Photography DIX PEREZ
Videography ANDREW APUYA
Make Up XENG ZULUETA
Hair JET BABAS
Fashion Styling BEA CONSTANTINO
By: Joanna Francisco
“It’s fun talking about something else,” says Shaira Luna, the photographer who takes on a new role this time as she focuses on the topic of beauty—her own—in front of the lens.
“I feel so old,” says Shaira, who has just turned 30. “I feel like I’ve lived so many lives. Since I was one year old, I’ve been doing so many things. So I feel like I’m older than I am. But at this point in my career, I feel really youthful. I have more energy, more ideas. I’m more excitable than I was back then.“
Her widely documented achievement as a wonder kid has made her some kind of celebrity. “I was supposed to be a doctor at 19,” she says. But her imagination ruled—fueled by her storybook companions growing up—and life took a different turn. She has been expressing her creative ideas through images for the last ten years. She shoots almost daily, with only Sunday as rest day when she does personal shoots. “I’m so lucky to be able to shoot the stuff that I like to do.”
Her skin – white as paper – is the result of staying away from the sun. “I use sunblock; whatever I can get. People give me sunblock. I have almost all the brands. I have boxes of unopened sunblock,” she says.
“If you see me during beach shots, I look like the strangest person. I wear a big hat. I wear long sleeves. I came from a shoot in la Union, and they were all laughing cause it looked like I was going to Baguio. My hands are shades darker than my skin!” she laughs.
Her tattoos, now numbering 23, are another reason she likes to keep her arms covered. “I’ve been fascinated by piercings and tattoos since I was around nine,” she says. “I just found it aliw.”
Beautifully Barefaced
On her face, Shaira keeps it minimal. “As long as I’m scrubbed clean. No foundation, no mascara. I used to hate my mom’s makeup. I don’t put a lot of makeup. I use Revlon Bitten, a tinted lip balm, then I really rub it so it looks like a stain. I really like stains. And I bite my lips a lot. I look kinda scary without it.”
She also dyes her own hair. “I enjoy dying my hair because it gives it body. I try to get my hair a bit dry so it has that body. But that’s not advisable; it’s just that my hair is slippery.” I don’t brush my hair. But I have a comb for my bangs!” The bangs are actually a trademark from her childhood years that she has now learned to embrace again.
“I like shooting people without makeup, especially models, if we can get away with it. The images I shoot look like memories, and memories don’t have heavily made up people, or strong characters on them. I tell the girls, especially the models, ‘you’re beautiful with makeup, or without makeup’. They are surprised. But it’s really about how we do the images – the magic,” she says.
“I get asked a lot, how did you think of that, and I think it’s just from my imagination. It’s all from my books. These make me so happy. It’s nothing serious. The world is complicated if you want to make it that. But you can always go back to being eight, and you can be happy if you choose to.”
Shaira’s Scent Obsession
“What I’m picky about is my perfume. I hoard perfume. (She has 139 bottles). Everyday I try something new. I think I’ve always loved scents. Since it’s colder I’ve been wearing the Shalimars. It’s an old lady’s perfume. I’m quite a perfume nerd. I scour them on Amazon, eBay, if it’s on sale at the store I’ll get it. I have it in my bag. I didn’t bring makeup but I have my perfume. Where you get hot a lot most, is where I spray.
Shaira’s Tips for applying perfume:
1. Right after you dry yourself like after a shower, I find that’s a good time to spray cause your skin is super clean. I find that the scent stays on longer.
2. That’s what I find exciting about perfume. How it changes through the day. I don’t need to project myself. It’s just like my little happy thing.
3. Don’t spray too much cause you don’t wanna offend anyone. At night I spray the concentrated ones. Like Dior Addict and Chanel No. 5. You really appreciate them in the mornings, when they’ve warmed up already.
