Two people have excelled in beauty and wellness through contrasting efforts.

When Heman Bekele, a 9th grader at W.T. Woodson High School in Annandale, Virginia, competed in the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge, the premier middle school science competition in the US, he thought of a cheap solution to fight skin cancer, the most common cancer in the country.

With Deborah Isabelle, product engineering specialist of 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division, as his mentor, Bekele developed a soap that helps reactivate dendritic cells, which allows the immune system to attack cancer cells, Fox News reported.

Isabelle helped Bekele find the ingredients that prevented the soap from flaking into pieces. He combined 3M Cavilon (a moisturizer and barrier cream) with coconut oil and organic shea butter to achieve this.

Last 11 October, 3M announced Bekele as this year's winner of its science contest, which came with a $25,000 prize. He plans to use the money to secure a patent for his soap and save for college.

Meanwhile, Joylyn Cachin, 40, used her physical imperfections as motivation to embark on a personal self-improvement project beginning in 2016.

Vowing not to fail again in job interviews and beat applicants who were more beautiful than her, Cachin underwent a rhinoplasty to raise her flat nose, Pinoy MD reported.

Cachin liked the result, so she added dimples to her face, underwent Botox to smoothen her frown lines, and fixed her double chin.

Admitting that she got addicted to it, cosmetic surgery became her yearly undertaking, according to Pinoy MD. Aside from fixing her face, Cachin also had work done to improve her other bodily imperfections, undergoing fat removal in the tummy and arms and breast enlargement.

Cachin had no regrets about spending P1.3 million on cosmetic surgeries over the years that have made her self-confident.