How Bethany Talbot Went From UAAP Football Player to Beauty and Lifestyle Creator

At night, content creator Bethany Talbot often lets a sheet mask sit on her face for 30 minutes. Then comes another. By the time she gets through the rest of her skincare routine, nearly two hours have passed, and it’s a surprisingly still picture of someone who has spent most of her life in motion. 

Student-athlete, model, former Math major, Social Work student, content creator—there has always been something to do, somewhere to go, and, more often than not, a next thing waiting for Bethany. Football once filled her weeks spanning from Monday to Sunday—even when the pandemic brought training indoors, she was pushing shelves and cabinets around her bedroom to make enough room to practice. 

And as it happened, that same bedroom would soon become the stage for a very different routine. After some encouragement to share her skills on TikTok, she uploaded a clip of herself juggling a ball in her makeshift training space. The video took off; she kept posting, and what began as a way to share football gradually became a career in content creation—something she never imagined herself doing publicly.

And after four years in the UAAP, Bethany stepped away from the one thing she knew best. “I really had to figure out a healthy way to balance everything,” she admits. She shifted from Mathematics to Social Work, too; and at the same time, took on modeling and content creation full time.

Today, there are shoots, Instagram and TikTok content, travel trips and a new business venture to think about. Bethany Talbot is still in motion—she goes to the gym, goes bouldering, does Muay Thai. But there are other parts of her life that happen away from the feed: quiet time with her partner, her family, her pets, and, lately, skincare that takes two hours instead of two minutes. 

In this Allure Philippines exclusive, Bethany opens up about growing up as a ballerina, work-life balance, embracing her kulit personality, and the decision to step away from competitive football. 

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What were you doing before being a content creator? 

So I was a football player and a student.

How is it balancing your life? So were you doing content creation during your football years? 

Yeah, there was a period, but I really grew up playing football as in. It was probably my whole life. That’s all I did—So from Monday to Sunday, all days, weekdays, weekends, I was playing football, guys!

And then during the pandemic was the only time in my life where football wasn’t happening. Although we still had online training, which is crazy to think about—I was training in my bedroom! So I had to move everything aside, that’s in my shelves, my cabinets, to have space for football. And then that was the time where I felt like I had the time to explore other things. And so that’s when I discovered content creation. 

What did you do in online training? 

That was so crazy. Honestly, I don’t even know how I made it happen because we never knew when things would go back. So we have to be ready, physically ready at all times. I would just train in my bedroom, and I think that lasted for two years of online training for football. 

Your earliest memory of loving beauty?

So what I put here was doing my own makeup for dance performances. Guys! I feel like nobody knows this—this is an [Allure Philippines] exclusive. I grew up dancing. Aside from football, one of my first loves was ballet, so it’s insane that this is my outfit because I was actually a ballerina probably for six years, I did ballet. And that was one of my first loves, aside from football. 

And so we would have performances in school, or outside of school, where I would do my own makeup, and I found it so fun just being pulled out of class with my best friends and having to do our makeup together for our dance performances in school. I was around seven years old when I started doing my own makeup—like all the black eyes, the blue eyeshadow, the glittery eyes, the bold lipstick. I did all of that at the age of seven. 

What was your very first beauty post on your feed?

I was really trying to think about this because beauty isn’t the majority of my content. But when I started, I think I did like a back to school makeup routine. I think I remember doing that during the pandemic. Or kahit parang, getting ready with me to go play football or something. But definitely something to do with being a student athlete na makeup ko.

So the video or post that changed everything for you?

So the reason why I started posting on TikTok was because somebody asked me to post football content online during the pandemic. So I was also online, on TikTok, in social media just scrolling. But I wasn’t actually posting until someone asked, why don’t you post your football videos? So my first ever post was me in my bedroom again, juggling a football. And then it kinda went viral at that time—at the time it was viral for me, my first ever video! And that’s when I started making a variety of content, but football was the start of it.

A risk you took that paid off? 

Posting. That was a risk for me because I never imagined myself to be like a public person or a public personality. It was just me and my friends, and then I would post whatever daily life I had on Instagram. And then I was like, oh, parang, I can see myself posting more and publicly also. That’s what I did. That was a risk because it was scary. but I actually did enjoy it.

A moment you almost quit but didn’t? 

Okay, so when I was thinking about this, there wasn’t a moment where I truly wanted to quit. But probably what I thought was the hardest moment for me, and it was when everything transitioned after the pandemic. It was all fun when I didn’t have football training and I could post whenever I wanted, but then when everything went back to normal face-to-face, that’s when I really had to think about balancing everything. 

And it was very difficult for around two years. And yeah, I didn’t quit social media. But sadly, I actually did quit competing competitively for football. So I guess if there’s one thing that I did quit, it was that. Content creation still stayed in my life, so that’s why I’m here. 

Why did you quit competitive football? When? When and why? 

I think it was three years ago—two to three years ago. And the reason why, I’ve already completed four years already for UAAP. And at the same time, I shifted courses, so many things changed after the pandemic. I started content creation, modeling, and then UAAP was happening. And then I wanted to shift courses, so a lot of transitions, and I really had to figure out a healthy way to balance everything.

What’s your course now? 

So from BS Mathematics, I’m now in BS Social Work. Very, very different courses. So from a very science-related course to basically a humanities course. It was a crazy transition, but I’m honestly the happiest I’ve ever been. 

For math majors, math is fun. But the reason I shifted is—because I never considered myself to be a creative person, but for some reason, the creative side of me wasn’t satisfied. And so I felt like I needed to explore a different thing, basically.

Excel Panlaque

So describe your beauty content in three words.

Simple, natural, and relatable. 

I’ve never considered myself a beauty expert—I’m just a beauty enthusiast, someone who enjoys makeup, skincare, and beauty on the daily, just as an everyday user. So I would say my content is definitely more simple. I may do simple makeup routines on myself because that’s personally what I like for myself.

Natural, I am not the most creative. So I kind of have—not have to, but I do enjoy more of the more natural approach when it comes to my routine. And relatable, because I think this is a relatable thing where we see all these fun, creative platforms, but they’re so hard to do. So I feel like that’s why people probably watch my content, is because they see themselves in the routine that I’m doing where it’s simple, it’s natural, and it’s relatable.

One word that defines your trademark beauty.

I’d say everyday, because the looks that I do are looks where you can wear everyday whether you’re going to the mall to school or the gym or playing a sport. I feel like my look is personal because it’s so simple that you can do it everywhere with a tiny mirror—which I do! You can do it outdoors. 

What keeps people coming back to your page?

My kulit personality. Because guys, I cannot offer you really good beauty advice, techniques and all that, but I truly think people come to me because of my kulit personality—that’s what they comment! When I do serious videos, they’re like… This is weird… where’s your kulit side, your weirdness—so I guess hinahanap nila, and that’s what they come back for.

Matte or dewy base? 

Dewy. Oh, I love a good dewy, glowy base. I will keep spraying dewy sprays on; I will put moisturizer, sunscreen, everything that can make my face dewy.

Full glam or no makeup-makeup? 

Guys, I wish I could be a full glam girl, but I’m just not good enough for it. So, I go for no makeup-makeup. 

3-step routine or 10-step routine?

Okay, my answer here surprised me because I feel like if you ask me the 3-step routine a month ago, I would’ve said a 3-step routine, but now that I finished my semester, guys, I’m loving my 10-step routine.

I feel like I take probably two hours to do my skincare because I’ll do one mask where you have to leave it for 30 minutes—and then another mask that’s like another 30 minutes. And then, it’s just so fun! Because now that I have the time, I actually enjoy immersing myself in the whole 10-step routine. I get it—I did it last night. It was so fun. I feel like, I don’t know, it’s so relaxing!

Morning skincare or nighttime skincare? 

Night skincare, because again, you can do so much more at night. The mask, the face mask, all the thick moisturizers in the morning. I would say, limited time. But yeah, nighttime. 

Short hair or long hair?

Long hair. You know what? People think that shorter hair is easier to maintain but actually, longer hair is so much easier—so much more hairstyles you can do. Less maintenance for me, personally.

Air dry or heat styling? 

Air dry. I think it’s just because I don’t have enough time all the time, but if I could, I do love a good heat style—especially if I want to look more put together. 

Bar soap or body wash? 

Body wash. Also, ‘cause it’s just quicker. 

Hand cream or body butter? 

I say body butter. I can’t think of a specific brand right now, but I just love soaking my body in butters, lotions, creams. As in, I love my body moisturized.

Layering scents or one fragrance only? 

I’m a layering scents person. As in, I spray so much. I have a variety and I always depend on my mood for that day and wherever I’m going. A lot of my go-to scents are Jo Malone and that’s where I would say my luxury high-end [perfumes are].

Okay, so this is what I do: I like to spray my high-end perfume first, and then I like to spray an affordable scent after. So, a lot of my scents are from The Body Shop. So I like to mix high-end and more affordable scents together—I don’t know if that’s good to do but that’s what I do. 

Spray scent on skin or on clothes?

Spray scent on skin. I feel like it sticks better on the skin.

Rest day or active recovery?

Recovery but realistically, rest day. I love just being in my bed. As in, hindi ako babangon, I’ll have a matcha, I’ll look for a show or a documentary to watch and that’s like a perfect rest day for me. 

Coffee or matcha? 

Matcha, 100 times.  I’m not really a coffee person, but I’m definitely a matcha person. 

What’s your favorite variation of matcha?

I just love a classic plain matcha, specifically with oat milk and my sweetener—agave. My girlfriend makes my matcha, sadly I don’t make my own matcha, but she makes it perfectly for me and it’s hard for me to order matcha anywhere else because it’s so perfect.