TBJ 12TH MEGA ANNIVERSARY: Mega Highlights!

Last October 2, 2021, I celebrated 12 years of being a content creator with the TBJ Beshies in the much awaited annual TBJ MEGA ANNIVERSARY series. Last year was a one for the books for me and the TBJ Beshies because it was the first- ever time we have tried celebrating this event online; it was a success and this time around, we kinda' got the groove of it already! Nothing compares to the energy of the physical event and how I wish we could have done this in person, but for now, while we're all adjusting to this new normal and staying safe in between, online parties will do.

And I must say, this event has almost given me a heart attack LOL. Read more and find out why and what went down in this year's most awaited event of my beauty community!

The event started at 12:20PM and opened to a VIBrands video showcase portion for appreciation. I've highlighted in this portion all of our amazing sponsors and the amazing videos they've created for this program so the viewers could get to know them more and why I love them! This portion of the program is also an opportunity for the guests to come, mingle, and get to know each other in the comments section.

I just want to share the rationale behind this year's design and colors:

The design is a mix of Vaporwave and video game aesthetic, a tribute to my second year in quarantine (LOL) and ode to video games, which helped me stay sane during these times (FYI, I'm sort of a gamer girl :D). The moon and star elements represent dreams, which is what I want to inspire the viewers to do during and after the event: to continue dreaming, to fight for their dreams, or to at least start dreaming again no matter how hard the days seem.

I chose the color Purple for this year because it represents AMBITION. I wanted to reignite the fire inside each and every viewer who watched the livestream event and encourage them to take charge of their life starting today and look at the pandemic straight in the eye and say" I'M NOT LETTING YOU STOP ME".

Our event's amazing VIBrands: EB Advance, Spotlight Cosmetics, Gluta-C, Moringa O2, Burt's Bees, Beauty Box Corp, Ready Set Glow, BYS, The Body Shop, Revlon, Esfolio, Bloom Skinlab, Pink Sugar, Guapa, Wet N Wild, Zen Zest, Belle De Jour Power Planner, Pavi Elle, and Strip It!

The event opened to a manifesto. Here's a transcript:

It’s been almost two years since the unthinkable has happened: countries have shut down, families and friends were forcibly confined in homes and on screen, everything stood still, life as we know it has changed drastically and tremendously, and more than ever, we fear for our life and health. Like you, I have witnessed left and right how people have fallen, succumbed, and plunged deep into a spiral of despair; as all of these started to happen to people one by one, I’m left wondering every day, WILL I BE NEXT?

For the last two years, just like you, I have felt that I am not in control of my life. I lost so much sleep. In fact, there were days when I don’t sleep at all. Hair strands started to fall. The weight I’ve lost started coming back, skin was a train wreck, and putting on lipstick seemed pointless. The days felt so long and somber, and money was hard to come by- just like you, I’ve never felt so hopeless in my life.

FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE

It’s one of my most favorite quotes, one that I always think about when I am facing a lot of worrisome and fearsome situations in my life. And in this time where fear and uncertainty are rampant, there is the call to be BRAVE, to stand up for others and most especially, yourself.

And whenever I go online to check on the TBJ Beshies, you, my beloved community who have been with me for 12 long years, the calling gets stronger: you all remind me every day why I do what I do, why I’m still here, and why I should be brave and keep on doing this. 

To the brands who have been with me through thick and thin, their support and enthusiasm to always be part of this annual celebration, has always been the spark and my rock, a reason to be brave. 

In a world that is seemingly devoid of beauty and hope, through our most trivial to the most pressing talks about beauty and whatnots, I am reminded of The Beauty Junkee’s simple yet meaningful purpose: to add a sprinkle of beauty in whatever way I can, every day. It is my hope for this year, the next 13^th Mega Anniversary, and in the years to come that our community will grow and continue to spread our message of beauty and hope to everyone or to yourself, at the very least. And even if The Beauty Junkee isn’t around anymore, I hope the purpose and values I have imbibed in the Beshies will echo.

YOU ARE A PHOENIX. RISE.

We don’t know when this will end. It may not even end. The days will always be long and things will always spiral out of control. But there is always one thing that you can control: YOURSELF; your thoughts, your emotions, and your life.

Welcome to today’s event. DREAMFEST: REBUILDING YOUR DREAMS IN THE TOUGHEST TIMES. In this event, I want to inspire you to dream again, to realign with yourself, and to re-ignite that passion that has been lost…and to continue pushing and persevering today and in the next months to come. We have an exciting 2 full hours of inspiring talks by yours truly, Positivitrix, Ever Bilena, Pavi Elle, and The Body Shop Philippines.

Today, I want you to start again and to start telling yourself that I WILL NOW BE IN CONTROL OF MY LIFE NO MATTER HOW HARD THINGS WILL BECOME.

Your new life starts today so sit back, relax, and let’s start rebuilding your dreams.

For the first talk of the program, I shared my Best Beauty Finds of 2021. I shared here all the awesome products from our sponsoring beauty brands.

After the talk, Vision Board coach extraordinaire Trixie Esguerra of Positivitrix talked about Vision Board 101; she discussed how a Vision Board is beneficial in helping you achieve your dreams and how to start creating one. Basically, a Vision Board is a visual reminder of your dreams and goals and serves as a roadmap for where you want to be in the next years of your life. Because the more you see your goals, the sharper your vision becomes and the more persistent you become in achieving them.

Afterwards,  Trixie and I had a Q&A and we talked about how a Vision Board has changed our lives and the instances wherein it has helped us achieve our personal dreams. Trixie has shared that it has helped her find the man of her dreams and I shared how it has helped me achieve my dream luxury hand bag!

After Trixie's Vision Board portion, the next mini talks called REBUILDING YOUR DREAMS IN THE TOUGHEST TIMES were graced by Denice Sy- Munez of Ever Bilena, Pavi Mclean of Pavi Elle Beauty and Wellness, and Emily Sia- Koa of The Body Shop. It was a complementary talk to Trixie's Vision Board 101 demo; because achieving and rebuilding your dreams will never be easy and these women who went through it all and emerged victorious have graciously shared their experience and learnings to encourage the TBJ Beshies to go after their dreams especially in the hardest times.

Denice talked about LEADERSHIP IN HARD TIMES and shared the wisdom and learnings from her father, Dioceldo Sy, one of the founders of Ever Bilena, the biggest Filipino cosmetic brand. 

If you recall, Ever Bilena went viral for Mr. Sy's public announcement on social media of retaining their employees and taking huge pay cuts in order to maintain their organization and so no Ever Bilena employee will be unemployed and go hungry; it was a great model for leadership and what we have learned from their experience is the importance of taking care of the people who take care of your business: when you take care of your employees, you nurture loyalty among your organization, which will greatly help your business survive and thrive. And true leadership means choosing to do the hardest thing when the going gets tough and that is to be human and to be kind.

Next was Pavi Mclean of PAVI ELLE BEAUTY AND WELLNESS, one of my new and constant brand partners for the year. Pavi and I have a lot in common most especially luxury hand bags LOL.

Pavi talked about STARTING SMALL AND DREAMING BIG and shared with us stories and learnings from her group of distributors and resellers of her brand, Pavi Elle Beauty and Wellness. What Pavi learned from handling a team of micro entrepreneurs is in business, it doesn't matter how small your capital is or wherever you came from; what's important is how big your dream is and how hard you're willing to go to make it happen. She's seen people in her organization who have started with nothing to buying their cars and homes in just a few months of starting their business with Pavi Elle! 

This experience has also taught Pavi the two important types of trust that one must nurture in any business: trust in your people and trust in your abilities.

Emily of The Body Shop Philippines has wrapped up the talk with BUSINESS FOR GOOD and discussed the valuable business and management lessons that she has learned from one of the biggest ethical beauty brands in the world.

Emily has shared valuable business wisdom and discussed the value of benevolent entrepreneurship: it's important to go after your dreams, but in doing so, we must always have the greater good in mind. What we've learned from her discussion is fame, fortune, and privilege are a gift and the reason why we are bestowed with it is because we are called to a mission and that is to be of service to others and to spread the gospel of the greater good. And when we prioritize the Greater Good in whatever we do, we ensure physical, emotional, economical, financial, and societal sustainability not only for others, but for ourselves as well.

The final talk of the program is of course, my much anticipated BILLION DOLLAR BROW WORKSHOP!

Before wrapping up the program, we also proudly shared to our viewers that this event was able to help two charities because we've hit our target of selling 150 bags (158 bags were sold to be exact!).

LOVE EDUCATION- a non- profit organization that aims to provide books and education to underserved school- age children in the Philippines. Donations from this event was able to buy 200 books that were distributed to public school libraries in San Pablo City.

SOCIETY FOR THE PHILIPPINE WETLANDS- a non- profit organization that aims to protect the critically- endangered wetlands around the Philippines. Wetlands are crucial habitats that directly affect food and livelihood security because it serves as a resting and breeding place for various migratory animals and as feeding grounds for native animals, which ensures a healthy food chain. A lot of wetlands around the Philippines are unfortunately being converted into buildings, reclaimed areas, and casinos, and SCPW is fighting to keep these wetlands protected and lobbying for stricter laws and decrees to protect the wetlands.

Before ending the program, I have announced the winners of the VIB- exclusive livestream giveaway!

And here are the VIBs and TBJ Beshies who have joyously shared their experience and beauty bags after the program.

This event almost gave me a heart attack because of the multitude of technical difficulties that we have encountered during the show! Mercury Retrograde is real! First, the audio of the commercials was laggy, but good thing our tech guy was able to fix it in show. Next, there was a black out in our condominium complex and yup, the Internet died during my BEST BEAUTY FINDS OF 2021 talk and I disappeared from the livestream; that gave me a mini heart attack, but thankfully, the electricity came back after 3 minutes (that felt like forever though LOL). And finally, as if a black out wasn't enough, Trixie's internet was intermittent for at least 5 minutes and she would log out of our Zoom meeting room for a couple of times; thankfully, her internet has cooperated. Whew! The universe heard our prayers and felt our will to see this event through; eventually, everything else has cooperated and it went smoothly from there, except for a few interferences caused by intermittent internet (because there was a storm that day).

And that concludes TBJ 12TH MEGA ANNIVERSARY! A million thanks to all the sponsors and VIBs and TBJ Beshies who made this event possible and continue making this event possible. Thank you for being with me for 12 years and for joining me in my advocacy to make the world a better place through our donations.

TBJ 13th Mega Anniversary is waving and I hope to have you all again (and more!) next year!

To watch a recap of the anniversary livestream, click HERE.