My Ever Bilena Big Beauty Challenge Journey

Last December, Ever Bilena Cosmetics, Inc. hosted this makeup competition called the Big Beauty Challenge. It was a contest open for all makeup artists, vloggers, and makeup enthusiasts. All you have to do is post a makeup video on your Facebook account (1 minute min. and 3 minutes max.) using products from Ever Bilena/Careline. It ran for 10 weeks and in each week, they set different themes. Ever Bilena Cosmetics, Inc. chose one winner per week/per theme who each received Php10,000 as a prize! Then those 10 weekly winners were the ones who battled at the Grand Finale. The prize was a whopping Php50,000 in cash! My gosh!

I did not bother to join at first because I was quite unsure of how everything runs but when I saw the entries of those people who joined, I was encouraged to join. Also, the themes were very interesting! So, yeah, I decided to join! :)

On the 5th week, I finally joined. The reason? Aside from the prize and the fun, the theme really caught my attention --- Sexy Nude! I already pictured in my mind the look that I wanted to do. So, I gathered all the Ever Bilena/Careline cosmetics that I already have and even bought more. Ooh, by the way, the criteria for judging is 40% most used Ever Bilena Cosmetics Inc. products, 30% Creativity, 20% Skills, and 10% Likes and Shares. Okay, so, here is the look that I came up with.

You can watch the full tutorial here:

Unfortunately, I did not win that week. I only used 17 items in that makeup look, yeah, such a shame. But it's okay and I wasn't upset at all since my good friend, Lavinia, won that week! :)

After that, I did not join the following weeks. I was waiting for a theme that I know I would love. Came week 9, Ever Bilena finally released the theme. Voila! Love it Red! Deep in my heart, I know that this one's perfect for me! Not that I was claiming already to win it but come on, red is my life color! It symbolizes love and it's the color of confidence! ;) And so, I joined again! That time, I decided to add more products from Ever Bilena since that part had the highest percentage in the criteria. I think I used a total of 32 or 33 Ever Bilena/Careline cosmetics in my entry. Here's the look:

Here's the full tutorial:

That whole week, I was anxious and nervous! I told myself that if I wouldn't win, that would be the last. I will not join the last week anymore. February 9, they announced the winner. I was browsing through my Instagram feed and chatting with one of my friends when I received a notification that someone tagged me in a comment on Facebook. I didn't know why but my heart was raising. Then I checked it and VOILA! I FREAKIN' WON!!!

I was so happy! Thank you to everyone who voted for me and supported me that week! :)

I know, I was happy. But when I searched for the previous weekly winners, my anxiety level went up a notch! They were all amazing. It just means that I will be competing with all those awesome and talented people! Also, waiting for the theme for the grand finale to be announced added more stress to all of us. But my guess was right from the very beginning. The final theme was Avant Garde!

I know, I've tried Avant Garde makeup looks before. The first makeup looks I shared to people on my Facebook page were mostly Avant Garde/creative makeup looks. But this competition was a stiff one! It was very tight because all the contenders were amazing. I didn't let it get to me, though. I decided to just relax, have fun, enjoy the competition, enjoy my victory, celebrate the fact that I'm one of the finalists, and do what I can and what I have to do.

Of course, I did some research and looked for inspirations for my final look. After browsing through different amazing makeup inspos, I came up with this.

Watch the full video here:

Since this was already the grand finale, Ever Bilena Cosmetics Inc. invited all the finalists for a Grand Showdown where the winners were announced. We even did some activities there. Again, the waiting game almost killed us all! It was very nerve-wracking! But the support that I got, that we all got from the people is just overwhelming! So,again, thank you so much!!!

However, I did not win. But I already knew that. When Min Ortiz posted her entry, I already knew it that she would bag the title. And she did!!! :)

Watch her Finale entry here:

Even though I didn't win, I did not feel any disappointment at all because I know that I gave it my all and I had fun. I even gained new friends, viewers, subscribers, and most importantly, I gained more knowledge. This competition made me realize how much I love the industry that I am in. It reminded me of the talent that I have which I neglected for a while (quarter-life crisis, hello).

Ever Bilena Cosmetics, Inc., again, thank you so much for this makeup competition! Thank you so much for the opportunity and for being a way for us to gain new amazing friends from the same industry. THANK YOU! It was such an amazing experience. :)

Watch my vlog here during the grand showdown: