This Is What Real Beauty Looks Like

We’ve been taught to hide the marks that make us human—to smooth, lighten, or erase them in the pursuit of flawlessness. But real beauty isn’t spotless; it’s living.

In this story from Allure Philippines’ Truth Issue, five women—Mia Franz-Gelicka, Coco Villacorte, Nathalie Geralde, Christine Gildo, and Rhye Garcia—show us what it means to wear every mark with pride. Stretch marks, scars, body hair, and acne aren’t imperfections to correct; they’re proof of strength, growth, and life.

Here, beauty isn’t about perfection—it’s about permission. To be real. To be seen. To be living proof.

Mia Franz-Gelicka: Stripes of the Tiger

Charisma Lico-Santos

“When was your turning point?” The Allure Philippines team asks Mia Franz-Gelicka, a 30-year-old curvy model who’s been open online about embracing her body, including its marks. Without a second thought, she answers, “It was when I had no other dream than changing my body.”

For most of her youth, Mia wished she could shrink herself to fit into beauty’s narrow mold, while others her age dreamed of careers and adventures. It took years of unlearning to realize that her worth was never meant to be measured by size. Now, she uses her platform to empower other plus-size Filipinas to see beauty for what it really is. “Don’t chase the beauty standard because it’s a moving target,” she says. “It’s always changing.”

Her stretch marks, once a source of shame, are now proof of the life she’s lived, and the self she’s learned to love.

Coco Villacorte: The Cell-U-Light

Charisma Lico-Santos

Coco Villacorte was only 13 when she first noticed the dimples on her legs, and the comments— from her family no less—that came soon after. “The most painful [ones] are the people who are around you all the time,” she recalls.

As she grew older, caring for her sick grandparents and working night shifts gave her body a new purpose. The exhaustion, the weight changes, the stretch—it was all her body trying to keep her alive. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, there’s no rush. There’s no time limit to accept,” she says. “My body is already doing a lot.”

Her cellulite, which she once saw as flaws, she now sees as reminders of endurance.

Nathalie Julia Geralde: Hair, There, and Everywhere

Charisma Lico-Santos

For Nathalie Julia Geralde, body hair was never something to hide. She grew up surrounded by women who didn’t see underarm hair as shameful. It was just normal. “When that’s your environment, it becomes empowering to look up and copy them. That’s what I was doing,” she tells Allure Philippines.

So when a video of her raising her arm during the September 21, 2025 rally went viral, not for her advocacy, but for her underarm hair, it was… jarring, to say the least. “My focus was about fighting systematic oppression,” she says, “but I realized how connected it is to the culture of body shaming among Filipinos.”

The moment only deepened her conviction: that something as natural as body hair should never be a spectacle.

Christine Gildo: Hair to Stay

Charisma Lico-Santos

Christine Gildo, Nathalie’s partner, also knows what it’s like to be ridiculed for something as harmless as body hair. In high school, a boy once took a photo of her underarm hair without her consent. She thought she’d left those moments behind, until years later when Nathalie’s photo went viral for the same reason. “We were really shocked that it went viral for a very simple reason,” she says. “We don’t even have the need to show it to people. We’re just comfortable with it.”

For Christine, that comfort is the point. “It’s normal,” she says simply. Society loves to police women’s bodies: your underarms should be hairless, your skin tone even, your clothes modest, and the list goes on. But Christine and Nathalie refuse to be confined by the unrealistic standards placed on women.

For them, letting their body hair grow unshaved is an act of resistance. Because if boys were never told to shave their underam hair, why should women be?

Rhye Garcia: Breaking Out Free

Charisma Lico-Santos

Acne is one of the most common (if not the most common) skin conditions in the Philippines, but for years, Rhye Garcia felt utterly alone in her journey. What started as a few teenage breakouts spiraled into years of harsh routines, self-blame, and unwanted advice. “I reached a point where I didn’t want to go out,” she recalls. 

She’s come a long way. Today, Rhye is known for her unfiltered acne journey, turning what once made her hide into her asset. “Because of my acne, I got to do this. I became a content creator,” she says. These days, she steps out barefaced and unbothered. She doesn’t need to use filters on her selfies anymore, because her confidence is louder than any blemish. 

Art direction by Nicole Almero. Beauty direction by Leira Aquino. Makeup by Angeline Dela Cruz (Mia Franz-Gelicka and Christine Gildo) and Nicole Ceballos (Coco Villacorte, Nathalie Julia Geralde, and Rhye Garcia). Hair by Jerry Javier (Mia Franz-Gelicka and Christine Gildo) and Bryan Eusebio (Coco Villacorte, Nathalie Julia Geralde, and Rhye Garcia). Styling by Gee Jocson. Nails by Extraordinail.