Ladies Who Lunch: The BusinessWorld Female Forum

The Transcript

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The Gallery

The Menu

For over a year now, Ladies Who Lunch: The BusinessWorld Female Forum, has become more than just a regular meeting of professional women who want to talk about important issues in a relaxing and interactive atmosphere. At some point, the food or their lunch has also become an important aspect of their discussion.

See the menu here.

The Venue

The Ladies Who Lunch fora are held only at the finest and most exciting venues in the city. During its first-year anniversary forum, the ladies chatted over lunch at the juice bar of Marrionnaud at the SM Mall of Asia.

Beauty beyond vanity

As social experts would say, the truth about beauty is subjective, depending on the moral standards and culture that people subscribe to. But then again, we already know that, as well as the other clichés that define beauty. Despite the numerous explanations proving that there’s more to beauty than meets the eye, why is it that most of us are guilty to an addictive pursuit of looking good?

In this Hollywood celebrity-obsessed culture where image is everything, beauty has become a crucial weapon in commercial and professional warfare. But to what extent can beauty, in this case physical beauty, be helpful to one’s well being?

To answer these questions, BusinessWorld and Herword.com brought together a diverse set of career women during the fifth outing of Ladies Who Lunch: The BusinessWorld Female Forum. With "Beauty beyond vanity" headlining the event, Ladies Who Lunch aimed to provide a common ground among women when it comes to defining what is beautiful. The fora, held over lunch inside Marionnaud’s flagship store at the SM Mall of Asia, was an afternoon full of energy and insightful contributions shared by Filipina professionals. Nearly 50 participants all took time off from their day jobs, attended the posh event to listen to two beauty and personality experts who have made it their advocacy to teach women how to look and feel beautiful.

The first speaker to give her take on the subject was Marie Claire’s editor-in-chief Myrza Sison. As a former model who has turned into one of the most sought-after fashion editors in the country, Sison argued that beauty, that which can be seen on the outside, still matters. She cited quotes from articles published in women’s magazines as well as studies claiming that while beauty is only skin deep, physical image remains an important factor in the beauty equation.

"There are people who say, ’What matters most is inner beauty.’ Yan ang motto ng mga pangit (That’s the motto of ugly people)," she quipped, eliciting laughter from the audience. "But for us, physical beauty comes first before inner beauty [in the sense that] the physical aspect is the first to be seen before the inner quality of the person."

Her claim has something to do with self-confidence. Looking good, she explained, affects the way a woman carries herself and the way she interacts with people. "But that doesn’t mean that women should be infatuated with vanity just to achieve physical beauty. There are other ways to exude beauty, Sison said, and all it takes is a little bit of effort."

"A woman can also become beautiful by means of fashion. The way you dress can actually affect your appearance," she said.

The magazine editor went to say that having a sense of humor, being able to carry conversations, and, yes, the idea of being loved, can also be factored into the quest to become beautiful. "The key [to looking beautiful] is to know yourself well and figure out what’s special about you. And once you do, harness that talent or skill or attribute to its maximum potential, and everything will follow. You can’t go wrong," she advised.

As long as women are armed with beauty tips like these, it may seem that being attractive inside and out is easy. But what if aging becomes another factor? This is where the second part of the forum took the subject to another level. Olen Lim, a personality and image consultant, shared her insights on looking fabulous at any age. "Beauty comes at being fabulous, and being fabulous at any age is not actually the challenge that you think," Lim began. Instead, the secret to ageless beauty is achieved by keeping the mind, body, and soul healthy at all times.

Injecting humor in her lecture, Lim went on to discuss the art of being fabulous, which she said comes in the form of regular exercise, healthy diet, self-confidence, and a positive outlook in life. "Being fabulous is about always looking good, feeling good, and being able to laugh," she said.

As the forum ended, the attendees lingered a little bit longer, just like they would whenever they meet out with their friends over lunch. Each of them shared their thoughts and lauded the speakers for giving them a wealth of beauty tips. "This is my first time to join Ladies Who Lunch and I have to say, it was very interesting and very informative, " said Teresa Baytion, a sales executive.

Toni Abad, marketing manager of Marionnaud, also talked about the significance of the topic. After the forum, the ladies were treated to a pampering session as Marionnaud gave free spa treatments to the attendees. "It’s a cliché when I say beauty should come from within, but as much as it’s a cliché, I still go by that philosophy. I love it when Myrza talked about confidence because thereÕs a lot of women Ð like me, IÕm guilty of that Ð who feel less confident about the way they look."

"I think it’s a great idea to bring career women together. I saw the old topics and I wish I’ve attended them," said Marie Claire’s Sison as she sat down for a brief interview with Herword.com. " I think women are always in pursuit of what will make them look better. Most people judge by appearances, that can’t be denied."

When asked what is the easiest way to look beautiful, Sison gave this tip, "Invest in a great haircut, because that’s half the battle. If you have a great haircut, you can step outside the door even without makeup. It will save you half the time and it keeps you updated as well."

The fifth Ladies Who Lunch was so far the biggest forum in terms of the number of attendees since BusinessWorld first hosted the forum in August 2006. Since then, Ladies Who Lunch has covered a range of topics concerning women, including time management, shopping, spirituality, and, just recently, the role of women in values education.

The goodie bags

In celebration of its 20th year anniversary, BusinessWorld decided to make the fifth Ladies Who Lunch a lot more special. By teaming up with a number of well-established partners, the latest BusinessWorld Female Forum was bigger in scale. Compared to the previous fora, nearly 50 guests participated in the forum, as compared to the usual intimate group of 20 female attendees who grace the quarterly Ladies Who Lunch.

Of course, when beauty is the subject, one the things that come to mind is pampering. With this, spa treatments courtesy of Marionnaud, were given to a number of guests who arrived early. Luxury is also a thing of beauty, which is why gift certificates from Discovery Suites as well as Marionnaud goodie bags were also raffled off to audience members. Not only that, all the ladies did not go home empty-handed. Because it’s BusinessWorldÕs anniversary and Ladies Who Lunch marked its first year, each guest received two gifts: one was a stylish floral tote containing BusinessWorld commemorative items such as notebook, magazines, and jotter pads, while the other was a bag filled with Unilever beauty products.