We caught up with Manila’s It-girl and co-founder of Sunnies Face, Georgina Wilson about the lockdown, Niseko and her favourite skincare.
Where are you and your family right now?
GW: My husband Arthur lives in Papua New Guinea. We were fortunate enough to make it over just before all the countries began imposing travel restrictions. The Philippines closed its borders and Papua New Guinea closed their borders just a week after Manila.
We’re safe at home and as a silver lining, because we live apart most of the time, it’s been great to have time to spend together as a family.
How has Covid-19 affected your daily life?
GW: Manila is in total lockdown right now. It’s a complete lockdown. There are four confirmed cases in my building and no one is allowed to leave at all. They’re trying to stop any possible contact and limit exposure.
Papua New Guinea is in a state of emergency and we’re only allowed out for groceries to restrict the movement of people. There are no international or domestic flights.
You were in Niseko right before things started to hit the fan, do you think you’ll be able to go next season?
GW: We were just sending photos of that trip in our chat group. We feel so grateful and so blessed to have gone on that trip. It was really the last sense of normalcy in our family’s life and everyone was together and happy. We had such a great time being with one another. Skye Niseko feels a lot like home to us and we’re looking forward to seeing it again. Archie absolutely loves riding the Skye Shuttle because he thinks it’s the cutest bus he’s ever seen.
Crises like this really put things into perspective on what really matters. Our time together is something that is so important to us. Life will change after this but I think our Niseko ski trips will remain the same.
Do you think life will return to normal once this is over? Will you travel like before?
GW: This is going to affect a lot of people and the way that we do things in so many ways. It’s a pretty question to answer because no one really knows how this will pan out. We’ll definitely go back to “normal” and humankind will survive but the question is, what is this new normal?
Humans are resilient and we will adapt. So many great things are actually coming out of this like how efficient we are working from home. In our company, we quickly adapted to working via Zoom and calls. I’m on calls all day and this is probably the most efficient the company’s ever worked. We also feel closer together because we feel so united.
Last but not least, though we may not be going out as much, we still have to look good for Zoom and Houseparty! As a founder of Sunnies, what are your favourite products right now?
GW: I’ve been heavily masking! I have so many different serums and masks and all these things I’ve been meaning to try but had no time to. Now I’ve been extra indulgent. I’ve been really loving Tatcha and Tata Harper. Arthur always steals my La Mer lip balm.
And yes, I have been putting on Zoom make-up. We actually did a tutorial for a cute Zoom look on Sunnies Face. That’s really just part of the new normal right? You still have to look cute on Zoom!
Something to look forward to!
