Tovic Salvador

Beauty is currency, says skin clinic founder

Article (news)

Josh Mercado

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1751672545994image3.jpeg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Glow Skin Clinic president Camille Padilla with head of marketing operations Caitlin Gonzales. Josh Mercado</div>There is nothing wrong with aiming to achieve an appearance based on either society&#x27;s or one&#x27;s own standards. Meanwhile, others simply want to feel good. At the end of the day, everyone has a different understanding of beauty.The concept of beauty has evolved over time. In the Philippines, having a white complexion and a model-shaped body used to be regarded attractive. There was an era when people celebrated their natural curves. There was a period of glass skin. But, whatever the concept, beauty is defined by one’s experiences.For Glow Skin Clinic founder and president Camille Padilla, who recently collaborated with BTL Aesthetics Philippines to introduce Exion and Emface, beauty is not afraid to display oneself in the way one wants.“For me, self-care isn&#x27;t enough. For me, being beautiful means being able to present yourself as you want to without worrying about social pressures,” she told ABS-CBN News.“And, certainly, beauty is currency. Totoo ‘yun,” she added.While there is an honest (or sad) truth to the &quot;beauty is currency&quot; statement, Padilla runs her business by always doing the right thing.“Do the right thing. I mean, pay the right taxes. Not just that. Pay your people well. ...We can&#x27;t provide good services, top quality services if I&#x27;m not treating my people right. So that&#x27;s, for me, that&#x27;s the most important thing,” Padilla shared with ABS-CBN News.She added, “Kasi, you know, if you treat your people right, they&#x27;re gonna be treating your customers better. Just try to do the right thing and maybe a little bit more. That&#x27;s important.”The 38-year-old female entrepreneur founded her beauty business in 2014.“Back then, the approach was very clinical. Meaning to say, you go to the clinic, you know, para kang ooperahan. It has that feeling before. I would always be traveling, tapos, I would try the facials, especially in the hotels. I noticed the difference is that the treatments in the hotels, they&#x27;re effective because they partner up with good brands. And at the same time, they’re very relaxing. So I wanted to bring that experience in Manila,” she recalled.Her clinic, which is currently located at Uptown Mall on 9th Avenue in Bonifacio Global City, offers rejuvenation and acne treatments, body tightening and contouring treatments, the latest fat reduction using Exion without needles, and a facelift-like treatment using Emface, democratizing high-performance skin technology and making cutting-edge self-care a part of everyday wellness.With the effects of the pandemic on the business and expanding rivals, Padilla admitted that having celebrity endorsers is not a priority.Unlike other clinics that rely on celebrities to represent their brands, she remarked, “We noticed that it&#x27;s really effective to invite personalities and then have them do an honest review of the service. It’s more raw. It’s more natural rather than actually paying someone.”<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1751672792436image5.jpeg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Photo by Josh Mercado</div>The launch of Exion and Emface was attended by influencers, industry friends, and journalists. Padilla was nervous during the initial part of the interview, admitting to being shy. She returned to the lifestyle writers’ table, calmer and more confident. She even discussed her family members, all of whom are remarkably accomplished.“Maybe, you know, if it&#x27;s a restaurant, I want to be the chef. But I don&#x27;t want to be the front of the house. I think I want to be the person who drives the company to its direction. But not really the face that everyone sees,” she admitted.While Padilla dislikes being in the spotlight, being one of the frontrunners of the beauty circle in BGC will make it difficult for her to remain in the background. For perspective, BGC is nearly entirely occupied by skin clinics that promote anti-aging treatments.Her thoughts on aging: “It&#x27;s popular to be young. They always say that one should age gracefully. But, you know, for me, the reason why I said that is because at this day and age, it is okay, perfectly fine, to ride with the wave, go with the flow, and be the youngest version of you using the beauty enhancements that are available in the market. It&#x27;s okay. It shouldn&#x27;t be frowned upon.”She further told ABS-CBN News, “It should be celebrated if one does look years younger. It&#x27;s okay for someone to do Botox and for someone to do treatments that are non-invasive. I mean, you shouldn&#x27;t be judged for it.”And if there&#x27;s one message that the beauty industry seems to want to send out right now, it&#x27;s this: don&#x27;t laugh at someone&#x27;s appearance, whether natural or improved. There is beauty in knowing that one perceives others as attractive, standard, or conventional. And the ugly truth is that everyone continues to shame others for striving to improve.“Whatever makes you happy, you should be proud of it. You should be confident in telling people about it. I think it&#x27;s changing. It&#x27;s changing,” she ended.

In an industry often obsessed with appearances, Glow Skin Clinic founder Camille Padilla champions authenticity, ethical business, and self-expression.

In an industry often obsessed with appearances, Glow Skin Clinic founder Camille Padilla champions authenticity, ethical business, and self-expression.