How this former beauty queen built her growing beauty business

She initially wanted to pursue nursing and even considered becoming a doctor. But former beauty queen-turned-entrepreneur Rosenda Casaje eventually realized that the demands of those professions would leave her little time for other pursuits. She completed her nursing degree but did not take the board examination.

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Casaje had already discovered her passion for business while still in college. In 2010, she started selling products online, sourcing merchandise from different countries and eventually developing her own product lines.

“I buy and sell all kinds of products. In 2010, I was still in college when I had my first business and started selling online. I realized I needed to do that more. I need to sell lots of things to earn more. Selling is my passion,” she told ABS-CBN News.

She initially operated a general merchandise store and sold beauty products online, sourcing stocks from Thailand and materials from South Korea, the United States and Japan before having the products manufactured in the Philippines.

Casaje later ventured into the beauty business more directly, opening a modest aesthetic clinic in her native Bulacan that offered services such as facials.

She also started to explore having her own product. “People would ask me what I use for my face, for my skin. Then I realized we had to make my own beauty products,” she said.

That eventually led to Gorgeous Glow, her beauty and wellness brand.

Casaje said customer trust encouraged her to expand the product line, even as competition in the beauty industry intensified, with different brands and products aggressively entering the market. 

“Then I saw people trusting me when they patronized my products,” she said. “I started to trust what I would sell to them. I would tell them what the products are for, the function of the product and its effect.”

The positive response to her initial offering gave her the confidence to introduce more products.

“From one product, I had the courage to expand more. I was amazed that people were really buying the product. I knew it was the time to really take my business more seriously. We’re stable already and we’ve built our own market.”

Repeat customers helped establish the brand, but Casaje said her business also grew out of a desire to provide income opportunities for others.

“We have this vision ever since. I keep on saying this. We want to help single parents, although I am not a single mother. I want to help people who need extra income,” she said.

The company initially offered distributorship and reseller arrangements, allowing single parents to purchase products at lower prices and sell them for a profit.

Today, it has expanded that model through an affiliate program that also welcomes students and employed individuals looking for additional income.

“We still have the same vision, but the reach is broader today. We don’t just target single parents. We also cater to students who usually go on TikTok and they can earn,” Casaje said. “So we’re teaching people how they can earn extra, even while they’re still in school or doing their other businesses or their work. Even if they are employed, they can earn extra money.”

Gorgeous Glow’s product range includes beauty and skin care products, supplements, glutathione, slimming capsules, coffee, juice and tea. Casaje said the company is also moving toward wellness products that go beyond skin whitening.

“Our purpose is longevity,” she said. “Not just skin whitening, but we target the cells. We will come out with products that will make you healthy and slim, not just whitening. We have products lined up for registration. We are working on that.”

Among the products being developed are those intended to improve skin texture, help prevent aging and support general wellness and the immune system. The company is targeting consumers aged 25 to 30 for some of its upcoming offerings, with one product expected to launch by December.

Developing new products, however, remains one of her biggest challenges.

“We don’t know what to tell our R&D [research and development] team to create. We need to constantly search and innovate,” she said. “I’m also the model of the brand, so we have to keep coming up with new products. At the same time, I have to consider my health. For me, that’s the hardest part.”

Casaje said the company takes time to develop and register its products rather than rushing them to market.

“We really curate the products and meticulously choose the ingredients. It takes a while before we come out with a new product. There’s nothing that is released right away. We don’t just attach our name to the brand. It doesn’t work that way. We cannot sell the product unless it is registered.”

The company is also working to expand its distribution beyond online selling. Through its modern trade business, Casaje hopes to bring Gorgeous Glow products to supermarkets and eventually to all Mercury Drug and Watsons outlets.

“That was our goal ever since,” she said. “We’re working on it. We were so focused online that we didn’t give much time to our modern trade business.”

International expansion is another priority. Gorgeous Glow products are already distributed in Dubai through Filipino supermarkets, and the company is looking into establishing a TikTok shop there.

Casaje said securing product registrations overseas has been a challenge because of the different regulatory requirements.

“They are so strict in terms of registration,” she said. “We are still working on the papers. If your products are already approved by the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] here, it doesn’t follow that there’s a guarantee there.”

She said the products must undergo separate reviews by different ministries, which examine their individual ingredients.

“So it takes time,” she said.

Casaje said she wants to eventually see Gorgeous Glow sold internationally, particularly in markets with substantial Filipino communities. The products are currently available online, but she also hopes to open physical stores.

“We want to bring Gorgeous Glow abroad because there are lots of Filipinos abroad. In Dubai, I was able to meet a lot of Filipinos who are interested in the products. My mantra is if others can, why can’t I?”

Beyond developing products and expanding distribution, Casaje must contend with rising costs and the challenge of keeping prices competitive.

“Even one peso really matters,” she said. “You cannot just raise the prices of your products. That’s a constant challenge for us. But we’re happy our customers don’t just easily switch brands. We are happy they still patronize our products.”

She has also seen many entrepreneurs introduce their own brands, only to disappear from the market after a few years.

“I believe everyone has the capacity to put out a product to sell,” she said. “But not everyone is built to become an entrepreneur. That takes a lot of effort, risk, decision-making, patience — everything to become an entrepreneur.”

Casaje said Gorgeous Glow has maintained a stable presence in the market over the past nine years, despite keeping a relatively low profile. “I’ve been in the market for so long. We are just low-key and quiet. We are stable the last nine years.”

The business also has plans to revive its aesthetic clinic, which closed during the pandemic after the costs of maintaining the facility became difficult to sustain.

“I had to pay rent even if the clinic was closed,” she said. “I kept on paying but not getting anything in return. The staff, I absorbed most of them in the warehouse. But this coming year, we plan to re-open.”

Casaje has yet to reopen the clinic but is considering a location in Bonifacio Global City. She said she still has the equipment and hopes to put it back to use.

“We are planning to open at BGC [Bonifacio Global City],” she said. “I still have machines and we want to make them work again. Hopefully, if it’s God’s will, we can use those machines again.”

Two years ago, she also introduced Rosenda Shapewear, a line of garments designed for everyday use, workouts and wearing underneath fitted clothing.

“It hugs the body,” she said. “You can also wear that in the gym or underneath when you wear something sexy, to hide the fats.”

Casaje’s personal journey has also taken her beyond the beauty business and into the international fashion scene.

Six years ago, she won the Mrs. Global Universe 2020 crown, receiving the titles of Mrs. Global Universe Empowerment Woman and International Queen Ambassador 2020.

She said joining the pageant was partly a way of building her confidence after becoming a young mother. She gave birth to her first child at 20.

“I tried to join that pageant because I got married early,” she said. “I got pregnant at 19 and gave birth at 20. No regrets. But I learned to be more confident. That became my stepping stone to show to people that I can really do more.”

The pageant experience eventually opened doors to another world she had never imagined entering: international fashion weeks.

In 2022, Casaje began attending fashion events as a VIP client of a high-end fashion brand. An invitation to Paris Fashion Week followed, with Balmain among the first brands she visited.

“That was where I started to get invited by other different brands every time there’s fashion week,” she said.

The experience also gave her a different perspective on running a business. Aside from networking with people in the industry, she gets to observe how international fashion houses market their products and adapt their strategies.

“That made me realize that I need to scale up my business. I don’t need to stay on the same level. I’ve earned a higher market. That is one of the advantages that I need. Aside from networking with the people that I meet, they will discuss how they also market their products.”

She also gets to see how brands respond to changing trends and introduce new products.

Casaje has since received invitations to fashion weeks in Paris and Milan. She was also supposed to attend New York Fashion Week last September, where she had received 12 invitations, but canceled at the last minute because of work commitments.

“I need to choose one because it’s so tiring and expensive,” she said. “But it’s fun… I attend as an influencer. Before, I was invited as a buyer. Today, they also give me things that I can use during their show. I also have a business to attend to here. That’s my priority. I earn from it, so I have to give time and priority to it.”

She has encountered international celebrities and fashion personalities at these events, including Bella Hadid, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Lisa of Blackpink and Emma Stone. She has also crossed paths with local personalities Heart Evangelista and Pia Wurtzbach.

Fashion week has also influenced her personal style. Casaje said she enjoys dressing up and experimenting with designer clothing, some of which brands lend her for their shows.

“I love dressing up, learned how to mix and match. I love fashion, as well. I saw how creative people are there,” she said.

Her trips are accompanied by a team that includes a makeup artist, stylist, social media assistant, personal assistant and two photographers, although she admitted she may have to reduce the size of her entourage.

“You need that,” she said. “I have my make-up artist, my social media girl to curate my posts, stylist, my assistant and two photographers. But I need to trim that entourage.”

At 36, Casaje is married with two children, Sofia, 17, and Charles, 9. She is the eldest of five siblings and graduated from La Consolacion University, formerly University of Regina Carmeli, in Malolos, Bulacan, in 2011.

Among her biggest investments is a three-hectare property in Calumpit, Bulacan, which she purchased for a nine-digit amount in cash. The property houses the warehouse for Gorgeous Glow.

She is also looking for a celebrity endorser, preferably someone aged 18 to 35, to represent the brand. Nearly a decade into the business, however, she has yet to find the right person.

For now, Casaje remains focused on growing her e-commerce operations, expanding distribution overseas and eventually bringing Gorgeous Glow to international markets.

She also wants the brand to reach a level where it can compete globally.

“We are working to bring Gorgeous Glow to global standards. We have the capacity to bring the product globally,” she said.