMBAO, 1st Runner-up Ms. Universe 1999

So I contacted Pido and asked him more about his BEAUTY LIFESHOP; You see, I believe that deep down inside every little girl is the desire to be seen as pretty and beautiful. But as they grow into womanhood, they are told that they are not pretty enough, they are told that beauty is equal to 36-24-36 and they are told that ugly can become pretty if they spend a fine buck on treatments.  And they start to believe all of that.

I am hoping that Pido’s project will free women who have been trapped by such beliefs and realize thier inner and outer beauty.

I recommend this Lifeshop to women who are…

joining a beauty pageant; hoping to develop a great corporate image; wanting to reinvent themselves; looking for jobs in the Tourism, HRM and Airline Industries…

Here is Pido’s invitation to you: