Megan Young: Material Girl

When you hear the name Madonna, you might immediately refer to her as the Queen of Pop. In the 80s, she was known to have pushed boundaries—especially in the lyrics of her songs. Having sold more than 300 million records worldwide, Guinness actually recognizes her as the best-selling female recording artist of all time. And perhaps one of her most popular songs that establishes her as an icon is Material Girl, which happens to be our inspiration for this week’s Ode to Beauty.

And as we’re living in a material world (and I must admit that it’s sometimes fun to be a material girl), talking about makeup and skin care with this month’s #CalyxtaGirl was something I genuinely enjoyed doing as we sat in the back of an Uber together—it almost made me forget we were stuck in the middle of Makati traffic for more than an hour.

Read through our conversation as Megan Young discusses how different pageant makeup is from her usual makeup look, what her skin care secret is, her detailed skin care routine, and what beauty tips she can share with beauty beginners!

Do you do your own makeup? And if so, when and how did you learn?

Most of the time, I do my own makeup. If it’s for work, not a shoot, I’d do my own makeup. I learned how to do my makeup when I was going to compete for Miss World. My makeup artist friend, Albert Kurniawan, taught me. And he teaches a lot of Beauty Queens from Aces & Queens. So because of him, I really learned how to do my makeup from scratch. Before, it would be just eyeliner. I didn’t care about makeup that much. And then I learned how to do it efficiently and fast because whenever I’m in the makeup chair and it takes long, I get so sleepy. So I learned how to do it quick and fast?

How is pageant makeup different from a normal photoshoot or your usual makeup?

What’s great now is that pageant makeup has evolved through the years. I remember when I was competing, smoky eyeshadow was really the in thing or like, a dark lip would be super in. But now, I think we’re gearing towards a figure who’s more relatable—more of fresh looks and seeing the natural beauty rather than hiding it behind all that makeup. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with makeup. I love makeup! But I think what brands like Miss Universe and Miss World are looking for now is to see the natural beauty.

What’s your skin care secret?

It depends. My skin is very sensitive. So I’ve actually appreciated facialoils a lot more now than before. Sometimes, I mix it with my moisturizer. Sometimes, when I’m in need of a deep moisturizing, I let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

“I think we’re gearing towards a figure who’s more relatable—more of fresh looks and seeing the natural beauty rather than hiding it behind all that makeup.”

Are you part of Team Dry Skin?

Yes, I have super dry skin. Super duper dry. I have five kinds of moisturizers at home.

How’s that like when you go to a really cold country?

I bring my moisturizers everywhere. I bring 3 with me when I travel. One for the plane, one for my luggage, and one for extra just in case I lose one of them.

Can you share with us your morning and evening skin care routine?

Morning routine would be to just wash my face with a cleanser or sometimes, just water—because sometimes, I have a mask at night so I’d just have to wash it a bit. And then, I use a gel moisturizer just so it’s not heavy on the skin if I’m not using makeup for the day. Oh wait, sorry. I’ll wash my face, then use my facial oil. I have one for acne, so when my skin is breaking out, I’ll use that, then I’ll use my gel moisturizer and then sunblock, if I don’t forget. (laughs) At night, of course, I’ll wash my face with my light cleanser. Then use a heavier oil, and a heavier moisturizer. Sometimes, I’ll use a collagen cream to really brighten my skin. Then I let that sit overnight.

What are your favorite beauty buys abroad? And what are your favorite beauty buys from here?

Well, obviously, I buy some items abroad because you can’t find them here. Like the Armani foundation—I love the Luminous Silk, because it’s super light on the skin and it’s buildable. I’ve wanted to get the Tom Ford foundation as well, but it’s not available here yet. Only the lipstick. Oh, I buy their lipstick abroad. That’s my favorite lipstick ever—the Tom Ford. I have Spanish Pink and Velvet Cherry, and I don’t want anything else. I’m good with just those. Here, hmmm. What are the local products I love? My favorite go-to lip and cheek tint is Ever Bilena. The gel one. That has to be my most favorite.

What’s the most expensive makeup or skin care product that you own?

I didn’t buy it but La Mer, definitely. The facial oil and Crème de La Mer.

When you travel, how do you pack all your makeup? Like how do you edit your makeup kit?

When I pack my makeup, I really just bring what I need. Like I make sure this is the only foundation I need, etc. so it’s very minimal. I have like a daily makeup kit with multi-purpose products. I can use one product for a lot of things already.

What’s your favorite type of workout?

I love working out. But my go-to is weight training. Weight training is really efficient for me. It really gets me into shape, and into the figure that I really want. A lot of people have this notion that weight training makes you macho, but it really doesn’t if you do it the right way. So, yeah. I like weight training and pilates. Definitely. So that it targets the smaller muscles.

What about in terms of diet, do you complement it with a certain type of diet or do you just eat in moderation?

You know, I used to. I only diet if I had to prepare for something—like a shoot or whatnot. But normally, I eat fairly healthy. I try to, you know, not eat too many processed food. More of all natural. I cook my own food at home or I have Cel (Megan’s assistant) who helps me out if I’m at work and I need someone to bring me food. We cook together and figure out recipes together that work. And she’s learned to appreciate a lot of the stuff that don’t need MSG or salt. She’s like, “Malasa pala siya!” You just have to experiment with it.

If you were to give beauty tips to someone who’s new to beauty, what would those tips be?

Explore. Definitely try out different things. Watch videos. Educate yourself. I think it’s important to see what’s out there and learn about the products that you’re using. A lot of products could be…I don’t know—some of them have lead, some are tested on animals. So, if you’re very particular about stuff like that and you don’t know much about beauty, do your research. It always helps and if it makes you feel more confident and a lot better that you’re not supporting brands that do support animals and whatnot, then I highly suggest that you do your proper research on that!