Bianca Gonzalez is keeping it real for her 40th birthday shoot. 

The television host, who celebrated her milestone birthday on March 11, wowed her followers when she shared a series of makeup-free photos from her shoot with BJ Pascual on Instagram. In her caption, Bianca, who is a former model, said she had been wanting to do a “raw” pictorial, but wasn’t sure if she could actually pull it off — until now.

“I’ve been modeling since I was 17 years old and so every professional photo I’ve had has me in full make up, hair, and styling. I loved doing all that, yes! But I've long wanted to have a very RAW portrait of me—like those I’d see in Richard Avedon’s work—and I was never really sure if I could pull it off. Baka mamaya, I’d set up this fancy shoot, only to have photos I’m not happy with,” Bianca said. 

“I’ve been proud of my morena skin for many years, yes, but it’s only now that I’ve fully embraced and accepted all my body’s flaws and imperfections, peklats, dark knees and all,” she continued. “I still get conscious about it at times, but I’m no longer tough on myself about it. In this stage of my life, I feel confident to step in front of a lens with no make up on my face. Literally, just me.” 

Bianca then credited BJ and his team for capturing exactly what she had in mind. She described their session as the “most chill shoot” she's had ever, and definitely “one of my favorites to date.”

“‘Don’t edit out my lines, eye bags or sun spots ha,’ I said. ‘Yes, gets kita,’ he quipped. BJ understood the deeper meaning of what I wanted to do. With no make up artist, no hairstylist, no stylist on set, we just played around,” she said. “I put on some lip oil, BJ got down on his knee to zhush my hair, Damian his right hand man fanned my hair for wind effect, and his assistant Rolly curled the ends of my hair for one shot.“

“Thank you @bjpascual, you are a creative genius and I love you! These are officially my favorite portraits because you captured ME,” she added. 

Towards the end of her post, Bianca recalled a conversation she had with makeup artist and friend Lala Flores a few years ago that truly stuck with her.

“A few years back, I was in @lalaflores16’s make up chair and she told me something I would never forget. She said, ‘Ang happiness, hindi napho-Photoshop.’ That has stuck with me ever since,” she said. 

“And I guess now, the reason I want to have these portraits taken is not just because I fit a certain standard of what is ‘beautiful’ in my mind. It’s really because I AM truly, genuinely HAPPY,” she added.

READ: Bianca Gonzalez on hosting ‘The Voice Kids’: ‘Still honestly incredibly surreal’

Bianca celebrated her 40th birthday with her husband JC Intal and their kids, Lucia and Carmen. Earlier, she revealed that she got new tattoos—her first—in honor of her two daughters ahead of her special day.