Flood control scandals all over the country have prompted many beauties to speak up from Edsa to Quirino Grandstand — including Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and Andrea Brillantes.

But among them, an unlikely new beauty discovery emerged.

Nathalie Julia Geralde was among the many activists who voiced their dismay over the government on social media. But instead of her videos and views, it was her dark underarms that became viral, even prompting some netizens to tag her armpits as “Pambansang Kilikili” (national underarms).

Nonetheless, instead of hiding away and being curled up in embarrassment, Geralde stood up stronger than ever — with a new beauty photo shoot and feature in the Philippine version of international beauty magazine Allure — with her arms extended high up into the sky to reveal her dark kilikili in its full glory.

“So eto na nga… dahil sa panglalait niyo, nagiging popular na ako! (So here it is… because of your criticisms, I am becoming popular),” Geralde teased her bashers after photos of the Allure feature came out.

Dr. Givenchy Ang, founder and aesthetic dermatologist of Solaia, thinks there is actually nothing wrong about having dark underarms.

In an exclusive interview with DAILY TRIBUNE for the multimedia platform’s Lifestyle and Entertainment show Pairfect, Dr. Ang said more than dark underarms as a beauty dilemma, bullying is actually the bigger problem.

“You know what, first of all, hindi dapat talaga tayo nagba-bodyshame eh (we really shouldn’t be body-shaming). That’s not right. We don’t know what the person has been going through. We don’t know her health issues, if any, but if she’s confident, why not? You know, we’re Asians, we have color. We have natural pigments in our skin, which also makes our skin beautiful. So, any discoloration is not necessarily bad,” she explained.

Many Filipinos nowadays, she said, are choosing to keep their color rather than get fairer.

“I see the difference from the perception before wherein before, gusto nila pumuti (they wanted to get whiter). Ngayon (Now), they want to maintain their morena (brown) skin,” she shared. “It’s just about trying to have a glowing appearance rather than changing their skin color.”

Nevertheless, not everyone, especially on social media, still respects individuals like Nathalie, who decided to keep their natural skin color.

“The problem is most of us, especially Filipinos, we’re really conscious about the armpits, the groin area or kuyukot. They’re really conscious about the color but again, body-shaming is not nice. Discolorations may not be common to all, but again, we have color. We’re people of color, so we’re not supposed to be ashamed of that.”

If bashers think armpits like Nathalie’s are unsightly, their attitude, however, could be bad for the mental health of Nathalie and anyone with perceived dark underarms, Dr. Ang warned.

“They get bullied because, for example, they have acne. And from there, du’n sila nakaka-develop ng insecurities nila,” she said, explaining that bullying can cause insecurities for the person being bashed.

But when there is self-confidence, such as the one that Nathalie showed through the Allure feature, “when it comes to mental well-being, it creates a positive outcome.”

After all, according to Dr. Ang, “Beauty is about being authentic. Being true to yourself.”