5 Business Hacks in Beauty Pageant Industry Uncovered

By Go EntrePinay 4:32:00 PM Entrepreneurship Startup

Oooh summer! Nothing can sizzle as hot as the soaring temperature but beauties on parade. Yes, the country's most prestigious beauty pageant, the 2016 Bb. Pilipinas, was just concluded the other night, last April 17, with Maxine Medina winning the top Bb. Pilipinas-Universe title. Once again, Pinoy beauty pageant fanatics huddled together while glued to the black tube to watch the show, even how late it took to announce the winners. But behind all the beauty and glamour, beauty pageants have managed to bring out today one vibrant industry of enduring business players, perhaps ranging from independent freelancers to enterprising business owners. They are those who are responsible for putting up long-time running beauty pageants which have kept loyal Pinoy viewers mystified and entertained through all these years. If you're one with a penchant for beauty, it's worth taking note of some business hacks that thrive with the prolific and undying beauty pageant industry in the country.

Philippine beauty pageant.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Pinoys' love for beauty pageants

Admittedly, the search for beauty is universal and dates as ancient as Greek mythology. In the country, there's just an air of charm and magic brought, not only by Bb. Pilipinas, but by beauty pageants in general, to Pinoy audiences. For one, the Bb. Pilipinas beauty pageant has been consistently wrapped up with so much excitement and anticipation every year, which helped sustain its existence for more than fifty years now since 1964, long enough to be reminiscent of anyone's childhood days.

Beauty pageants are also held left and right everywhere in the country down even to the far-flung barrios while being made as local attractions during fiesta time. Whereas before beauty contests were popularly timed with summer only, you can hear trickles of them held the whole-year round now. Manila Bulletin report showed that as of October 2014, the Philippines has a total of 43 beauty and modelling competitions. Included here are the 4 major contests -- Ms. World Philippines, Ms. Philippines Earth, Mutya ng Pilipinas, and Bb. Pilipinas.

Early hits and misses

But Pinoys' love affair with beauty pageants started even much earlier than today's much coveted Bb. Pilipinas seat. A history of beauty pageants in the Philippines showed that as early as 1908, the country was crowning already its first Manila Carnival Queens. Back then, untrained pageant contenders landed a title because of renowned beauty or descent from a well-bred family.

It was in 1952 when the country was first represented in the Ms. Universe pageant in Long Beach, California. However, it was only in 1964 when Gemma Cruz bagged the country's first major international title as Ms. International. Then other major awards ensued with winnings of Ms. Universe by Gloria Diaz in 1969 and Margie Moran in 1973, and again, Ms. International by Aurora Pijuan in 1970.

Melanie Marquez capped the early period of winning streak for the Philippines when she won as Ms. International in 1979. Thereafter in the 1980s and 1990s, the country's triumph for a major beauty crown remained elusive. Incidentally during this dry spell on victories, pageant contestants usually didn't go through formal training. Most were fresh graduates or plain students who just relied merely on pageant tips from fashion designers who also acted as mentors.

The hard road to the crown

In 2005, Precious Lara Quigaman managed to put back the country in the forefront again by scoring with the Ms. International title. Then in 2013, Megan Young finished off a remarkable win as the first ever Ms. World for the Philippines.

Pia Wurtzbach
Photo courtesy of Marktanoja78 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

For the Ms. Universe title, it was only again starting 2010 when the country began closing in to the crown with a winning streak that started from Venus Raj, Shamcey Supsup, Janine Tugonan and up to Ariella Arida, who all landed Top 5 positions in the prestigious pageant. And then finally, Pia Wurtzbach got the crown as Ms. Universe 2015, after being relinquished from 1st-place runner up. To date, this now brings a total of 3 Ms. Universe wins for the Philippines.

With the latest pageant track record put up by the country's local beauty queens, competition has turned stiffer, which in turn also required more stringent preparations. Gone are the days when candidates were fielded into the pageant fresh and raw; getting formal training usually for at least half a year is more of the scheme now to stand out and win a pageant. Hence, there’s the emergence of beauty training camps nowadays, which summon skilled resource persons to teach make-up application, personal styling, fitness training, etc.

Now a flourishing industry

With the Philippines now recognized as a major beauty power force in international contests, the country is also being tagged with new titles such as the Beauty Queen Training Capital of the World and even, The Venezuela of the Orient Seas. But it’s most amazing how Pinoys’ love for beauty pageants has likewise spawned an intricate industry joined in by several players, who each have a hand in molding and training the next beauty titlist locally or internationally.

Below are the possible businesses you may consider if you want to take part in the dynamic beauty pageant industry. These are great for freelancers as a start, especially if you’re one pageant aficionado wanting a more active experience of the event. But nevertheless, these may also be turned into actual businesses with workers and staff of your own to cater to private customers later on.

1. Fashion designers. From swimsuits, national costumes, and to long gowns, the skills and expertise of fashion designers are greatly called for in beauty pageants. At the just concluded 2016 Bb. Pilipinas, local Pinoy fashion designers finally took center stage for wardrobe requirements of the candidates.

2. Make-up artists. Beauty queen aspirants also need to learn from make-up artists application techniques for cosmetics and proper skin care and maintenance for a healthy glow. All these they have to master by themselves as they can't rely on assistance of others during actual pageant competition.

3. Personal stylists. It's also necessary for beauty candidates to properly package themselves with the right individual look. Here, personal stylists can guide them how to build a wardrobe ensemble which can be mixed and matched to convey a candidate's unique personality through her own fashion choice.

4. Fitness gurus. Doing various exercises is essential for beauty contenders to stay fit and maintain their shapely figures. Candidates can consult with fitness trainers who can devise complete and tailor-fit exercise activities to trim one's physique from the head down to toes while considering one's health condition.

5. Public speaking experts. For proper self-projection, candidates can learn much from public speaking trainers, such as Dale Carnegie, which help provide training on areas of personality development, verbal expression, confidence boosting, global thinking, and human relations. Communication tools can also be taught to aid candidates articulate quicker and more intelligent answers.

Undoubtedly while the beauty pageant industry prepares perennial feasts for the eyes, it also serves as a rewarding and fulfilling catch-basin for freelancers-turned-serious entrepreneurs who have the discerning eye for beauty and arts.

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