Jennylyn Mercado’s beauty era is also her business era

At 39, Jennylyn Mercado has entered a beauty chapter that goes beyond clear skin, celebrity glow and the usual endorsement story.

The actress, wife and mother is now also a beauty entrepreneur, quietly learning what it means to build a brand of her own while staying loyal to the beauty family that helped shape this new direction in her life.

This balance was underscored when Mercado renewed her partnership with Beautederm early this month at Solaire North in Quezon City, marking another year with the company founded by Rei Anicoche Tan. Under the renewed agreement, Mercado will also endorse Reverie air and fabric freshener, keeping her within the Beautederm group even as she continues to grow Cristaux, her own skincare line.

In the beauty industry, where celebrity partnerships are often treated as business arrangements, Mercado’s story with Beautederm has taken on a more personal turn. Her renewal was not simply about staying on as a familiar face of the brand. It also became a public affirmation that women in beauty can expand, evolve and even build their own businesses without having to sever meaningful ties.

Mercado admitted that when Cristaux began taking shape, she worried about how Tan would receive the news.

“Last year, when we already had Cristaux skincare, I got nervous. I thought, ‘What will Ate Rei say? What if I tell her I’m opening a skincare business, there might be a conflict,’” Mercado recalled. “I was really anxious. What if she doesn’t reply or gets upset? But the support I received was overwhelming.”

What she feared would become an awkward conversation instead turned into a moment of encouragement.

“I will support you no matter what,” Tan told her.

For Mercado, those words mattered. They allowed her to move forward without feeling that her own growth had to come at the expense of gratitude or loyalty.

“She was very understanding. She still supported me. She just transferred me to Reverie,” Mercado said. “She told me, ‘Jen, I still want you in Beautederm.’ And I said, ‘Ate, I want that too. I just didn’t want you to be upset.’”

Tan’s response reflects the kind of beauty leadership that has become increasingly relevant today: one that is not threatened by another woman’s growth. For the Beautederm president and CEO, Mercado’s move into entrepreneurship was not a conflict but a natural next step.

“Queen supporting queen,” Tan said. “I told her, we are not getting any younger. It is time to build businesses and save.”

Tan said she had taken a similar approach with Maja Salvador, whose Majeskin brand she also supported.

“We already gave Majeskin fully to Maja so she could grow her own business, and now it is Jen’s turn,” Tan said. “They are like family to me. Wherever they grow, we are here.”

That family connection is not merely figurative. Mercado’s husband, Dennis Trillo, is also part of the Beautederm circle, while Tan is godmother to the couple’s four-year-old daughter, Dylan Jade.

For the beauty page, Mercado’s renewal is therefore more than another celebrity contract signing. It is a story about beauty as confidence, livelihood, mentorship and reinvention.

Once simply the face of campaigns, Mercado now belongs to a generation of women who are learning to own the products, platforms and businesses attached to their names. And in Tan, she has found not just a brand founder, but a mentor willing to make room for her growth.

In an industry built on glow, Mercado’s newest one may be the most meaningful yet: the glow of a woman finding the courage to build something of her own, with another woman cheering her on.

TMA