For the love of skin
Dianne Huang touches on the art of staying beautiful
By Deneb Batucan
FOR Dianne Gandionco Huang, skin care is serious business.
When she was in college, she took up architecture in the University of San Carlos. It was a toiling ordeal for her with endless sleepless nights hunched over a drafting table. Her perseverance made her an architect, albeit not practicing. But the stress towards that dream was daunting — it took its toll on her skin. She had fine pimples strewn all over her forehead, causing her confidence to wither.
Since then, Dianne acquired a strong interest for skin care. She tried going to a dermatologist, went to skin care centers and just about everything she could do to rid of herself of pesky pimples.
Her interest for skin care only deepened when she got into modeling. “There was the pressure of looking good and keeping my figure,” Dianne said. She frequently had a facial, but she wasn’t satisfied with the service. That’s when she thought that if she couldn’t find a quality esthetics center, then maybe she had to make one of her own. “That’s when my former skin care therapist told me about La Manille,” she said.
La Manille is a school for esthetics and wellness in Manila. It was where Dianne learned the international standards of skin care. For about six months, she studied the science behind esthetics and graduated with a certificate from the International Therapy Examination Council, a leading international specialist examination board that gives excellent qualifications in esthetics and wellness.
With her newly gained knowledge and certification, she opened her own esthetics center, Skin First, which has top-of-the-line skin care services, practiced by a highly trained staff, and is geared towards enhancing and preserving the skin. “We don’t want to change you, but rather bring out your best features,” Dianne quipped.
For over four years, the hands-on Dianne directly trains her staff based on her knowledge and skills gained from La Manille. For two weeks to a month, Dianne’s staff is taught all about the science of skin care, which includes anatomy and skin histology.
It is essential to Dianne that her staff knows the contraindications when it comes to practicing esthetics. She teaches her staff everything from the basics to the nitty gritty details and even about making sales with hard selling. “It’s important that the people are really capable of practicing esthetics so clients will be at ease with our services,” she shared.
When running a business isn’t too much for Dianne, she also undergoes a 200-hour training to become a certified yoga teacher. Practicing yoga for more than for years, Dianne wanted to deepen her knowledge on the craft.
Dianne has a deep respect for yoga. “Yoga keeps me grounded. It gives me the sense of clarity that at times I look for when I get caught up with the stresses of life. It reminds me to be content, to focus on my life goals and not be distracted by others’,” she said.
She incorporates her learnings from yoga in her staff’s training at Skin First. She has always emphasized to her staff that sincerity is important in doing service to their clients. “It’s just like karma yoga, where one acts without being attached to one’s deeds. We encourage thinking of our clients’ goal first,” she said.
Aside from her want to learn more about yoga, she wants to be a certified teacher because she wants to teach her staff the art of yoga free.This is her way of giving back for the hard work, dedication and perseverance of her staff. “It’s gratifying to see people grow,” Dianne shared. “I want to share to them the benefits I gained from practicing yoga.”
For a woman who’s always on the go, Dianne has so much in store for her. She celebrates the fourth year of Skin First by openinga new branch. Skin First will be opening at the Green Orkid, N. Escario St. this coming October. She plans on opening a nail bar as well since the space is bigger for their second branch. “The ultimate plan is to open five branches in Cebu, and then maybe bringing the brand to other places,” she said.
In yoga, doing the pose is merely the end of a journey. What’s more important is the road towards success, know new things about oneself, and get to knock down walls of negativity. Dianne is still in the middle of learning the pose of life. But even with obstacles along the way, she’s enjoying the ride. After all, it’s all about the journey, not the destination.
Photos: Alfred Gregory E. Bartolome
Make-up Artist: Carlo Damolo
Hair Stylist: Jerwin Bastatas
