Cindy Kurleto is a proud woman at 40.
"I don't like to hear anymore that somebody tells me, 'Oh, you look good for your age.' What do you mean?" the former Encantadia star told PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal).
"Beauty doesn't have to do anything with age anymore."
Known to many as the original Cassiopea in the GMA-7 hit series, Encantadia, Cindy has not aged a day since she essayed the role more than a decade ago.
But don't tell her that, "In my belief, when people say, 'Oh, you look like not a day older than 35.'
"What does that mean, di ba? I would like to be proud of where I've come to.
"So don't take a single day away from me. Don't do that."
A mother of two, Cindy said she never understood why people have to compliment her as "sexy."
She said, "You know, after I've done all these mind-stretching, I would like to say it's like mental acrobatics...
"I feel more content, more buo, and more balanced now that I have what I was looking for.
"Not to say that every woman needs to be a mother, no.
"If you don't have the feeling for it, then don't go for it.
"But I talaga also had the wish to have a family. It made me more buo.
"Don't take that away from me. You don't have to compare me from my 20-year-old self."
INNER BEAUTY
Cindy did have her share of insecurities in the past, but the years have thought her to see aging and beauty from a different perspective.
She said, "What I realized was that a beautiful person who is not satisfied with their life, who is not at peace with themselves, would they look beautiful to you?
"Not really, di ba? You can see the stress in their face.
"So, they might be physically attractive, they might have all the physical attributes, but because of their own worry or their own stress of their own life you can sense...
"They won't look buo, balanced in their appearance if something is off.
"They won't look as pretty or as handsome to you as they could...
"The inside talaga that makes the person beautiful... If you can share happiness, you will become pretty in other person's eyes.
"You can be ugly, you can be missing a tooth, but if you share... if you’re able to share your happiness with someone else, that other person will think of you as handsome, di ba?
"And so, you have to be honest. All those things are true.
"That means being beautiful has nothing to do with age.
"In fact, the older you get, the more you know what you want and what you don't want.
"So, you're actually getting more beautiful with age. It's not the other way around.
"It's not that you get ugly with age, you get more beautiful with age if you live your life right."
WHAT'S CINDY KURLETO'S BEAUTY SECRET?
Cindy said being a good nurturer to her children, Noa and Lima, involved taking care of herself.
And so for her, the ultimate beauty secret is self-care.
She related, "The secret talaga is how you nourish yourself. Nutrition.
"I really believe that what you put in—food is medicine, supplements are medicine.
"If you're ill already, you’ll have to also work in your mind because your set of beliefs probably make you ill.
"I believe that it's our environment that change ourselves, so the power lies with everyone.
"I think that the beauty regimen has a lot to do with respecting yourself.
"When I say respecting yourself, it’s treating your body right.
"Go to sleep early, drink your water, eat the right things, don't eat the food that you know is bad for you.
"Respect yourself, and when I say respect yourself, I also mean build an arsenal of things that you know work for you..."
Cindy is the newest endorser for Myra Ultimate.
PEP.ph interviewed her last March 6, at The Gallery by Chelle.