For both men and women, precolonial Filipinos defined beauty with long, healthy, shiny black hair that was well-tended to and well-combed.
A harmonious and proportional distribution of well-developed muscles on the body, from working in the fields, hunting, or building, was also another determinant of beauty for precolonial Filipino men.
For precolonial Filipino women, beauty of physique was determined by the overall harmony and symmetry of the body, healthy, sunkissed skin, long black hair, and how subdued they carried themselves.
Elegance was seen as a paramount valuable trait, and was one of the precolonial Filipino woman's determinants of beauty beyond the physical.
Men and women alike, in indigenous Philippines, adorned themselves with gold, jade, diamonds, rubies, and other precious stones believed to accentuate, emphasize, and elevate one's beauty.
[17][18][19][20][21] The Philippines then inherited the practice and promotion of beauty pageants from the Kingdom of Spain and United States during its colonial history, and reflected their keen interest in pageantry through the Santero culture.
[40][41][42] Carousel Productions established Miss Philippines Earth as a beauty pageant competition with the aim of actively promoting the protection and preservation of the environment.
It is also the first country in the world to place non-stop at Miss Universe semifinals for at least a full decade beginning any year of the 21st century.
[47] The Philippines currently holds the world's longest winning streak in the Big Four pageants by any country in history, from 2013 to 2018.
Angelia Ong garnered for the Philippines the first, and so far only, back-to-back victory in Miss Earth history by clinching the 2015 crown.
The streak continued in 2016 when Kylie Verzosa clinched the Philippines its sixth, and most recent, Miss International crown.