My name is Raquel & here's my story

I didn't start Ciao Bellezas because I had it all figured out. I started it because I didn't.

At almost 40, I'm still learning what it means to truly care for myself, not just my skin, but my whole self. I'm a mom to two incredible boys, ages 12 and 11, and like so many of us, I spent years putting everyone else first. Self-care felt like a luxury I couldn't afford, both in time and in guilt.

Growing up a part of two very different cultures in New Jersey, Puerto Rican and Egyptian, I never quite felt like I fit the mold. Not Spanish enough for one side of my family, not conservative enough for the other. I'd flip through magazines and watch TV looking for someone who looked like me, someone who represented the beautiful complexity of being mixed, of being me. But she wasn't there.

So I spent years trying to fit someone else's definition of beautiful. I yo-yoed with diets and exercise, always chasing some version of myself that looked like the models on screen.

My pregnancies brought complications and changed my body in ways I struggled to accept. Then came the mental health challenges: anxiety and depression that I pushed aside because I thought taking care of my mind was less important than taking care of everyone else. Recently, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's euthyroid, adding another layer to my health journey.

Through it all, one truth kept surfacing: I wasn't alone in feeling this way.

So many of us are navigating bodies that don't match magazine covers, juggling health challenges while trying to show up for everyone else, aging in a world that tells us to fight it rather than embrace it, and searching for representation that simply isn't there.

That's why I created Ciao Bellezas.

This community isn't about perfection. It's about acceptance. Accepting who you are right now, at this moment, in this body, at this stage of life. You don't need anyone's permission to define your own beauty. You don't need to apologize for taking care of yourself. You don't need to look like anyone else to be worthy of love and care.

Our products are made with the same care I'm learning to give myself: clean, honest ingredients that work with your body, not against it. Simple routines that fit into real, messy, beautiful lives. Because self-care shouldn't be another thing on your to-do list that makes you feel like you're failing.

Beauty Defined By You means exactly that. Not by magazines, not by social media filters, not by anyone else's standards. By you.

Beauty Unfiltered means showing up as you are, with the struggles, the growth, the imperfections, and the strength it takes to keep choosing yourself.

I'm still on this journey. I'm still learning to accept my natural beauty, to manage my health, to age with grace instead of fear, to look in the mirror and see someone worthy of care. Some days are harder than others. But I've learned that self-care isn't selfish, it's survival. And when we take care of ourselves, we show up better for everyone we love.

If you've ever felt like you didn't see yourself represented, like you didn't quite fit in, like you were never good enough, like self-care was something other people had time for, this community is for you. We're in this together.

You don't need to look like anyone else. You just need to look like you and treat that person with the kindness, care, and empowerment you deserve.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for choosing yourself.

With love and care,
Raquel
Founder and Chief Believer of Ciao Bellezas