25 Beauty Insiders Share the Best Advice They’ve Ever Received
From skincare rituals to lessons on confidence and self-expression, beauty’s leading voices share the advice they continue to live by.
Everybody has a piece of beauty advice they never quite forget. As a grumpy teenager, I remember how my late grandmother would always tell me to put my hair up in a ponytail—not because she wanted me to hide my textured, wavy hair, but because she believed her granddaughter had a face too beautiful to be hidden (her words, not mine!). At the time, I didn’t understand why she insisted on it, but years later, I realized it was her way of reminding me to see the beauty in myself.
That’s the thing about advice: the ones that stay with us are often the simplest. It also doesn’t always stem from trends we see on social media, but from real people who shape our lives—from a parent, a mentor, a dermatologist, a trusted content creator, or a makeup artist who left a lasting impression.
This is the wisdom we wanted to uncover at the Allure Beauty Lab last weekend. As Allure Philippines celebrates the launch of its Volume 4 issue fronted by global superstars Katseye, we asked founders, dermatologists, makeup artists, hairstylists, creators, and other industry insiders one question: What’s the best beauty advice you’ve ever received?
From the experts, artists and creators shaping beauty today, here are 25 pieces of advice they’ve carried with them throughout their careers:
Dr. Jasmin Jamora, President of Philippine Dermatological Society
Nicole Almero
“When I was young, I was jealous of a girl who was super pretty, and I told my mom, I just need to lose weight so I can look like her. My mom said, even if you lost weight, you’re not going to look like her, you’re just going to look like yourself. So just be yourself and love yourself, because you’re pretty.”
LA Aguinaldo, model & content creator
Nicole Almero
“Throughout the years, I’ve tried countless skincare routines, but what really counts also is outside your bedtime routine. It starts with drinking a lot of water, taking good vitamins, taking collagen, because I feel like if you take the right vitamins, it’s just naturally going show through your skin. So, if you combine that with your skincare, it’s just the perfect cocktail.”
Alex Javier, founder of Dala
Nicole Almero
“The best beauty advice that I’ve received is to just tone down. Calm down your nervous system, and then just have fun with it.”
Evan Tan, model & content creator
Nicole Almero
“This one is really basic, but drink water, stay hydrated. There’s no replacement for that. Like, it doesn’t matter what age, drink your water.”
Habie Mondido, model
Nicole Almero
“My beauty advice is whenever you find something beautiful or you like it personally: just wear it, just do it. At the end of the day, opinions don’t matter. What matters is that you satisfied yourself—you felt good, you felt beautiful. Personally, before, I would always second think and overthink—am I going to wear this? Is this going to look good? Will people like it? Just do it. Just be you. Everyone will love you if you are you.”
Cats del Rosario, makeup artist
Mikiyo Ricamora
“I think more than anything, it’s that you can be physically pleasing and pretty, but people forget about character. And that actually exudes more than the physical attributes. But at the same time, confidence is also important. Skill can bring you somewhere, but your character brings you further and makes you last longer in the industry. “
Dr. Raissa Francisco Pasion, board-certified dermatologist
Nicole Almero
“The best beauty advice I received was from my mother, who always reminded me that your inner beauty should always outshine your outer beauty.”
Jelly Eugenio, professional celebrity makeup artist
Nicole Almero
“Invest in yourself. Because when you invest in yourself, everything will feel better. If you look good, you just feel more confident. You love what you do. You love to go out. You love to show yourself. You just love your life more if you really invest in yourself, because yourself is your best—best everything! It’s your best tool. Invest in yourself.”
Kristine Atienza, first Filipino analog astronaut & nutritionist
Nicole Almero
“I think the best advice or beauty advice I got was really simple: sleep well.”
Paul Nebres, professional hairstylist
Nicole Almero
“Take care of your hair. Just like skin care, we need hair care. So, hair care will complete everything. Just like makeup, [hair care] is the setting spray of everything.”
Suyen Salazar, founder of Studio Suyen
Nicole Almero
“So, for me, it’s always based on how you feel in beauty. If something feels good for you, then that projects outwards. So, it’s whatever you want to do. You can do heavy glam, no-makeup makeup. You want to have a snatched look or a ponytail, or you just don’t want to do your hair — it’s whatever you feel your best in, I think, is the number one advice.”
Lourd Ramos, professional hairstylist
Nicole Almero
“Take off your makeup after an event! So you look fresher, so your skin can breathe. And then the following day, you still look gorgeous, and you look younger as you age. I always go back to that.”
Gee Jocson, fashion stylist
Nicole Almero
“When there’s self-compassion, there is beauty. You have to be kind to yourself, you take care of yourself, you make sure that all of your needs, mentally and physically, would be accommodated, and when those two are met, you instantly glow inside out.”
Grant Babia, photographer
Nicole Almero
“From a photography perspective, be messy as you can, explore anything, be creative, don’t be afraid to make mistakes in beauty. Just enjoy what kind of beauty you want, don’t follow the trends—make your own trend! Explore, and create something new.”
Chloe San Jose, content creator
Nicole Almero
“A beauty advice I saw on TikTok is to take inspiration from a celebrity that has similar features as you. Since they all get the makeup artists and stylists—like if you have similar facial features, we can actually take those bits and pieces as inspiration for ourselves.”
Art Torrontegui, content creator
Nicole Almero
“Never ever compare yourself or your work to anyone. We have our own individuality, we have our own creativity. If you just stick to what you’re doing, you will definitely find authenticity in it, and you will flourish.”
Jasmine Helen Dudley-Scales, artist
Nicole Almero
“My best beauty advice—especially that I’m a newer artist or an artist now, and I have quite an influence—is to really start from within. You can’t be all beautiful on the outside, or trying to be when you’re not on the inside, so it’s really important to take care of your health, and then everything else will come out and resonate on the outside.”
Alodia Quimbo, model, cosplayer & entrepreneur
Nicole Almero
“One piece of advice I would come back to is really to prioritize your sleep. If you get enough sleep, you wouldn’t need that much beauty regimen, because sleep recovers your body from within.”
Cat Triviño, co-founder of MindNation
Nicole Almero
“My favorite wellness and beauty advice is really taking care of your mental health. I think everything is connected, and when you feel good, especially in your mind, it just radiates in your skin and in your body, so I always make sure to get to that—and also make sure to get rest.”
Winwyn Marquez, model, actress & mother
Nicole Almero
“I think I kind of have a regret that I didn’t start this earlier: wearing sunscreen. I didn’t believe, kasi when I was younger. It wasn’t really a thing, like, bathing under the sun was okay, but actually the UV lights do harm your skin and I think I can see it now in my age. Even if I don’t have makeup, sunscreen is the number one—it’s a must.”
Renato Lopez Jr, founder of Wren Atelier
Nicole Almero
“Be you. Take care of your skin. Wear sunscreen, because for me as a guy, I don’t really like to put stuff on my face, but now I can see the importance because it’s not really about vanity—it’s about taking care of your skin.”
Jones Palteng, stylist
Nicole Almero
“When it comes to makeup, before the foundation comes on–skin prep, skin care is key. Because how can you make something beautiful if the foundation for it-–your skin—is not prepared for it? So put on your serums; those face masks, it’s really important to make sure that the skin is ready to receive the makeup, because it really creates a huge difference.”
Jigs Mayuga, professional makeup artist
Kim Santos
“Always use moisturizer. If there’s one thing I don’t skip every day, it’s moisturizer. Even if I have oily skin, and even when I was young when I was 13, moisturizer helped make sure that my skin is hydrated. It preps your skin care for your other makeup products, too.”
Charmaine Grace Palermo, founder of Posh Skin Co.
Kim Santos
“Beauty is really from within. So you really have to eat healthy, you have to take care of yourself, hydrate, you have to sleep. Sleep is super, super important; and you have to work out, you have to do movements that make you happy. So because once you get all of those, it will come out in your skin naturally.”
Margaux Arambulo-Lucena, founder of Dermtropics
Excel Panlaque
“I’m just very lucky, I grew up with a family of dermatologists—my mom is a dermatologist and her one beauty advice is really sticking to the basics. There are a lot of trendy brands and ingredients, but as a very conservative and minimalist dermatologist, especially when we have sensitive skin, it’s keeping your skincare simple.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Dermatologists in this roundup consistently recommend daily moisturizer and sunscreen, and stress sticking to simple, basic skincare routines rather than chasing trendy ingredients or actives — especially important for those with sensitive or acne-prone skin types.
Makeup artists and stylists say character and self-compassion outshine physical appearance, noting that confidence and inner beauty make people memorable long after technical skill fades, since skill alone cannot sustain a lasting career in the industry.
Insiders repeatedly cite sleep, hydration, and mental health as core to good skin, saying that rest and stress management show up directly in complexion and overall glow, often more noticeably than any single product used.
Yes. Wren Atelier founder Renato Lopez Jr. says he now wears sunscreen every day, reframing it as essential skin protection rather than vanity, despite his past reluctance as a man to put products on his face.
Models like Habie Mondido encourage wearing or doing whatever feels personally beautiful, saying outside opinions matter less than feeling confident and true to yourself, since genuine self-satisfaction ultimately outweighs external validation from other people.
