Photography SHAIRA LUNA
Make Up XENG ZULUETA
Hair JORM IMPERIAL
Videography DIX PEREZ
Special thanks to MARTIN BAUTISTA and JULIANNE SYJUCO
By Wanggo Gallaga
“I think the best love stories are the ones that you can appreciate even after its gone.”
Carla Humphries says as she’s being made-up for her shoot and the whole room bursts out in agreement. This is, of course, after she narrates the love story she has experienced recently in Europe. It wasn’t quite a whirlwind romance because the story unfolds over the span of two years and in various exotic locations all around the romantic cities in Europe but it was definitely life changing in the sense that it was a turning point for the 26-year old actress and artist.
Everything about the story sounds like it came from a movie. It began with a fortuitous meeting in Nice, France with a musician while on vacation with her sister at a record store, while Carla was looking at old records. The connection was there but there was no time to really spend time together and to get to know each other better as both would be traveling all over but there was another opportunity in Paris. They had kept in touch through text and, nine months later, while shooting in Amsterdam for 10,000 Hours, Carla took a road trip to Germany and he had happened to be there.
They met up again at Nice and began officially dating and had a whole month where they were in the same country. It was a lot of traveling for both of them. She flew to Brussels to be in his music video and he flew to Manila to spend Christmas with her. When he left, he asked her to come to Europe with him because he was having a difficulty with the long-distance relationship.
It was only in coming home that she was able to truly grasp the magnitude of her self-discovery. It was highlighted by the connection she made with her ex, but it was bigger than that. “It was an opportunity for me to fall in love with myself,” she says. “I saw the beauty of who I am and where I come from.” She got to know her grandparents and their love story while she was experiencing her own. She found her own voice.
Even if I didn’t get my happily-ever-after, even if we didn’t end up together, I think it was the journey I needed to take to become a woman. I was always so childlike.
She’s now tougher, smarter, wiser, and more importantly, she knows who she is and what she is capable of. Carla has grown up and it was this wonderful, quite cinematic story and while it was highlighted by a romantic tale of falling in love with another person, the true love story here is the one of Carla falling in love with herself.
“You have to take a chance,” Carla shares. “You have to get out of your comfort zones. I think sometimes that’s the only time you really live. When you live in a safe place, it means that you don’t have anything new.”
“That was the time that I was nominated for 10,000 Hours,” she shares. “I was leaving on a high note. I held a bazaar and sold a lot of stuff and left.” She wanted something new and she took a chance at a once in a lifetime adventure. They toured around and he helped her find her voice. “I sing but I never sang here in the Philippines because I was really, really shy,” she explains. “He really liked my voice and he really wanted me to start singing.”
They made videos and wrote songs and he got her gigs, singing as the front act for The Cannes Film Festival. She played with the best jazz musicians of Nice and sang old school songs wearing a long white dress with a vintage microphone. She even sang at the art exhibit of Salma Hayek’s artist husband in Monaco.
It was a magical experience for Carla but then reality kicked in. “There were things I needed to take care of back home,” she said. “I think it is because we rushed it. I think because everything was so beautiful we kind of got lost in it. When things settled in, we realized it was the wrong time for the both of us.”
Being a hopeless romantic, I don’t think I am one anymore… until the next story.
They ended their relationship as friends. Carla didn’t go home right away. Instead, she went to Paris and without a plan, bought a ticket to New York to accompany a friend. She found herself trying things she’s never done before and met people and even got to see a shooting of a Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks film that they were shooting on the streets of The Big Apple.
Before coming home, she flew to San Francisco to meet her grandfather. She was born there but left when she was five and never got to really know him. And she discovered so much about herself that she never knew before.
What is your beauty regiment?
I could tell you that the best beauty regiment is to moisturize every night and to drink a lot of water. But I can tell you that I always forget to drink water and I sometimes forget to take off my make-up. So honestly, I think the best beauty regiment is to always smile and learn to laugh at yourself.
What is the best advice you can give in how you use make-up and beauty products?
I think the best thing you can do is to take care of what you have. It’s not about concealing or emphasizing all the time. If you take care of your hair and your skin and if you take care of what you have, then it’ll be easier to look beautiful.
Who are your beauty icons?
Audrey Hepburn. My Mom. Brigette Bardot. Monica Bellucci. Catherine Deneuve.