Celeste Cortesi: Your lips have skin, too!
It was hard to miss Celeste Cortesi. On her way to her recent contract signing with Viva Artists Agency, the model/beauty queen—looking sleek in a form-fitting red suit—stood out among the milling lunch break crowd at the building lobby.
And looking at her tower over just about everyone, it never occurred to us that her height was one of her many insecurities growing up in Parma, Italy.
“I had a lot of them when I was young. You may not believe it, but I used to be the shortest one in my class. I swear! I can show photos,” the Filipino-Italian model, who stands 5′ 9″ tall—and taller, with high heels on—told Lifestyle.
But through the years, Cortesi, slowly but surely, grew into herself. And as clichéd as it may sound, she realized that having “a good personality and character” is what ultimately matters.
“I just had to find my own strengths and learn not to compare myself to others,” she said. “I have learned that we’re all beautiful in our own ways.”
That doesn’t mean, however, that she’s now impervious to criticism or self-doubt. Despite being a pageant titleholder—an aspirational figure for beauty and confidence—she admitted that there are still days when she doesn’t really feel all that.
“I think it’s normal to not be at our 100 percent all the time, especially when it comes to our looks,” Cortesi, 26, stressed. “And that’s okay.”
But sometimes, a little pick-me-up can help make those dreaded days a touch more bearable. For Cortesi, putting lip plumper on usually does the trick.
Asul
“I love my lips. I can go out with zero makeup, but still feel good when I have some lip plumper on,” she said. “I don’t think you need a lot of products—you just have to have the right ones.”
Cortesi used to get her stash from international brands, either from South Korea or the United States, she said, and they can get quite pricey. That was one of the reasons that inspired her to come up with her own lip plumper, Asul, which costs P399 per tube.
“They usually cost upward of P1,000, which I believe isn’t affordable for everyone. When I thought about putting up my brand, I wanted to provide a more accessible alternative, so that more people can feel confident by simply enhancing their beauty,” she said of her product, whose star ingredient is shea butter, complemented by other skin nourishers like jojoba oil and peptides.
Some people go through an assembly line of products for their multi-step skincare routine, but all too often they neglect their lips, Cortesi observed. So, every chance she gets, she reminds people, “There’s skin on your lips, too! I think people don’t realize, or tend to forget, that fact. We apply so many serums and creams on our eye bags, etc., but none for the lips. They’re also important to your overall look. And that’s something I want to emphasize,” she said.
From formulation to promotion
What’s her thoughts on having lip fillers? “I don’t have anything against the idea. As long as it makes you feel confident and you’re not harming anyone—why not?” she said. “But again, not everyone has access to that.”
Celeste is one of the various ways to say “blue” in Italian, particularly when describing the sky’s hue. And so, in effect, Asul bears Cortesi’s name—a most compelling reason to ensure close involvement in its creation, from formulation to promotion.
“I worked on it for two years…I want the brand to reflect my persona, so I didn’t want to come up with something that I wouldn’t use myself,” said Cortesi, who hopes to expand her brand to a full-fledged lip care line in the future.
As for her workout routine, Cortesi tries to go to the gym as often as she can. She typically lifts weights and does cardio. She doesn’t particularly revel in it, truth be told, but she knows that fitness often leads to “great performances” at work.
“I swear, I didn’t have any!” she said, laughing.
But yes, sometimes, Italian food can be painfully hard to resist. “Lots of carbs! Carbonara and tiramisu—those are my favorites. Here, I love halo-halo,” she added. “Food is happiness. And I just want to be happy.”
While she’s steadfast in her entrepreneurial goals, she’s just as determined to pursue a career in acting. She’s undergoing workshops in preparation for future projects with Viva. And don’t worry about her Tagalog. She’s a fast learner, she said, and can understand the language just fine. “Ako ang bahala!” she said.
Given the chance, she would love to do action flicks. And what better actress to look up to than—you guessed right—Angelina Jolie?
