Summer Styles by Monet Salon

Mabuhay Ka, Governor Vilma Santos!

After an exhaustive campaign and high-stress elections, it’s official: Ate Vi is now Governor of her beloved Batangas.

The Star for All Seasons has captured the hearts of her constituents because of her spotless track record. Kitang kita ko naman with my own two eyes when I came to visit her last 2005 as she diligently performed her role as Mayor of Lipa.

Ate Vi is a devoted public servant who doesn’t leave anything to chance. She works on what needs to be worked on.

I’m so proud of her like she was my own ka-pamilya, as I’m sure all Vilmanians are.

As mayor of Lipa, she has paved the way for much progress in this city.

During her term, Lipa landed the number 13 spot of top cities in the whole Philippines. This ranking was based on infrastructure, cost of doing business, quality of human resources, responsiveness and overall quality of life.

Her leadership has also won for Lipa awards and honorable citations in the areas of education, health, peace, and order management, among others.

Ate Vi was even named outstanding mayor two times in 2000 and once in 2002.

Now add these recognitions to her acting awards and blockbuster films and you have a woman who’s truly come full circle.

When I visited her at her office two years ago, I got a glimpse of what a typical day is for such a busy and important woman.

I was one of those waiting for her arrival because as a high official, she has all these appointments to go through and of course, her office has to prioritize which ones are urgent and official business.

So wait lang ako while she met with her city councilors who were pushing for certain projects. She also met with her elderly constituents and other dignitaries.

My turn to see her continued to be pushed back because of some urgent matters that needed her attention pero I didn’t mind because I knew she has to make decisions that affect an entire city.

The purpose of my visit was to invite her to come to L.A. to be a distinguished honoree in my annual Reflections Awards. There’s been a long-standing clamor from members of the Fil-Am community and Vilmanians to honor The Star for All Seasons. I thought it was the best idea to see her and extend this invitation in person.

We had a camera crew with us at that time and she even said on the record that she was accepting my invitation.

I was so happy! But of course, things came up unexpectedly in the next few months that changed her schedule and she couldn’t make it to the Reflections Awards.

Pero Ms. Governor, please know that I’m not giving up!!! Hopefully someday, the stars will align and you will make it to LA to receive this special recognition that my fellow Vilmanians and I feel only you deserve.

Mabuhay ka, Governor Vilma Santos! More power!

**The author is a professional beauty consultant and owner of the popular salon chain Monet & Reflections Salons. Monet is also executive producer of the longest running Fil-Am awards gala, Reflections Awards (now on its 19^th year). He is a known “queenmaker” or discoverer of young beauties who have gone on to achieve their dreams of becoming beauty pageant titlists. For more on Monet, please visit www.monetsalon.com or send an email to monet@monetsalon.com.

Succumbing to the O’ Indulgence

MS. OLIVIA QUIDO'S FULL RELAXATION TREATMENT

In a first of a series, it’s my pleasure to reintroduce talented skincare experts to our community. This week, I’ll start with my most recent experience under the hands of the young and immensely talented Ms. Olivia Quido, owner of O’ Skin Care.

The past couple of months have been really stressful for me because of different projects pulling me left and right. I’m not complaining but the truth is, my routine can be very straining physically – flying to Vegas and back to LA every week because of my salon expansion, among others.

So it was such a wonderful treat being pampered for a facial by Olivia and getting the full relaxation treatment.

Based on experience, Olivia is really a pro at what she does. The licensed esthetician seems very prepared to take her practice anywhere her clients are.

The setting was the quaint living room of my friend Ruffa Gutierrez’s condo in Beverly Hills.

Ruffa and her mom, Annabelle, were also in dire need of some pampering. So we girls were ready for Olivia and her capable team to work their magic on us.

O’ Skin Care came fully prepared to transform the ambience of Ruffa’s salas into a beauty spa. They came with relaxation music, massage beds--the works. When I closed my eyes, it truly felt like I was communing with nature.

The Miss Universe pageant was actually being broadcast live at that time but I had to put my foot down and insist that we forget about that for a moment to concentrate on our “night at the spa.”

It was a bit of a challenge to let ourselves relax, especially as I was with the vivacious Gutierrez women. Annabelle, who’s a known firecracker, and Ruffa, who is always so perky even amid all the challenges she’s facing right now.

But once we started to calm down through the “O’ Indulgence” treatments, it was quite heavenly.

Olivia first treated Ruffa with a scrub which, she thought was excellent. Simultaneously, I was having my body massage and then followed by hydrafacial. I’ve never had this treatment before and it really felt so good.

With Olivia’s able massage therapists Ms. Kristene Ong and Ms. Ellen Beltran, it was as if we had an out-of-body experience. We felt lighter afterwards.

The stress in our bodies were zapped off. And we carried this feeling until the next day!

I want to take this opportunity to thank O’ Skin Care, especially Olivia for that memorable spa experience. Ruffa and Annabelle were also very happy with the service.

I wish Olivia and O’ Skin Care all the success because they provide a valuable service.

I first met Olivia last year when she was nominated to be an awardee during the Reflections 18 Awards Salute to Beauty Innovators.

Her resume is very impressive. She has completed numerous post graduate courses from the American Institute of Esthetics, International Dermal Institute, Visual Changes Academy, Bio-2 Skin Cosmeceuticals, and John Robert Powers International. She is also a Business Administration graduate from De La Salle University, Philippines.

Barely five years in the industry, O’ Skin Care (located on 17808 South Pioneer Blvd Suite 111 Artesia CA 90701. Tel. 562-897-1445) has been making waves as a skin care center that offers topnotch products and services for reasonable prices. They have been appointed sole distributor of Tegoder Cosmetics by Grupo Tegor of Spain to the Asian-American market. This special arrangement is due in large part to Olivia’s fluency in Filipino, Fookien (Chinese), and Mandarin.

Before meeting her in person, people have been telling me how excellent Olivia is and that’s why she landed among the honorees in the Fil-Am community’s most excellent skin care experts. I fully agree she is one of the best out there.

In the next several weeks, I will be featuring other cutting-edge skin care experts in the Fil-Am community. They are our beauty heroes because they have trained and practiced the art of keeping their clients youthful-looking and beautiful. To name several, there’s also Gandi Villareal, Biologica, Pro Derm, Jocylane Dinsay, Estela Cottle, and of course, Obagi.

Ang kasabihang bawal na ang maging pangit sa mga panahong ito, to me, is really do-able because of these beauty experts that we have.

Have a beautiful weekend everyone! Stay beautiful!

*The author is a professional beauty consultant and owner of the popular salon chain Monet & Reflections Salons. Monet is also the executive producer of the longest running Fil-Am awards gala, Reflections Awards (now on its 19^th year). He is a known “queenmaker” or discoverer of young beauties who have gone on to achieve their dream of becoming beauty pageant titlists. For more on Monet, please visit www.monetsalon.com or send an email to monet@monetsalon.com.