@Glamzilla On Filipina Representation, Taking Up Space, and Tips for a Great Smile
With nearly 2 million followers, beauty influencer Stephanie Valentine is on a mission to redefine beauty standards on her own terms.
Welcome to Pearl, a bi-weekly newsletter dedicated to Filipinas and their beauty journeys. Read more about its mission here.
If you love makeup, chances are you know Stephanie Valentine, aka @Glamzilla. With 1.7 million followers on TikTok, and 413K followers on Instagram, the Filipino-Canadian beauty influencer constantly goes viral for her product reviews all delivered with excitement, honesty, and the energetic equivalent of a big hug. You watch her and think, I wish we were friends, or at least, that’s how I felt when she first showed up on my For You Page.
While I enjoy her hot takes on makeup, beauty hacks, and tutorials, what really made me a fan is her story. She grew up in Toronto with a big family in subsidized government housing and actually went to police school. Her love for makeup started as a teen, and Stephanie was creating content and working as a makeup artist for a decade before any of her videos ever went viral. She did it for free for five years. Now, she’s been on a Sephora billboard in Times Square, does collaborations with brands like Nudestix (where she’s also an investor), and hangs out with Rihanna and Selena Gomez on the job. Her latest venture–and the whole reason we got to chat– is because she’s partnering with Colgate Optic White Pro Series toothpaste, which removes 15 years of stains in two weeks when brushing twice daily. I’ve always believed that your oral care routine is a part of your beauty routine (especially if you’re also a content creator always close-up in front of the camera!) so the pairing makes sense!
Ahead, we talk about both being Filipinas in the beauty industry, how she gets a super white smile, and a genius lip-plumping hack.
Kristina Rodulfo: Hi Stephanie – I'm so excited to connect! I wore red lipstick just for you.
Stephanie Valentine (@Glamzilla): Loved it. This is the first thing I noticed. We're twins!
KR: I’m just going to intro myself a little bit. I am a former beauty editor who used to work in magazines, and now I'm a content creator. Like you, I'm part of Sephora Squad 2022, so of course you're someone that I have looked up to in this new chapter of my career. I appreciate you taking the time to chat with me!
SV: How cool is this! It’s so cool that we live in a world where this can happen now.
KR: So, our ideas of beauty start when we're young. Did you grow up surrounded by Filipino culture at all or was it something that you connected to more as an adult?
SV: It's always been a tough one for me, because when I was younger it was hard to connect with my Filipino roots because as a bigger, plus-size, 5’7 girl. I never fit with the girls in school. I never was like my cousins. And it was either, “You're so big now,” or “Where’s your boyfriend?” It was just always so weird. I never identified with the Filipino beauty standard. I made my own. I think the Filipino beauty standard is whatever the heck we wanna be and whoever we wanna be.
It took me a while to learn that, but now that I've learned, I've been able to live fearlessly and truly embrace the journey, and the opportunities, and the timing. And never before did I [live fearlessly], just because I didn't know how. But, I think it's a process of learning to love yourself, where you come from, who you are, and what you have to give to the world. I think you get that, too, because we're both making waves, doing what we need to do to get our names out there to connect with people who are like us–or not like us–and to continue to create more space for others, when it's hard to create space for ourselves, right?
“I never identified with the Filipino beauty standard. I made my own. I think the Filipino beauty standard is whatever the heck we wanna be and whoever we wanna be.” -@Glamzilla
KR: Yes. It is hard. So much of what you said resonated with me because I'm also 5’7, I'm taller than all my Filipino girlfriends, and, I also would feel like I didn't fit the ‘standard’ and had to find my own way. I admire how you're so transparent about your journey for self-love, and even your weight loss journey. You've been sharing a lot about that [on TikTok]. Did you, growing up, hear comments? Even now as somebody in the public eye, how do you deal with comments from other people about your physical appearance in, particular?
SV: I think as a beauty content creator, I signed up for that. And, because I don't put ‘bad’ out into this world, I don't get ‘bad’ back. I literally don't. If you go to any of my pages, my comment sections are not monitored. We don't delete anything. It's all love because what we're putting out is love and gratefulness and happiness. There's no room to worry about the negative.
Something like red lipstick, for example: Being able to connect with people and find the perfect tone for them, or showing different ways to use it–how amazing is that? Because never before have we been able to connect with people this way, where you and I can just hop on a call and we can talk all day about beauty and being Filipino. And, I think there's so much good in it that we shouldn't even worry about the negativity because we deal with a lot of negative self-talk already. If we're gonna accept that from the people around us, what are we willing to accept for ourselves? I think if we hold ourselves to a higher standard in beauty, not just from the outside, but truly being beautiful on the inside, it really changes lives.
KR: Yes, 100%. I know that you are such a champion for the AAPI community in your position now, how do you incorporate that into the work that you do?
SV: Like this! I still can't get over that. We're both Filipino women with red lipstick in different parts of the world right now and connecting over toothpaste, right? Think about where we come from and our homes. It's Colgate for Filipinos. It's Colgate, right? I think it's all a process and I think it's all about creating space for yourself, while also creating space for others. I think you do that too with just your newsletter and just being in Sephora Squad. And how lucky are we, that the time is now for us?
KR: Yes. I remember seeing your billboard in Times Square and just how much that meant to me as a Filipina and I'm sure to so many other creators who look like us, who feel these are not the spaces that we are used to occupying. And there you are!
SV: And when I think about those moments, all I could think about is all the times I was told no because I was not ready. I think life aligns exactly when it's supposed to–
KR: Definitely.
SV: –and, you would know this, sticking to your guns, and taking what you've learned to build something greater and bigger than what you think or who you are. But, I think just being there, and taking up the space, creates space for others. And I think that's the most important thing about a beauty journey or a routine. It's just empowering other people and making other people feel like they can do it. Whether it's talking about toothpaste or red lipstick.
“I think just being there, and taking up the space, creates space for others” -@Glamzilla
KR: Oh, I'm crazy about my oral care routine. Just because I had braces for 11 years. So it's no joke. I’m serious about oral care.
SV: I'm working on my [teeth] shifting journey. Can you tell me about what you've gone through?
KR: So I had lingual braces, the braces that are behind your teeth. So, when you smile, it doesn't show. I feel like part of the reason why I got it is I felt self-conscious because I was shooting so many videos and feeling like my bottom row of teeth are not super aligned, or maybe my teeth aren't super white. So, oral care has always been top priority for me. And I do think it's definitely part of an overall beauty routine.
SV: Right. Because for some reason I feel like as long as I have fresh breath in the morning, I feel like I'm not taking yesterday with me. So I think it's the best toothpaste I have ever tried. Ever tried. And I'm wearing a yellow based red lipstick.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
KR: Which would usually make your lips more yellow.
SV: With your teeth, when you get them straightened, for some reason, it gets yellower. So that's what I'm going through and it really helps me.
KR: I know as a creator you have to be close up on camera all the time. Teeth are important. What is your oral care routine now?
SV: For me, my routine is I wake up, I brush my teeth, and that's it. It’s kind of unreal to think about how much it actually impacts my day. Have you ever had one of those rushed mornings where you don't brush your teeth and you feel horrible?
KR: Oh, yeah. It completely changes your mood.
SV: Okay. ‘Cause I can have messy hair, I can throw it into a bun, but the sensation of having a clean mouth in the morning can't just be covered by a mint. So, what I use is the Colgate Optic White Pro series toothpaste. I've been using it for a while now, two months. The first two weeks I noticed how bright and vibrant my teeth were. It removes up to 15 years of stains and it really works because it has that 5% hydrogen peroxide. So, it's the best you can get right now.
KR: Well, you're shining bright right now, so I must be working. I did have a Pearl reader question. @a.l.o.h.i said they always appreciate your recommendations on hydrating skin and lip treatments. So, they want some lip products that you're loving right now especially in the winter, dealing with chapped lips. The smile–it all goes together.
SV: Exactly. You get it cause you're a red lipstick wearer! I think people who wear red lipstick know the importance of it. So, for me, hydration is the most important. A tip that I always do is I take my eye cream, and I put it on my lips. It firms up the lip. Therefore, I don't have so many lines and I do it throughout the day. I have lip balm in every bag. It's not even a specific lip balm, it's just the fact that I'm hydrating every day. After we go out in the cold, after you drink coffee, which dehydrates your body, why wouldn't it dehydrate your lips? So I just make it a conscious effort to do that. And, when I put my serums and cream on, I do my entire face. I don't miss my lips. I think it's important.
KR: Oh, I didn't realize that! Usually, I'm avoiding my lip area. But you just put the hydration all over.
SV: Why not, right? I think it works. What do you do?
KR: I usually use a lip sleeping mask and I'll just slather that on at night. But, my lips have been super chapped lately, so I'm like, I need to level it up a little bit with my lip treatments.
SV: You know, take that lip treatment and put a little bit of red lipstick in it. Life changing! You make your own lip tint, and you're good to go.
KR: And it’ll be less drying than some other formulas out there! Another reader question from @ariana.m.b.: What do you wish for younger Filipinas to know?
SV: That you are enough. I think for so long, I never thought I was because I wasn't reflected in beauty. It was very hard to look for that acceptance within our family and our friends, because the Filipino culture is–although we're so loving and kind and we're very close knit–I feel like there's a lot of judgment and perceptions that other people have built about beauty, about worth, about femininity, about womanhood, about being human, and being a family member that we forget that we need to learn and develop what we think about those topics.
“Filipino culture is–although we're so loving and kind and we're very close knit–I feel like there's a lot of judgment and perceptions that other people have built about beauty, about worth.” -@Glamzilla
Just know, at the end of the day, and at the start of every morning, that we're enough and what we bring to the table is what we want and who we are. That's all we should be worried about: Our own opinions and feelings for ourselves. I think if I knew that, we would've had this conversation 10 years ago.
KR: You could say that again. That is something resonating with me right now, especially as I really do see such a lack of representation in our field. Even when I'm scrolling and looking at different content creators out there, I just wish there were more of us.
SV: How beautiful is it that it's you – and our friends that we do know. I think we're demanding everybody to do it, we want more people in our space–yes, that’s a beautiful thing, and I wish that too. But, how beautiful is it that a girl with 10 followers is doing it? Or, a girl with 100,000 hundred is, to just be a part of the conversation, or you, to be a woman creating her own newsletter! We forget to celebrate those moments because we're so worried about the next thing. But how hard was it to get here on this call? For both of us, on both sides.
KR: It was a long, long, long journey to be able to sit here. It’s been a fun journey, definitely, going from the magazine world to the content creator world.
SV: And how beautiful is that? When we think about that, instead of wanting more for our community or wanting more representation, we get further because we're not focused on being the token. We're just focused on being and creating, because we're artists, we're creative people. That should be our main focus. And just us doing what we do should be enough for others to feel empowered to do what they do.
KR: Thank you so much, Stephanie!
Product Spotlight: KUSSHI On-the-Go Pouch Sets
I’m a mega fan of KUSSHI’s makeup bags (especially for travel) and these new mini-pouches have been a game changer! If your totebag or purse is a black hole where you can never find what you’re looking for, these organizers are a smart way to keep them visible, protected, and neatly organized. I use them to hold my touch-up makeup products, my electronic wires, keeping a spare toothpaste or floss in my bag, you name it. They’re made of neoprene, so they’re pretty sturdy and washable!
Links I’m Loving:
Lately I’ve been plugging in all my products into INCI Decoder – it’s a website that deciphers ingredient lists and breaks down their functions in the formula. It’s an amazing resource if you want to understand skincare more deeply – and I like that it isn’t super shame-y or fear mongering around ingredients.
If you want to support more Asian-owned brands, definitely give @AsianFounded a follow. It’s a great way to discover more beauty, fashion, food, and other products. I found my new fav sunglasses brand Covry (made for noses with low bridges) on there!
This video of former Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach’s journey of training and running the NYC marathon made me emotional. I love how she shared her process. I actually got to cheer her on *in person* last Sunday – and now I’m kind of feeling inspired to do it a second time! 😭
Just stumbled upon Kandelita, a candle company inspired by Filipino culture and identity. Think: scents like sampaguita, buko pandan, ube cake, leche flan, Manila mango and more. Yum!
How can I support Pearl?
If anything you read resonated or you learned something new, please share this newsletter with a friend. Forward the subscribe page, post an excerpt on IG stories and tag me, and make sure you’re following me over on Instagram and TikTok.
With love,
Kristina
💜💜