Disconnect: Mega January 2012 and Preview January-February 2012

Jinkee Pacquiao, daw, for Mega Magazine's January 2012 issue as shot by Seven Barretto.

There's a strange trend brewing amongst the top Philippine-based fashion magazines that I can't seem to ignore. And I'm pretty sure the entire nation agrees on me on this, too, seeing people's various reactions to these covers. Whether these celebrities or even their respective editorial team will admit or deny such, it's obvious there's some magic work done.

Charice Pempengco, daw, for Preview Magazine's January-February 2012 issue as shot by Marc Nicdao.

But before we jump into any conclusions, let's see these celebrities' profiles as well as their before-look:

Jinkee Pacquiao on Preview Magazine's January-February 2010 cover.

Meet Jinkee Pacquiao, wife of the Pound-for-pound King Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao's first lady is not really showbiz perse, but she's known for being the strong woman behind Pac-man. Her story along with Manny Pacquiao's was portrayed in the big screen. 

Charice's album covers

Meet Charice, international Youtube singing sensation who guested for daytime talk show queen Ellen, former primetime talk show queen Oprah, television sensation Glee and David Foster's star-studded concert. But before all that, Charice joined and finished only second in this kiddie singing contest in local TV outfit ABS-CBN.

I think it's safe to conclude that there's a huge difference to what they looked like before and after. While Charice is still recognizable (thank God!), I don't think we can say the same for Jinkee.

The sad thing about Jinkee's new look was the fact that she didn't need to change at all. She was beautiful to begin with. Check out her Preview cover circa January-February 2010. She obviously had some lip and botox job done but she was at least still Jinkee. Don't get me wrong, the new Jinkee is stunning. She looks like a 20 year old It girl and I wish that people who spend a fortune on surgery would look as beautiful as she did on that cover.

But a job well done to both magazines for creating a huge buzz or the new year. I'm pretty sure these copies will sell well considering the noise it has made. I just wish local magazines will publish and sell their copies a few weeks before the actual month comes just like foreign magazines... I was at the bookstore and all I see were still December issues. Talk about major fail. But at the end of the day, it's all up to you to decide whether these celebrities had gone under the doctor's knife or just the photoshop pro's magic wand.

And did anybody notice how the two magazine's used their apostrophes? Mega used the Philippines' while Preview used the Philippines's.