From finding happiness from within to practicing self-love, mother-and-daughter  Sunshine Cruz and Angelina Cruz shared an intimate look at the things that make them beautiful and radiant in the recent installment of the Self-Love Series by Stylish Magazine.

As actresses, we all know that Sunshine and Angelina have access to top-notch beauty treatments. So it was refreshing to hear that they swear by something skin-deep when they talk about maintaining their natural beauty — and overcoming challenges in personal and work life.

“When you love yourself and take care of yourself, you have a strong foundation where you can stand strong and proud in life. And you can easily prioritize your worth and happiness, which in turn, is the secret to peace and happiness, then aging gracefully and having that natural glow from within,” Sunshine shared. 

Aging beautifully can be taboo for some women, but not for Sunshine. She embraces the process with gusto and encourages moms out there to take care of themselves as well.

“As a mother, I also want to remind other moms that taking good care of ourselves is never a bad thing. Sometimes as a mother, you feel like you should always be selfless, thinking of yourself last because the wellbeing of the kids has to always come first. Yes that is true, the kids’ wellness should be a top priority but in order to take good care of the children, you have to be at your best when it comes to how you feel about yourself,” Sunshine said.

She continued, “Every now and then, don’t be afraid to pamper yourself too and have a break from being a supermom. Get some manicure and pedicure, pamper yourself, relax, and develop an amazing skincare routine for yourself. How you value yourself can really influence your kids, and how they are going to value themselves too, and their worth as people. It’s good that they see that you do prioritize taking care and loving yourself.”

Raising beautiful daughters

Sunshine has been in the industry for years and came from a clan of talented beauties, the Cruz family. The showbiz royalty family continues its legacy with the entrance of Angelina Cruz, Sunshine’s first-born daughter. Just like her other sisters, the 19-year-old has inherited her mother’s talent, beauty, and brains. Her work ethic has led her to complete acting and singing projects while being a student.

While studying Marketing Management at De La Salle University and being a dean’s lister, Angelina has already acted in her first sitcom role on TV5 alongside John Estrada and Ellen Adarna. Angelina proved that she is also a talented singer when her cover of the song “Hanggang Kailan, Umuwi Ka Na Baby” reached 10M streams on Spotify.

Angelina attributes her well-rounded accomplishments to how she was raised by her strong and hard-working mom. She also shared that she appreciated that her mom is keen to share tried-and-tested beauty secrets with her.

“Aside from learning great work ethics, discipline, and prioritizing your education, I am so lucky to be raised by a woman who’s an accomplished actress because for real, she has taught us early on these amazing beauty secrets,” she said. 

“Especially how to take good care of our skin. She always tells us to drink lots of water so your skin is always hydrated. Another thing she always says, never go to bed with your makeup on. It is really not good for the skin, and that’s how you prevent pimples and acne. Wash your face with your trusted skincare brand, and in our case, my mom always uses Silka so it is easy for us to use the same soap and lotion that we know to work for us. Another beauty secret is exercise. Because it helps you release toxins, and when you release toxins, it is obvious on the skin. Aside from that, exercise can help your body release endorphins, or what they call happy hormones. And of course, another beauty secret my mom always talks about, is if you can, sleep early and get 8-10 hours of sleep,” the singer-actress shared. 

Again, Angelina stressed that self-love and love for family are some of the best secrets that helped her stay afloat in the world of showbiz. 

Angelina added, “I am proud of how my mom showed us so effortlessly how to be grateful in life, and how to value ourselves as women, and how to really love ourselves from within– especially in a cut-throat business like showbiz. Me and my sisters, we value our family and our peace from within because that’s what our mother taught us. And when I think about it, the foundation of everything we know and do in our lives is rooted in love, be it love for our family and love for ourselves.”

Conscious effort to stay beautiful

Sunshine and Angelina are mindful that they need to take care of themselves for that sense of fulfillment and self-worth. It’s not just about vanity, but being accountable for maintaining and enhancing their natural beauty. 

“Of course, having that conscious effort to take good care of your skin is number one. Some people think that beautiful women just wake up all pretty and all, and that’s it, that their beauty is unattainable for most people. Pero in reality, the secret is having that very conscious effort to take care of your body, skin, and face– and not because of vanity. It is for your own happiness, your own duty to yourself that you make it a point to feel good about yourself,” Sunshine said. 

She also said, “ Of course you wanna take good care of your health para you have a healthy, happy, long life and you get to be there for your kids. For skincare secrets, like I have shared in the cover story interview, I have been using papaya soap way back. I found my skincare secret in Silka papaya soap and lotion way back, even before I was tapped to be their endorser in 2013. The soap is not harsh, it is gentle for me, and I love the fruity, fresh scent.”

“You know, people might think, ‘You’re already fair so why do you still use Silka?’. Well, I want to maintain my skin’s youthfulness, since it’s also an anti-aging soap. I also use Silka Lotion as an added moisturizer and SPF. The Silka Premium Whitening Lotion with Milk and Honey has SPF 30. SPF is needed to protect yourself against the rays from the sun, to avoid premature aging lines.”

Love yourself and the rest will follow

Sunshine and Angelina are all for self-love, and with a purpose. It’s not just about sipping wine or basking in the ambiance of a candle-lit bubble bath. Self-love is about equipping yourself with beauty and grace to overcome life’s struggles. 

“There is no shame in taking care of yourself because it is not just an extra thing we do for ourselves. Self-love is a necessity so you can live life in your most stable state with such strength and grace. When you have self-love from within, aging gracefully and beauty and grace from within just follow. I have proven that! No doubt!” Sunshine said. 

Angelina agreed. “Yes, just like what my mom said, strength and grace from within are things we need in order to survive life’s everyday struggles. And strength and grace you can only develop when you have an active drive to prioritize your wellbeing be it physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. It is in the little details like taking your mind off from stressful things to indulging yourself in, like let’s say, a skincare routine that truly relaxes you and makes you feel so beautiful. You will be surprised at how those simple, small things that you do can truly impact your mental wellbeing and self-image. It really boils down to love, that self-love.”