The Beauty of Becoming
When life rewrites your story, beauty becomes something deeper. In a world obsessed with perfection, these women found grace in imperfection. Their scars, loss, and differences are not flaws—but proof of the strength it takes to begin again.
When it comes to the definition of beauty, there are a million and one voices, perspectives, opinions, and paradigms. Nowadays, its characterization is, thankfully, wider and more inclusive. But while there are many differing views on what exactly constitutes beautiful, there are still certain rigid standards that are universal: standards such as a physique in perfect health, free from unwanted markings and trauma from past experiences.
Wilmark Jolindon
But what happens, when life happens? When you’re thrown a curve ball so strong and off course, when the cards you are dealt are so radical, that they fundamentally change you, and steer your experiences in another direction? What, then? How do you define beauty after that? Do you hang your head and accept you will never fit into society’s norms? Or do you face yourself squarely in the morning, and resolve to rewrite the story?
Wilmark Jolindon
As we celebrate the truth in unfiltered beauty, Allure Philippines speaks with three remarkable women—Norikuh, Larra Lasam, and Raissa Laurel-Subijano—each of whom has had to grapple with not fitting society’s mold, because of circumstances beyond their control. They tell us how they came to terms with themselves, and decided to forge on and write their own chapters.
Wilmark Jolindon
Art direction by Nicole Almero. Beauty direction by Ambrosia Concepcion. Makeup by Lala Flores, assisted by Raquel Rocha. Hair by Dale Mallari. Styling by Geno Espidol for Qurator, assisted by Jermainne Lagura.
Frequently Asked Questions
Larra Lasam is a Filipino burn survivor featured in Allure Philippines’ Truth Issue. Her story, told as part of The Beauty of Becoming, addresses how a life-altering physical experience reshaped her relationship with her body and her definition of beauty — and how she chose to move forward rather than measure herself against standards built for unaltered bodies.
Raissa Laurel-Subijano is a double amputee and lawyer featured in Allure Philippines’ Truth Issue. Her inclusion in The Beauty of Becoming reflects Allure Philippines’ position that disability and physical difference are not barriers to beauty — they are part of the full, unedited spectrum of what beauty looks like in practice.
The three women featured in Allure Philippines’ The Beauty of Becoming — Larra Lasam, Raissa Laurel-Subijano, and Norikuh — each describe beauty not as the absence of marks or difference, but as the act of facing oneself honestly and choosing to continue. Their accounts collectively argue that beauty after life-altering circumstances is defined by the decision to rewrite the story, not conform to a standard built before it happened.
The article challenges the persistent standard that equates beauty with a body in perfect, unmarked physical health — free from scarring, amputation, or visible evidence of trauma. By centering the perspectives of a burn survivor, a double amputee, and a content creator who each navigated this standard from outside it, the feature argues that these rigid criteria exclude the majority of real human experience.
The Truth Issue, Allure Philippines Volume 3, is built around authenticity, unfiltered beauty, and the dismantling of impossible standards. The Beauty of Becoming contributes to that theme by focusing specifically on women whose physical realities place them outside conventional beauty norms — framing scars, loss, and difference not as disqualifications but as proof of the strength required to begin again.
