Michelle Dee impresses Filipino part-owner of Miss Universe subsidiary
MANILA, Philippines — Reigning Miss Universe Philippines Michelle Dee has left a positive impression on Olivia Quido-Co, the California-based Filipino skincare specialist who has now officially joined the Miss Universe group.
“I think she’s very confident. I watched the pageant in the Philippines. I noticed that she’s very confident,” Quido-Co, president and CEO of the newly-launched Miss Universe Skincare and Spa, said at a press conference held at Astoria Plaza in Pasig City on July 29.
“And you could also see that she really wanted to win. That was her aura, the aura of somebody who wanted to win. And then, I think, the way she walks and also the way she carries the gown, I love it!” exclaimed the skincare expert, whose product line has been the Miss Universe pageant’s official brand of choice since 2019.
As president and CEO of the new subsidiary brand under the Miss Universe Organization (MUO), Quido-Co has now become the first Filipino to occupy an official position in a global entity associated with the international pageant. Aside from the skincare spa, the organization also launched a beverage line in Thailand last week.
Reigning Miss Universe R’Bonney Gabriel served as the main ambassador for the brands during the twin launch, where Quido-Co was joined by MUO owner Anne Jakrajutatip. The Filipino executive said the Bangkok event served as only soft launch for the Miss Universe Skincare and Spa.
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The grand launch will happen in September in Turkiye, at the “BeautyIstanbul 2023 Exhibition,” a global cosmetics and beauty expo. Quido-Co said they are already expecting a lot of inquiries from prospective global distributors for the upcoming launch, because this month’s soft launch has generated a lot of interest from different countries.
She explained, though, that with the launch of the Miss Universe Skincare brand, the California-based Olivia Quido line will no longer sponsor the global pageant. “I’m a part owner of this [new] company, so this will be the global brand from now on,” Quido-Co said.
Starting in the 72nd edition scheduled in November in El Salvador, the Miss Universe Skincare brand will be the ones that will be distributed to Dee and the rest of the delegates who will be competing for the crown. About 95 candidates are expected to take part in this year’s contest.
Dee aims to score the Philippines’ fifth Miss Universe victory in the final competition set on Nov. 18 (Nov. 19 in Manila). She brings with her a queen’s pedigree, being the daughter of 1979 Miss International Melanie Marquez and a cousin of 2017 Reina Hispanoamericana Teresita Ssen Marquez.
The Filipino delegate also hopes to bring the Philippines’ old glory back in the Miss Universe pageant after Celeste Cortesi broke the country’s 12-year placement streak in the global tilt in the most recent competition held in January in the United States. Dee was able to do this in the 2019 Miss World pageant when she finished in the Top 12, the year after Katarina Rodriguez broke the Philippines’ six-year placement streak by missing the call in the 2018 pageant.
So far, only four Filipino women have been proclaimed Miss Universe—Gloria Diaz (1969), Margie Moran (1973), Pia Wurtzbach (2015), and Catriona Gray (2018). EDV