Finally Filipino cuisine is getting the recognition it long deserves. To celebrate the wondrous colors and textures of Pinoy food, we rounded up some of our personal favorites and got creative. From Bourdain-approved lechon to pansit and perennial merienda favorite halo-halo, it’s chibog like you’ve never seen before.
SWEET AND SALTY
The delightful puto is a merienda favorite, especially when topped with a wedge of cheese or salted egg. Here, the savory flavor becomes the focal point via nail art. The classic French tip is given a twist by using the stark base as a canvas for drippy art in an arresting, vivid shade.
ULTIMATE ROAST
Perhaps nothing signals a big-time celebration more than a whole roast suckling pig splayed on the table. The best kind has a deep, burnt caramel hide that yields a crackle that resonates throughout the room and steaming, heart-stompingly juicy meat infused with herbs and spices. Makeup artist Xeng Zulueta used an earthy, cinnamon-spiced palette to create this lip-smacking look, dapping a cool toned brown liquid lipstick and a liberal application of facial gloss to give that skin that sweaty, sexy gleam.
MIX IT UP
What could possibly be more Pinoy than this colorful dessert? Not only is halo-halo the perfect dessert for many gut-busting meals, but its melange of textures (smooth shaved ice, crunchy pinipig, glutinous nata just to name a few) and motley of colors make it the ultimate edible firsts. For this look, Makeup artist Bea Colet smudged a rainbow of cream shadows along the eyes and paired it with glossy nude lips and radiant skin.
By Trina Epilepsia Boutain
Photography Jerick Sanchez and Randy Capinpin
Makeup Xeng Zulueta and Bea Colet
Hair Mong Amado and Jan Edrosolan
Nails Luz Fortuno of Triple Luck Brow & Nail Salon
Models Tola (PMAP) and Wanda (Chic Models)
Frequently Asked Questions
The three looks are inspired by puto, roast suckling pig (lechon) and halo-halo. Puto becomes drippy nail art on a French tip, lechon becomes a cool-toned brown lip with facial gloss, and halo-halo becomes a rainbow of cream shadows with glossy nude lips.
The puto-inspired nail look reworks the classic French tip, using the stark base as a canvas for drippy art in an arresting, vivid shade. It takes cues from the merienda favorite puto, especially when topped with cheese or salted egg, turning its savory flavor into the focal point.
Makeup artist Xeng Zulueta created the roast suckling pig look with an earthy, cinnamon-spiced palette. The look used a cool-toned brown liquid lipstick and a liberal application of facial gloss to give the skin a glistening finish, echoing the burnt caramel hide of a celebratory roast.
The halo-halo look, by makeup artist Bea Colet, smudges a rainbow of cream shadows along the eyes and pairs them with glossy nude lips and radiant skin. It reflects the dessert’s mix of textures such as shaved ice, pinipig and nata, and its motley of colors.
The looks celebrate the colors and textures of Filipino dishes as Filipino cuisine gains recognition. Created by makeup artists Xeng Zulueta and Bea Colet with nail art by Luz Fortuno of Triple Luck Brow & Nail Salon, they reinterpret favorites from puto to lechon and halo-halo.
