How good grooming can do wonders to a candidate's pageant bid

Perhaps we are being overly simplistic or even nitpicky but sometimes basic grooming and neat appearance can spell the difference whether you make it or break it in pageant battlefield. Assuming that one is not hopeless in other respects, the look or style of the contestant can be crucial in judging. A pageant entrant’s look should not only catch the judges attention but more importantly match the pageant’s image and gain the judges approval. We suppose such was the case with our reigning Mr. Universal Ambassador, Daniel Christian Ortiz of Puerto Rico.

Before he successfully snatched this title, we saw him compete in Mister International 2014, February of this year in Ansan, South Korea where he made it to the top 15 semifinalists. He made a striking impression on viewers at that time.  It was hard not to notice him or spot him from among the crowd with him sporting that hulking Afro hairstyle with matching beard and mustache. And when showing himself in his scanty trunks, there’s no way you will miss the tattoo artwork adorning nearly every part of his sculpted body. He was making a statement indeed but not sure what statement he was getting across. Attention grabbing yes but also very likely ruining his chances at grabbing the title.

Nine months after, he made his apparition in Mr. Universal Ambassador, almost like a completely different being that hardly anyone noticed he was the same guy from the previous pageant. In that span of time, he must have reviewed his past pageant mishap, reshaped and retooled for his next pageant derby. He underwent a magical makeover and lo and behold, transformed himself into this spick-and-span gentleman.

This time he played it right, projecting a picture of professionalism appropriate to the context of the pageant. He was amiable as can be in his national costume, appealing without having to put on a big smile in his traditional Indonesian attire, dapper and sharp in his formal wear. He looked red-hot in his swimwear with his distracting tattoos smoothed away leaving only one visible body art on his forearm. 

A neat natural haircut and hairstyle was perfect for a to-be ambassador. With all the excess hair out of his face, his features came forward for people to admire his whole handsome face. No longer did he look scruffy and scraggly as before. Though he might have once entertained the idea that it made him look sexy, it was seen more of being unkempt by others and incompatible with the kind of pageant he was joining – a neat precautionary lesson for future pageant glory seekers.