The most beautiful circus is back in town, and it’s time to play. What better stage for uninhibited self-expression than under the big top, where every face is a canvas and every look a main act? For the 2026 Beauty Awards, MEGA has brought together an eclectic mix of creatives and artists who will serve as guest judges for a spectacle full of whimsical sights.
So meet the ringmasters leading this year’s lineup. From cosmetics, skincare, and hair care to body care, fragrance, beauty tech, tools, treatments, and services, these beauty insiders are calling the shots and headlining the grand event, bringing their expertise and sharp instincts to crown the season’s biggest winners across numerous categories.
RELATED: MEGA Beauty Awards 2026: Welcome to the Beauty Carnival
Meet the Ringmasters of the MEGA Beauty Carnival
Booya, the Daring Mademoiselle Delphine of Makeup
Contrary to critics who believe cosmetics exist to hide, makeup artist Booya holds the opposite view. For the Bacolod-born, Metro Manila-based editorial and bridal makeup artist, beauty is a vehicle for revealing the parts of yourself that would otherwise go unseen. “It’s how you express the other layers of yourself that your raw self just can’t,” she tells MEGA. “It’s a different aspect, a facet of you that we get to see and get to know.”
Raised by her artist mother, Joan, Booya learned early on that her morena skin was something to celebrate. That foundation has shaped her career as she approaches her craft with pure self-expression in mind. “If it’s uniform, it’s like everybody else. It’s just a template,” she explains.
“If you express a different dimension of yourself, you get to introduce us to that side of yourself—to a character we would miss out on if you didn’t share that through beauty.”
—Booya
Booya favors spot color-correcting over heavy foundation, along with lightweight, skin-like bases and careful undertone matching tailored to deeper complexions. These are techniques she once shared with the audience on the MEGA BeautyCon stage in 2025, where she led a workshop on beauty for morena Filipinas.
As she steps into the role of makeup ringmaster for this year’s MEGA Beauty Awards, Booya brings a trained eye for products that perform across the full spectrum of Filipina skin tones.
Suyen Salazar, the Fantastic Cobweb Clarissa of Haircare
For some people, hair is just, well, hair. But it is so much more than that, something renowned hairstylist and Studio Suyen founder Suyen Salazar knows. For years, Salazar has helped women achieve their hair goals, such as through Studio Suyen’s famous dry haircuts. Whether it be long or short, curly or straight, Salazar understands the power of becoming your own person through hair. “For me, beauty resonates very much with just emphasizing their own natural way of doing things,” she tells MEGA. “It’s really just emphasizing what you have and what you currently own and what you can work to maximize your own presence and your own individualism.“
After having numerous women sit on Studio Suyen’s chairs, Salazar has firsthand experience of how hair, when done right, can change a person’s outlook on life. “From two years ago ’till now, the one constant thing that has always remained the same is that girls just wanted to look like themselves,” Salazar comments. “The way that we built the studio, the way that people find us, and the people that find us always have one thing in common, and it was always just timeless and classic.” Regardless of what look they go for, feeling the best version of themselves and building that trust are top priorities for the celebrated hairstylist.
Social media algorithms may make it feel like there needs to be a certain look or standard to be followed, but expressing yourself will always have a place in today’s curated world. “I think people see creativity as an outlet,” she shares. Everyone has their own definition of beauty that’s worth showing. And in doing so, it may inspire others to do the same. Hair is one of the best ways for an individual to share who they are with the world, and for Salazar, that’s a welcome fact.
“It’s fun when people can express themselves and share it with other people. When people do that, other people find it to be an inspiration to then do it themselves.”
—Suyen Salazar
As she picks this year’s winners as the guest judge of the haircare category, Salazar will be guided by her years of experience and intimate understanding of the technical and personal side of the craft in choosing products that live up to their promise.
Dom Cojuangco, the Marvelous Marionette of Skincare
Some of the best things come from knowing when to toss the rulebook. Dominique Cojuangco learned this firsthand when she co-founded The Collective—a multi-brand e-commerce platform for self-care—with her husband, Michael Hearn, at a time when the world had ground to a halt. During the pandemic, while routines everywhere were tightening into rigid regimens, she was building something that championed the opposite impulse: curiosity, flexibility, and the freedom to change your mind about what your skin needs.
With a magna cum laude degree from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in California and time spent at Istituto Marangoni in London, Cojuangco came to beauty through fashion, where self-expression had always been the point. She applies that perspective to The Collective by stocking products that sidestep cookie-cutter solutions in favor of offerings that serve a broader range of faces, tones, and sensibilities. For her, skincare is a space to listen to yourself.
“I think beauty is being yourself, so being able to have fun with it is super important, and that often entails not sticking to something so rigid.”
—Dom Cojuangco
Since becoming a mother to her daughter, Penelope Eloise, in 2024, her own rituals have pared back to whatever feels restorative in the moment. To her, your routine can shift with your life. Now, Cojuangco enters the MEGA Beauty Awards as the ringmaster for skincare, armed with a curatorial approach that favors whatever makes room for who you actually are on any given day.
Kai Javier, the Mighty Lady Hercules of Body Care
Kai Javier has always been an artist. Before her detailed beauty reviews that would earn her a loyal following, there was painting and digital art—mediums she poured herself into as someone who simply loves to create. So when she turned eighteen and found herself searching for something new to try, her pivot into makeup made perfect sense then. “I figured, why not just do my face?” she laughs. “Because if I get good at it, I’m going to glow up!”
The rest soon followed as she expanded into body care. Ask Javier what keeps her engaged after years of testing plenty of novelties in the local market, and her answer is immediate: enjoyment.
“I like to see the fun in it because there are so many products to try. There’s always something new, something a product has to offer, and that’s what’s really important to me. The whole fun part of it is like therapy.”
—Kai Javier
For her, body care is another realm where texture and sensation invite the same curiosity—one that can turn an everyday moment into a gift to yourself. As the MEGA Beauty Awards rolls into town, Javier takes her place as ringmaster for body care to share which novelties are best at making you feel at home in your own skin.
Maronne Cruz, the Magnificent Ellie the Illusionist of Fragrance
One of MEGA Beauty Awards’ most eclectic ringmasters, theatre actress and content creator Maronne Cruz is taking the reins of the fragrance category. Known for translating scents into vivid imagery, she approaches perfume as a story waiting to unfold. It’s no surprise, then, that storytelling is one of the first things she looks for in a fragrance.
“I look for fragrances that transport me somewhere, because I feel like smell is the most abstract of the senses.”
—Maronne Cruz
That love for storytelling extends beyond fragrance and into every facet of Cruz’s creative world. Whether through her style or content, she embraces eccentricity with confidence, never shying away from experimentation or pushing past trends in the name of self-expression. For her, beauty is at its best when there’s room to play. “It reminds us that we’re human. It takes expectations and standards away,” she reflects.
At the same time, Cruz acknowledges how easy it is to get swept up in the pressure to curate an image online. “It’s easy to lose yourself. They pressure you to present yourself a certain way, to curate. It’s healthy, but discernment is also important.”
As she helps crown this year’s standout scents, Cruz is looking beyond what’s simply pleasing to the nose. She’s drawn to fragrances with a clear point of view—ones that spark the imagination, stir emotion, and leave behind a story worth remembering.
Denise Laurel, the Psychic Marvel Madame Dolores of Tools & Tech
To the casual viewer, Denise Laurel is mostly known as an actress and celebrity. But what some may not know is that Laurel is a beauty girl at heart, especially in the last few years as an avid beauty fan. It’s all this and more that she brings as the guest judge for the Tools & Tech category, where she will be picking winners that meet her standard for a worthy product.
For Laurel, immersing herself in the beauty space has taken her all over the world. But if you ask her, the part of being a trusted voice in beauty is that it’s both an honor and a responsibility in championing Filipino beauty outside the country’s borders. “I just want to showcase the Philippines and hero how amazing our products are, how innovative we are as well,” she tells MEGA.
Getting to experience and witness the many facets of beauty across the world is a dream of many that Laurel is currently living. And the best part is that she’s doing so while embodying her truth. “When you’re true and when you’re proud of your truth, that can inspire somebody to do the same, and I find that beautiful.”
As someone who’s been exposed to the public spotlight for over thirty years, Laurel knows that public opinion is a double-edged sword. But at the end of the day, as long as she knows herself, she’ll continue to do what she loves. “Everybody’s always going to have something to say, but they’re not living your life. They don’t know the whole situation. They don’t know you. You can’t please everybody. It’s just knowing that you have been intentional about how you’ve been living your life. And nobody can knock that.”
Living your truth is what Laurel sees as what makes beauty special in the face of a shifting narrative that tries to put people into certain boxes.
“Beauty needs a space for self-expression because it’s like a ripple effect. Whatever your truth is, or whatever you put out there that’s true, could inspire somebody to be their truest self as well.”
—Denise Laurel
Andrea Beldua, the Bullseye Betty of Treatments & Services
“What have I done? I think the question should be, what haven’t I done?” photographer Andrea Beldua laughs.
When it comes to beauty treatments and services, Beldua has tried just about everything. Her journey began with lip fillers in 2017, and nearly a decade later, curiosity has evolved into confidence—and, more importantly, discernment. “The most important part is knowing where to go and who to trust,” she tells MEGA, sharing that she relies on different experts for different procedures, from Botox and fillers to facials. Years of navigating the world of aesthetic treatments have given her a clear understanding of what separates a worthwhile treatment from one that’s simply trending.
That perspective also shapes how she views beauty today. As social media and trends continue to influence the way people approach aesthetic treatments, Beldua believes beauty shouldn’t lose sight of its original purpose. For her, the freedom to experiment is only meaningful when it’s rooted in personal choice rather than outside expectations.
“It takes away from beauty being empowering to us. I think beauty should still be rooted in empowering ourselves. It should still be for us.”
—Andrea Beldua
As this year’s ringmaster for Beauty Treatments and Services, Beldua brings firsthand experience and a discerning eye to the judging panel, championing treatments that prioritize expertise, safety, and intention while empowering people to feel like the best version of themselves.
MEGA Beauty Awards 2026: Beauty Carnival by AGOO AZCUNA-BENGZON AND MARA GO
Photographed by GENIO FRONDOZA. Art direction by CLARE MAGNO. Produced by THESSMAR LECTURA. Multimedia artist TROY NONATO. Image dropouts by JONES PALTENG. Hair by GAB VILLEGAS Assisted by SYNK FRANCO. Makeup by KENRIC CARPIO Assisted by PAO CIAGO. Styling by JASON MAGO and ANGELO VASALLO. Model PAIGE PERRINE of PMAP and DASHA ROMANOVA of MERCATOR MODELS. Nail grooming by DESERIE QUINTAS of PASSIONAILS NAIL SALON & SPA. Production design by ARJ MADARANG. Photography assistant JOHN LIM
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