16 th -19 th Century Concept of Beauty in the Philippines: A Historical and Cultural Approach Zara Mazelene A. Amerila (zaamerila@gmail.com) University of the Philippines Diliman Abstract Various studies on the Philippine concept of beauty have been published all throughout the years. The obsession with whitening products and even going under the knife just to achieve the perfect nose shape has been popular recently. Perhaps, we all agree that due to the three hundred yearlong influence of the Spaniards and the occupation of the Americans soon after has reshaped our idea of beauty. However, a very important question was never asked. From what previous concept did it change from? How did it change until the American period? This paper focuses on the various aspects of beauty in the 16 th -19 th century Philippine society, before and during the colonization of the Spaniards. Keywords: traditional philippines, beauty, spanish colonization, precolonial