Late yesterday afternoon, a Meet-the-Press event was organized for Binibini8 Herlene Nicole Budol of Angono, Rizal at the Corte Ibiza in Quezon City. She was very happy with the turnout of guests from different mainstream and social media pages that she was in her right elements up until family members started giving their messages of encouragement when she broke into tears. For those who do not know yet, her beloved Nanay Bireng (grandmother) passed away recently. It would have made everything complete, as she said in the video below.
Nicole was just too happy that her “fairy godmothers” – Wilbert Tolentino, Gio Flores and Rodgil Flores – were all present to give their all-out support to this lady who is targeting the Binibining Pilipinas Grand International crown if at all possible. Aside from the thrill she associates with Miss Grand International, she wants to get first dibs at becoming the very first Filipina winner of the said international beauty pageant.
At the moment, she is looking forward to the Press Presentation where she can formally show all and sundry the results of her training and transformation. How is she looking at Tuesday’s big event of Binibining Pilipinas 2022?
If there is one thing I truly appreciate about Nicole, it is her utmost sincerity. As they say in the vernacular, “walang kaplastikan” at all. She doesn’t mince with words, even if everyone can see and hear the intermittent refinements in the choice of words and statements. She wants fans and supporters to trust her enough in this endeavor and requests that – instead of being belittled – people take her efforts seriously.
Personally, I will no longer fall off my swivel chair if she wins a crown or grabs a runner-up placement at least. After seeing and talking to her person, Nicole has the determination to succeed. She learns fast and it will only take a short matter of time before everyone else at BPCI starts to appreciate her real worth as a potential beauty queen. She may not fit the template we all have for one. But hey, this is the new normal. Anything can happen.
Here are some photos from the Kagandahang Flores Orientation of its Batch 2022 candidates for the national pageants. The whole day activity was held at the KF Camp in Scout Borromeo. The ladies are a good mix of fresh faces, veterans and a few surprises. 
KF Founder Rodgil Flores and co-founder Gio Lazaro are at the forefront of this brand new reimagining for the camp, tagged as The Engineer and Queenmaker respectively. Not many people know that the former is an actual Chemical Engineer by profession, while the latter is one of the most respected makeup gurus in the country. Together, they will lead a team of talented professionals whose individual specializations contribute to the all-around development of future pageant aspirants and beauty queens.
Just to refresh your memory on the Queens who have been trained and polished by KF, here are some of them (aside from those mentioned above): Rachel Peters, MJ Lastimosa, Karla Henry, Jamie Herrell, Angelia Ong, Gazini Ganados and Emma Tiglao. Very recently, Miss Aura International Alexandra Faith Garcia and The Miss Globe 2021 Maureen Montagne were added to the tally of successful beauty champions. 
It all started from humble beginnings. Back in the mid-90s, the group fielded a sole candidate – Sonia Santiago – for Bb. Pilipinas 1996. In between, more beautiful Filipinas started undergoing training and polish for bigger beauty competitions. And in the process, a good number of the ladies started winning national titles left and right, until their successes were justly rewarded when Precious Lara Quigaman was crowned Miss International 2005 – their very first claim to grand slam fame.
Below is a rundown of the KF alumni who went on to win their international pageants, either here or abroad:
I can remember during one of his past interviews (watch below) for Assignment Asia of the China Global Television Network (CGTN) how Rodgil called beauty aspirants – “beauty athletes” – because all the learnings are continuously practiced in their individual lives outside the confines of the camp itself. I could not think of a more appropriate term that could better that.
🙂
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