Kylie Verzosa's monumental win as Best Actress at 2022 Distinctive International Arab Festivals Awards (DIAFA) in Dubai is, without a doubt, the major highlight of her showbiz career this year.
On the former beauty queen's Instagram feed is a photo of Kylie holding her first international acting trophy.
But there's another detail that's hard to miss: her necklace.
Smiling, she tells PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) and other members of the press on December 17, 2022, "Kinalaban niya lahat," referring to how "palakihan ng bato" is common in the capital and most populous city of the United Arab Emirates.
Kylie's necklace is part of LVNA Signatures High Jewellery collection, and is called “The Midnight Pink Tears” by the owner Drake Dustin.
The 45-carat pear-cut pink tourmaline diamond signifies the "struggles and success" of Kylie.
The link chain features paved white diamonds with a carat total weight of 25, with almost-flawless D, E, F colors and VVS (very very slightly included) clarity.
Its price: a whopping PHP24,586,000.00!
Kylie totally likes it that she has worn it twice.
The first time was for "sa shoot namin, yung duguan," referring to her Halloween pictorial with other pageant titleholders Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray and Miss Grand International 2016 first runner-up Nicole Cordoves as well as fashion model Siobhan Moylan and actresses Nadine Lustre and Ivana Alawi.
When she was preparing for the awards night held on November 5, she realized, "Parang I need a shining bling."
"The Midnight Pink Tears" solved her OOTD dilemma.
She beams, "In Dubai, palakihan dun, parang I was just so confident na parang I had my jewelry na malaki na maganda."
At the same time, she admits to feeling really scared, "Baka mawala ko so I really guarded it."
KYLIE's LOVE AFFAIR WITH JEWELRY
The mini gathering is actually her launch as the new ambassador of jewelry brand Lvna by Drake Dustin.
"Jewelry makes me feel empowered," exclaims Kylie, who was introduced to jewelry as a form of investment when she was 16 years old.
"It started with my mom. Parang my first jewelry, I think I was teen pa lang. Siyempre when you’re a teen, you don’t really understand. She gave me a small set of earrings and necklace...parang investment."
Now, at 30, she hopes to start a jewelry collection.
"The bigger, the better," she says about the size of diamonds or gems.
She's also excited about her upcoming design collaboration with Lvna.
KYLIE'S ADVOCACY
Interestingly, the pink tourmaline has "healing and calming properties," and is recommended to anyone suffering from heavy emotional pain such as heartbreak, grief or depression, which happens to be the advocacy of Kylie.
The crowned Miss International 2016 is the driving force behind Mental Health Matters foundation.
"I started it because I want to raise awareness. I started nung Binibining Pilipinas days ko pa hanggang Miss International hanggang ngayon.
"And it’s an active foundation, we’ve been partnering up with a lot of brands...for free psychiatric consultations."
Kylie happily reveals that her latest endorsement comes with a donation of "100 thousand pesos" to help subsidize the medication of her "15 to 20 active members, a lot of them are based in Baguio."
WHAT'S NEXT FOR KYLIE?
The year 2023 will be even brighter for the star who has several big movies in the works.
Is she eyeing a local acting award?
"Hindi ko naman iniisip na I’m working for an award or something. I just work hard, do my best every time, tapos, darating na lang young blessings, I move on to the next. Ganun lang ako.
In every project, she gives her "one hundred percent," with her reason being, "Ayoko na i-regret na parang hindi ko ibinigay."
Her relationship with Jake Cuenca ended in April 2022, but finding new love is the farthest thing from her mind.
For now, she's taking her time, and enjoying the wonderful things life has to offer.
Besides, "mabilis ako pumili," which means she can be very decisive when the right man comes.