Carla Abellana: Celebrating Cruelty-Free Beauty

Celebrating cruelty-free beauty has never been this fun, and in case you haven’t read our first cover story featuring our February 2018 #CalyxtaGirl, Carla Abellana, we highly encourage you to catch up on Beauty and The Buddy, and how her love for animals all started.

Picking up from where we last left off in our interview during her cover girl shoot at Bark Central in Eastwood Mall, we continue to celebrate cruelty-free beauty in this week’s cover story by asking Carla some of the cruelty-free brands she uses, at the same time she shares with us her skin scare secrets (I think just about anyone will agree that even without makeup, Carla is blessed with the most fresh and flawless skin).

What is your definition of cruelty-free beauty?

Definitely a brand or a product that doesn’t do animal-testing. I have been very much conscious of the products I use, both cosmetics and even household products. I’ve been doing a lot of research about cruelty-free brands lately. And yeah, that’s my definition—they don’t test on animals. They don’t involve animals in the research and production of their products.

Can you name some of the cruelty-free brands you use, if any? And it doesn’t have to be just beauty but even household brands that you use!

Okay, my makeup brushes—I use Zoeva. It’s made out of bamboo. It’s not real animal hair that they use. In fact, my sister recently asked me for a brand of makeup brushes that’s cruelty-free, so I had to order them online. For household products, oh gosh, a lot. There’s one called Mother’s Touch. Messy Bessy is cruelty-free also. I have their sprays, their hand wash, I have the detergents, what else? Human Nature! They have both cosmetics and household products as well.

Can you share with us your skin care secrets? Your daytime skin care routine
and your night-time skin care routine?

I don’t leave the house without of course, washing my face, toning, moisturizing, and putting on SPF. Yeah, that’s it. And sometimes primer. A makeup primer. Of course, when I’m out during the day for work, I have makeup on but at the end of the day, I don’t forget to remove. So I use a cleansing oil to remove my makeup. I double rinse or double wash. I use cleansing oil to remove my makeup, and then facial wash immediately after. I also tone, and I put on my tons of moisturizers.

Are you dry-skinned?

Nooo! Actually, I’m normal skin but I have an oily t-zone. It was just recently that I started having an oily t-zone. So I tone, I use lots of moisturizers, eye creams, and even an overnight lip lotion or scrub. I drink lots of water, and I have Vitamin E supplements. I regularly get facials. Well, as much as I want to go regularly, at least twice a month I go to Aivee Clinic for facials. That’s it!

On a regular day, when you’re not doing shoots, what’s your go-to makeup look?

Just concealer, powder, mascara, and blush. I don’t even put on lipstick—just lip balm most of the time when I don’t have work. That’s it! Very simple. I don’t like putting too much makeup because it makes me oilier. So if there’s no work, not much makeup is piled on.

Pretend you were to leave the country, and you could only bring five products with you…

Of makeup only?!

Yeah, what would you bring?

Oh no!!!

Okay, let’s do five skin care products and five makeup products.

Okay, better! So skin care would have to be my oil-free facial wash. Oh no, five lang. (laughs) Toner for oily skin, moisturizer, SPF or sunscreen, and then my cleansing oil. That’s it!

What about for makeup?

For makeup—concealer, powder, blush, mascara, and lip balm.

Last question for this part. What’s the best beauty advice you’ve ever received and from who?

My Lola! Yup. She said, “The more you have your face touched by other people, the more you’d have to invest in taking good care of it.” Something along those lines. She means, whether it’s makeup, a cosmetic procedure, or anything done on your face or to your face, the more you’ll really have to take care of it; the more you’ll need to invest in it. So less is more! That’s from my Lola. If you haven’t seen it yet, Carla stars alongside Bailey the Bulldog, Booboo the Shihtzu, Motchi the Oversized Pomeranian, and Wiz and DJ, Bark Central’s very own Yorkies, in our cover girl video:

Don’t forget to also check out our ongoing #CalyxtaLoveYourPet contest, where we partnered with six beauty bloggers and their buddies to celebrate cruelty-free beauty and invite readers to participate! One lucky winner and her furry friend will win P5,000 worth of cruelty-free products from Calyxta, and a Muttress Slim from Bow House. To know more, read the complete contest mechanics here.