Beauty and Madness

as pinays, we’ve always been mad about mestiza looks. I am for one. we have this incurable desire to be who we are not. well, that is if the following is anything to go by à bleaching soaps, whitening lotions, pretty-when-pinched tints for the cheeks, hair coloring, colored contact lenses, very high-heeled-though-uncomfortable shoes...etc etc.

So people watching while at our Sports Café has been one of my fave past times. even if I’m a girl, sometimes I can’t help but ogle at the gorgeous faces walking past thru me. Arabs, Lebanese, Palestinians, Brits, French, Italians, Russians, Moroccans… name it, I’ve seen it. i have daily encounter with these beauty-in-flesh! and maybe the reason why they are not so keen on celebs here is because a pretty face is such a common place… and for me, the best raw beauty is the Palestinian face…such innocence, such clear skin, deep set oval eyes, aquiline nose… oh, could take your breath away…


but come to think of it, these beauties that we adore also have their fair share of physical hang-ups. the brits complain about wrinkles and too much white skin…the Italians about their too-much pointed nose…the Indians about dark skin… arabs about their flabs…and so on and so forth…


and if you’d think that pinays don’t fare well in this league, well think again…honestly, I’ve never heard so much high regard for Pinay beauty than in this part of the globe. i spoke with a briton and german lass, and they are so green with envy at how we manage to stay so young-looking forever, plus, the fact that we do not need a bronzer to have this exotic tanned skin. some arab girls would love to have our soft, shiny black locks and petite frame, while some arab lads like our fresh-out-of-shower clean scents. and not to mention that many foreign guys are so enamored with the neatness, sweetness and domesticity of the pinays.

in the end, I guess what counts is being comfortable in your own skin. embrace the God-given gifts, warts and all. no need to complain about what He has given you for it is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder… what you wished to alter may be the one thing the other is dying to have… so girls, just love it and thank God for it! celebrate your own brand of beauty!