Happy New Look, Korina!

The news never looked this good!

That’s the blurb on the Belo billboard with the striking face of a woman who looks like…Korina Sanchez-Roxas?

You pull over and take a second close look and, indeed, it is Korina Sanchez-Roxas. Or is she? Korina never looked this good! Still, many people can’t believe it. How could she have looked so “different,” so “new?”

Without much ado, we’ll let Korina herself tell the whole, the true, story.

Many people hardly recognized you on the Belo billboard. Are you happy with your new look? 

“Hahahaha! Ako din. When I saw the photos during the shoot with Sara Black, I said, ‘Are my arms that small now?’ It’s really in the angling of the face, arms and body. And the camera angle, too, including the lighting and makeup that emphasize what needed to be emphasized.

“Natatawa ako when people wonder or insist it is photo-shopped. This is why I posted my ‘before’ and ‘after’ procedure videos. You can’t alter video. And if you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen the decrease in weight through the whole year.”

So there were no alterations?

“My activities and the instant snapshots could not have been altered. I use the Instagram shot of Mayesa or Robbie Pinera or the behind-the-scene shots of the pictorial as proof that my face is now really smaller and I’m generally slimmer talaga.

“Now, couple that with suddenly curly hair, tanned skin, a different kind of makeup (I always do my own, but for the billboard I asked Robbie to do it), and bare shoulders and chest. It isn’t a surprise that people are sort of...shocked, hahahaha!!! It was meant to do just that.

“I don’t look like the billboard every day. So, but yes, I’m happy with my face and my body now.”

Can you spot Korina in this photo with friends led by Dr. Vicki Belo who is credited for creating the Rated K host’s ‘new look’?

How about Mar, what’s his reaction to the “new” you?

“A lot of people have not seen Mar recently because he has been away from the limelight — living his best life. And I’ve been tagging along with him. I owe it to him that I’m more fit now than ever. Kasi, hindi mo naman ako mapapa-akyat ng bundok or mapa pag-aral ng swimming if it weren’t for his encouragement or insistence. Mar is on a fitness rampage. He walks almost every day, 12 kilometers with a backpack filled with sand. We climbed Mount Pulag for three hours, with him carrying 12 kilos of our camping gear. I could only carry four kilos! And halfway through, someone helped me hahaha!!!

“So this is our joint journey to fitness. Mar is now slim, no more salbabida around his waist. Mine is just a happy and fortunate by-product of his efforts, kasi sabit ako sa kanya. I had to show him the photos before the billboard came up on EDSA, of course. He didn’t react, hahahaha!!! But I think it grew on him. One day, I was speaking with Dra. Vicki on the phone and Mar grabbed it from me. He said, ‘Vicki! They say I lost my wife, replaced by a new girlfriend!’ I think he is pleased. Maybe. Hahahaha!!!”

What kind of treatment did you undergo at The Belo Medical Group?

“It was a three-step process for my face. I do Thermage with Belo once a year. This is deep penetrating heat infusion that causes tightening of the skin. After I lost 15 pounds from dieting and physical activity, there was sagging, especially by the jawline. Dra. Vicki did protein infused short threads and the result is an instant lift. Amazing! In 30 minutes, we were done. I had eight threads per side but you can have as more as necessary.

“The third step is this machine which only Belo has, called Belo Vita. It is micro-needling of the skin with hyaluronic acid and some other secret cocktail that promotes collagen growth and nourishes the skin. Wow! I became an instant fan of this and I’ve gone back twice already to the clinic to do more Belo Vita. The skin instantly becomes baby smooth and just looks nourished.

“What a great thing that you can now revitalize your appearance so fast, and so simply. It is important to try and stay healthy and fit, especially at middle age. Just like maintaining a car, you need to check up on things now and then and rev it up not just from inside, but also on the outside. I feel great inside and I think it’s natural that I want to match how I look outside.”

What have people told you about the billboard?

“Dra. Vicki knows that I was never very fussy or diligent about caring for my skin. Nagse-sermon ‘yan. She would say, ‘Can you please go to the clinic and have a facial?’ My work as a journalist and a daily news anchor kept me from caring for myself the right way. So now that I’m not doing a daily show, the first time in 30 years that I’m not doing daily TV and radio, I’ve finally invested more in myself. Many of us forget ourselves in the process of making a living…like forgetting to actually LIVE.

“A male friend who saw the Belo billboard called me suddenly and said, ‘Korina, what a wonderful inspiration the ad campaign gives us in middle age. We can still look good, and we should. I’ve been thinking about it for some time now but when I saw your billboard I just made up my mind. I’m going for a consultation tomorrow.’ Many of my friends felt the same way. And I say, ‘How many more of our best years are left…20, 30, 40 years na lang?’ I choose ‘live our best life!’”

What is your daily health and beauty regimen?

“Well, now I am more careful of what I eat. The Keto diet worked excellently for me. But if you intend to try Keto you should monitor your cholesterol numbers and ask your doctor about it. I lost 15 pounds in less than a month. But then, any diet will require you to stay away from carbs and sugar. And any diet can only work if you stick to it for at least a month before you see the results. And then the test of discipline to maintain it.

“It so happened, too, that Mar and I became very active. We took up a technical diving course that required me to learn how to swim. I never knew how. I deep-dive but I can’t swim. So in two months I had to pass this test of swimming 300 meters in 12 minutes. Considering I started from zero and passed this test — it is something short of a miracle, hahaha!!! So I’m often in the pool doing laps.

“And then the mountain climbing and camping became Mar’s thing. We’ve climbed Mt. Pamitinan in Rizal, the crater of Mt. Pinatubo and Mount Pulag thrice. Climbing is a great workout. Ang hirap! For aches and pains, I discovered stretching is my antidote. So I’ve been doing mild yoga. I have a five-pound dumbbell inside my car. In traffic, I do repetitions for my arms. I do this in the morning or at night, too.

“Inside is more important than outside. So I also consulted an internist and preventive-medicine specialist to look at my blood work and determine every area that needs help. So, with natural supplements I’ve addressed issues with energy, stamina, joint pains, digestion, metabolism, etc. I tell you, it’s a total overhaul, hahahaha!!! If not now, when?”

Korina and husband, former DILG Sec. Mar Roxas are, as she puts it, ‘living the best life’…and how!

Any “surprise” revelation from you and Mar this year?

“Huh? Eh, kung surprise bakit ko sasabihin? Hahaha!!! I’m kidding.” (Stay tuned, folks! Hehehe!!! -— RFL)

Since your workload (limited to your Sunday show Rated K) has been considerably reduced, what else occupies your time?

“Ay naku, my workload is definitely NOT reduced. It has considerably increased. In fact, I have a bit too much on my plate right now and I have to manage the stress better. It is self-inflicted, really. I’m doing things I’ve always wanted to do and I’m doing it all at the same time like there’s no tomorrow.

“I’m currently working on a documentary on HIV/AIDS, which was the subject matter of my thesis in school in 2016. I’m committed to this because people need to know what’s really going on about this epidemic before it becomes uncontrollable and tragic for the country. It already is, actually.

“I’m much more active now with my advocacies and charities. I’m actively working on providing artificial legs, prosthesis for legless kids. Every leg costs about P30,000 so it’s no joke finding the money for this. But I’m pleasantly surprised that people have been responding to my posts about children and the past month alone, five more children are receiving their new limbs — for a more normal, dignified life and a more ambitious future. 

“We’ve also been more active bringing a one-day fiesta to very poor barangays where every member of the family gets something to make them smile: A free haircut for Tatay, groceries for Nanay, school supplies, vitamins and, of course, the slippers for the children. Then we do a boodle fight. Ang saya! Like, a day of happiness.

“I’m also very involved with the rescue, rehabilitation and adoption of abused and neglected dogs and cats. They’re helpless and voiceless against human cruelty. Grabe super kawawa ang animals dito sa Pilipinas. We do what we can and we have so many happy endings for many of these godly creations.

“May I plug? Hahaha!!! I’ve also started a few businesses. One of them is my personal care line called K Everyday. I have a really good shampoo and conditioner which I personally formulated and I’ve not used anything else since. Our bestseller K Magic Skin Cream is a hit. If you’re curious, please visit the K Everyday Facebook Page to know about it and where to get it.”

“So, kulang talaga ang oras. Life is so good. And it’s so short. We have to do the good work, strive to be in top health, fight age like a gladiator, look fabulous and live our best life. Don’t you agree?”

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)