Bianca Gonzalez rang in her ruby year in a very empowering way.
On Instagram on March 13, 2023, two days after her 40th birthday, Bianca posted a carousel of photos baring her face sans any trace of makeup.
She wrote in the caption, "‘Beej, I turn 40 this March and I wanna shoot a portrait that’s very raw, no make up or styling, literally ‘this is me’ ang peg."
That exactly was her instruction to celebrity photographer BJ Pascual for her birthday shoot.
"He answered, ‘Game!! That would be amazing’," Bianca continued in her post
The television host explained she had always wanted to do a professional shoot bare-faced and unstyled.
"I’ve been modeling since I was 17 years old and so every professional photo I’ve had has me in full make up, hair, and styling.
"I loved doing all that, yes!
"But I've long wanted to have a very RAW portrait of me—like those I’d see in Richard Avedon’s work—and I was never really sure if I could pull it off.
"Baka mamaya, I’d set up this fancy shoot, only to have photos I’m not happy with."
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Going through a daring portrait demonstrated Bianca's confidence in her own body.
She declared in her post:
"I’ve been proud of my morena skin for many years, yes," she went on.
"But it’s only now that I’ve fully embraced and accepted all my body’s flaws and imperfections, peklats, dark knees and all.
"I still get conscious about it at times, but I’m no longer tough on myself about it.
"In this stage of my life, I feel confident to step in front of a lens with no make up on my face. Literally, just me."
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GOING UNFILTERED
Bianca related that during the shoot, she told the team not to touch up any part of her appearance: "‘Don’t edit out my lines, eye bags or sun spots ha,’ I said."
This part of her caption read: "BJ understood the deeper meaning of what I wanted to do.
"With no make up artist, no hairstylist, no stylist on set, we just played around.
"I put on some lip oil, BJ got down on his knee to zhush my hair, Damian his right hand man fanned my hair for wind effect, and his assistant Rolly curled the ends of my hair for one shot.
"The most chill shoot ever, and one of my favorites to date.
"Thank you @bjpascual, you are a creative genius and I love you! These are officially my favorite portraits because you captured ME."
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To end her birthday shoot post, Bianca recalled an incident that inspired her to try the concept.
"A few years back, I was in @lalaflores16’s make up chair and she told me something I would never forget.
"She said, ‘Ang happiness, hindi napho-Photoshop.’
"That has stuck with me ever since.
"And I guess now, the reason I want to have these portraits taken is not just because I fit a certain standard of what is “beautiful” in my mind.
"It’s really because I AM truly, genuinely HAPPY."
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