Signature by Guillano
Inclusivity is this MUA’s prime inspiration
Guillano Mariano Valenzuela, or Guilly, has always been an artist. In his teenage years, he was known as the painter in his batch, so much so that he remembers being excused from classes to join painting competitions. Little did he know, this talent would lead him to a different career: that of a makeup artist.
Makeup was a passion he discovered in college, when her transgender woman cousin named Alexis asked Guilly to put makeup on her and imitate the style of gay beauty queens. While Guilly didn’t take the job seriously at the time, an unusual moment changed his life.
Sometime in 2008, Guilly chanced upon a MEGA magazine issue with Georgina and Jessica Wilson on the cover. “I was really amazed by how they really look beautiful and glamorous,” Guillano recalls. “By that time I said to myself, ‘I want to be part of this industry.’”
As his first step toward his newfound dream, Guilly stated doing “collaboration shoots” for his social media accounts, which eventually allowed him to be known in the industry. His first big gig was becoming part of the fashion reality show, Mega Fashion Crew, season one. Since then, Guilly has amassed a number of projects worth mentioning, the latest of which is having Miss Universe Philippines 2022 Celeste Cortesi as his muse.
But among his list of achievements, creating his now 12-year-old brand, Signature by Guillano, may be one that is closest to him. The brand paved the way for Guilly to collaborate and share his knowledge with both seasoned and up-and-coming makeup artists. He says Signature by Galliano is where every hair and makeup artist is welcome: “We are celebrating 12 years of accepting, 12 years of passion, 12 years of hard work, and 12 years of legacy.”
SIGNATURE TOOLS
Taking his entrepreneurial skills further, Guilly recently developed his own line of makeup tools, called, Signature Tools.
“Don’t get me wrong, makeup is something I know I would do even if am old already, but let’s be honest, we can only do so much by that time,” Guilly says of his decision to expand his brand. “So we should be wise enough at least to invest for our future.”
Signature Tools began to take shape during the start of the pandemic, and was only launched two years after the idea first came up. Guilly says the brand follows the vision of his own Signature by Guilly, which is centered on inclusivity: “It is a brand that is welcoming to all kinds of beauty, shapes, colors and sizes.”
These day, Guilly is just happy to have brands that are still flourishing, despite the challenges we’ve all faced: “Honestly, this new brand and the past 2 years have been very rough, specially for the creative industry. So seeing my whole team striving, plus a new brand that can offer new jobs
to other people, made me realize it’s already a success.”