Are You ‘The Face of Healthy Beauty’ of Guardian Malaysia? - Semi-Final at Johor Bahru City Square

It has been a while! My 2019 has been really busy and I sincerely hope that I can slow my pace down in the second half of the year. Last Sunday, I decided to chill a little and we were lucky enough to join a fun and amazing event at City Square, Johor Bahru.

I'm sure that most of you are aware that Guardian Malaysia is on a nation-wide quest to find 4 women, who best fit the bill as ‘The Face of Healthy Beauty’. The first semi-final round was held at Johor Bahru on 16 June 2019 and we were really lucky to witness the birth of the 4 finalists, who are going to represent the Southern region! 

It feels really different to watch the semi-final live at the venue.

Do you know that this search for The Face of Healthy Beauty is NOT a Beauty contest? In fact, The Face of Healthy Beauty has nothing to do with one's appearance. In contrast, Guardian Malaysia is looking for a person who lives life to the fullest in a healthy way, and has a distinctive style and pleasant personality. She is someone with a positive attitude, gives priority to being healthy first, and looks after her physical beauty too. Therefore, all ladies stand a chance to win a place regardless of your age, height, body figure and appearance! I personally find this really inspiring and meaningful to spread the message of "internal beauty".

Touted as the first-of-its-kind in Malaysia, this search for ‘The Face of Healthy Beauty’ is open to all Malaysian females aged 18 years and above. Entries were submitted online at https://theface.guardian.com.my. Participants needed to upload a 30 second video of themselves indicating ‘Why they want to be The Face of Healthy Beauty?’ or write in not more than 100 words why they want to be The Face of Healthy Beauty. 100 shortlisted participants will be selected to attend each semi-finals to be held at Johor Bahru City Square, Gurney Plaza Penang, Central i-City Mall Shah Alam and 1Borneo Hypermall Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Four semi-finalists from each region will attend the Grand Finals in Shah Alam on 27 July 2019.

According to Soren Lauridsen, CEO, South East Asia, Guardian Health And Beauty Sdn Bhd, the Healthy Beauty concept is at the core of Guardian’s brand philosophy and that this concept was borne from a consumer insight that good health is the foundation of true beauty.

“We discovered that our customers believe that true beauty comes from a healthy physical and mental state of being,” Soren said. By focusing on this consumer need since its very first store at The Weld 52 years ago, Guardian, has become the store to go to for health and beauty needs. He said: “While these basic needs have remained, consumption trends have evolved driven by changing lifestyles and economic circumstances. Health and beauty are no longer as clearly defined as they used to be. They have been intertwined. Guardian too, has evolved. From being the health and beauty store, our mission now is to inspire our customers to live a healthy and beautiful life.” “To achieve our mission, we have trained our team members to be beauty and health care advisors, while continuing to offer the latest and most innovative health and beauty products,” Soren added.

I have to admit that I totally regretted for not sending my entry in, because the prizes are incredibly attractive! Each winner will sign a one-year contract as Guardian Brand Ambassador that comes with RM10,000 cash, RM10,000 Guardian vouchers, and RM5,000 each for them to give to a charity organization of their choice. They will be featured on the Cover of Guardian’s Brand Catalogues and other collaterals and will receive products from participating sponsors.

In addition to the 4 winners, there will be eight category winners to be awarded by sponsors. These are: Most Healthy (Blackmores), Most Elegant (Bioessence), Most Youthful (Garnier), Most Expressive Eyes (L'Oréal), Most Passionate (Maybelline), Most Confident (Nivea), Most Cheerful (Safi) and Most Charming (TRESemmé).

During the Semi-Final, contestants were required to take up a few challenges including a makeover challenge. While I felt really nervous and stressed as the time was ticking, the ladies looked chilled and confident. Totally salute to them! 

Contestants flexing their makeup skills in the makeover challenge at the Semi Final of The Face of Healthy Beauty held in City Square Johor Bahru.

On a side note, can someone tell me what is the brand of the palettes that the ladies used? The colours are seriously gorgeous, especially the blusher palette!

Now tell me how to pose like a superstar in front of the judges and a crowd of audience? I love the positivity and confidence in all of the contestants. I'm not lying that all the contestants did a wonderful job - all of them expressed themselves in their own way, confidently! In fact, the positive energy is contagious that makes me want to step out of my comfort zone too, if they can do it, I should try doing it as well! 

Although we normal folks are not part of the contest, we can join the fun by voting our favourite finalist to win. The voting starts from 8 July – 24 July 2019 on the microsite, https://theface.guardian.com.my. The votes received for each finalist will contribute towards 50% of the total scores at the Grand Finals. Customers can earn more votes with purchases at Guardian. 

• For one vote, no purchase is required
• For 5 Votes, they need to purchase any item from Guardian 
• For 10 Votes, they need to purchase any participating sponsor brands in a single receipt.

If that particular contestant wins in the Grand Finals, then she will do a draw to pick her lucky voter. A total 4 draws will be done. Each Winner will pick 1 voter. The selected voter will be rewarded with RM500 worth of Guardian vouchers. 

Furthermore, there is also a Scan & Win contest for customers from 10 June to 7 July 2019. QR codes will be placed in Guardian stores for customers to scan. After scanning the QR code, they just need to answer four questions related to healthy beauty. After answering, they will receive an instant voucher for their next purchase. 

After hard-fought semi-finals where each of the 25 shortlisted semi-finalists had to go through challenges that display their attitude and personality to deservedly earn the title ‘The Face of Healthy Beauty’, four finalists emerged to progress to the Grand Finals to be held in Kuala Lumpur on 27 July 2019.

The 4 finalists from the Johor Bahru leg were:

1. Nor Marissa Alia Binti Ahmad Lokman

2. Sim Yun Jiew

3. Wienda Hidayu Binti Harun

4. Yasmin Binti Khalid

More personal details on these first four finalists can be found on the contest microsite at https://theface.guardian.com.my. The next leg of the semi-finals will be held in Penang this weekend where another 4 finalists will be selected from the Northern region. 

I'm excited to know who are the final winners, I hope that at least 1 of the winners will be from JB! More details of the search, and the full terms and conditions for participation are available at https://theface.guardian.com.my.

Love,