She had just emerged as number two among 290,000 entries in an Asia-Pacific image model contest finale, and already Maeñuel Sabillena was worrying about having to get up early the next morning after she arrives in Manila.

There wouldn’t even be time to celebrate, as the 24-year-old had an early morning flight that day. As a flight attendant for Philippine Airlines, it was back to work for the Sta. Rosa, Laguna beauty, after four days in Hong Kong for the Mary Kay Dream Beautiful finale.

It was another impressive finish for the Philippines, which sent last year’s first-ever winner of the Mary Kay regional contest. The first runner-up in 2013 was also Filipino.

The top prize this year went to a young woman named Shu Yu Wei, one of China’s five finalists, who, as her prize, will go on to shoot the American direct-selling company’s catalog and collaterals in New York City.

3,000 local entries

Sabillena competed for the title with two other Filipinos: Ronaly Clavel, 26, a new mom from Iloilo; and Trishia Joyce Sosmeña, 20, a college student from Davao City. The three women were chosen among 3,000 local entries. They were among 25 finalists from Australia, New Zealand, China, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Unlike in typical beauty contests, the finalists were chosen as a team with their respective independent beauty consultants (IBC), who were responsible for their makeup and beauty makeovers. Mary Kay sales representatives are called IBCs.

Sabillena’s partner was independent sales director Liberty Señierez, who, incidentally, once worked as a nurse for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Alva Christi Salting was Sosmeña’s partner, while Clavel was teamed up with Lea Vergara.

In the lead-up to the finals, the finalists received mentoring from Hong Kong top model Cara G, celebrity makeup artist Luis Casco and fashion photographer Jason Capobianco. The Philippine team was mentored locally by makeup artist and beauty consultant Barbi Chan.

“This is not just a dream come true for the model, but the pairing with the one behind the model,” said KK Chua, president of Mary Kay Asia-Pacific.

“There’s greater investment this year in the whole experience,” said Sheryl Adkins-Green, the brand’s global chief marketing officer, before the finale night. “The amount of training we put in is very important. No matter who wins, they will all come away transformed. Just think of the inspiration they can bring back to their communities. The training isn’t just about makeup and modeling. The whole thing is a rich, educational experience.”

Small barangay

Last year’s first winner, Fatima Amor Saquilabon, a 19-year-old student from Koronadal City, had never even traveled overseas before the Hong Kong finals, and wound up doing her first professional image-model shoot in New York City.

“She came from this small barangay from a very simple family,” recalled Tente Alday, Mary Kay Philippines country manager. “You can imagine the pride of her town.” Saquilabon was enlisted by Marild Aperocho, an IBC who was her classmate and friend.

“This is global branding,” Green said. “We’re creating conversation not just in the 35 markets that we’re in, but even in the markets where we’re not in yet. They know us as the company that makes dreams come true.”

Unlike most modeling contests, contenders for Dream Beautiful are typically women who have no prior training or background in the modeling industry. They’re not the stereotypical tall, reed-thin model wannabes you usually see on reality-TV modeling contests. They’re regular young women who may have never dreamed they could become models.

Dream Beautiful has made quite an impact on the image of the Mary Kay brand. “In some markets, we’re young and trendy,” said Helen Kim, senior regional marketing director. “In some, we’re a heritage brand. As a direct-selling company, we’re not as exposed on the street, so the image is a little bit distant. With this event, we’re able to make Mary Kay closer to the people. They find out that there are Mary Kay beauty consultants everywhere. There are three million of them around the world.”

The winner was chosen on the basis of her overall appearance, which in the Mary Kay world means “approachable and inspirational.”

As a special feature of this year’s contest, Mary Kay tapped supermodel Coco Rocha to be the guest celebrity judge.

“We’re not a traditional celebrity-model kind of brand,” Green noted. “We believe each woman is beautiful in her own way. But we know celebrities are exciting. Coco is very approachable and very much her own woman. As a model, she was very much in the Mary Kay personality.”