Alumni Corner
Featured Alumni
Studying at the Center for Aesthetic Studies (CAS) has helped fulfill my dream to become a beauty stylist specializing in hair and make-up. The rigorous training conducted by our competent instructors who are generous in sharing their skills and experiences, made me a confident and knowledgeable stylist today.
-Germaine Pacheco, Stylist (Batch ’05)
I am a proud graduate from the first batch of the diploma program in cosmetology at the Center for Aesthetic Studies; then called the ICI Training Center (2004). Our lessons covered not just the principles and applications of hair cutting, make-up artistry and other related courses. Likewise, we are trained to practice professionalism and moral value formation. These traits are crucial to my work now as a chief make-up artist for an international make-up brand.
-Jigs Mayuga, Chief Make-up Artist of L’Oreal Paris (Batch ’04)
We are currently a husband and wife team of stylists, who came from different industries – him in architecture and I from the accounting industry. I took up the basic make-up program at CAS and enjoyed it immensely! Our instructor was a top Ace! She was very patient and meticulous with her students. The discipline she instilled in me is observed by my clients, who often call my make-up artistry not just make-up but an experience.
My husband, Ricky enrolled in the Hair Upstyle class and is now a true professional hair styling partner to my make-up styling stints.
-Claire Diokno, Senior Associate Make-Up Artist, Shu Uemura
& Ricky Diokno, Kiehls Stylist Series (Batch ’04)
Success in every endeavor is often relative to having the proper fundamentals. I believe CAS has given me a good solid beginning. I've found their training and style of teaching to be basic yet updated according to the current dictates of the fashion industry. CAS has also given me the opportunity to be educated by some of the movers and shakers of the industry. Because of their wide range of connections, I have been exposed to numerous influential events even before I completed the course.
But perhaps the biggest lesson CAS has taught me is the value of pursuing excellence; that it is not acceptable to settle for the mere mediocre. I was taught through direct critique that strict and harsh training is not always a bad thing and can be used to an advantage. Because at such an early stage you learn how to fail forward and keep trying despite the odds. I am proud to say that I was able to exemplify this when I joined a local contest by a make-up company recently. Although I made is a finalist, I had my doubts as to whether my skills would suffice in the midst of other seemingly better contestants. It was only in the last judging round that I was able to gather myself and push my capacity farther than the expected. This won me the 5th and final spot in the contest. Thinking back, if I had not been exposed to criticism and disappointments, giving up would have been the safest choice.
-JJ Liongson, Maybelline Color Artist Search ’07 Finalist (Batch 12)