WATCH: Anne Curtis sings ‘Chandelier’

MANILA, Philippines — It all started when one day, celebrity doctor Vicki Belo pinched herself on the face and found half an inch of sagging skin.

“It was like a lot!” Belo exclaimed in a recent interview with the press including Philstar.com.

According to her, as one gets older, especially because of sun damage, “nasisira ‘yung cells and ‘yung factories ng cells,” resulting in sagging skin and premature aging, which are a big no-no in today’s “selfie” and social media generation.

Having a contoured face, said Belo, does not only look good on pictures; but also in boosting one’s self-confidence and outlook in life.

If you look young, she said, you also feel young and more passionate to reach your life’s goals.

Determined to find the latest face lifting holy grail, the cosmetic-doctor-to-the-stars recently acquired Thermage FLX, the latest and fourth generation of her Belo Medical Group’s famed Thermage line, which is available in 80 countries worldwide and performed on nearly two million individuals.

The doctor’s medical group claims to be the first Thermage user in the Philippines, having performed the procedure on its patients for the last 16 years. The group has also reportedly bagged the Black Diamond Award for performing the most number of Thermage procedures since its inception. 

“I think we found a procedure that would fit most everybody,” Belo said in a statement.

“This new generation of Thermage has proven to be wonderful for both the patient and the doctor. For the patient, you get much more effectivity especially for the forehead. You get much lifting and tightening and lifting instantly. Of course there is the real effect of collage deposition and elastin in three months so it only gets better. For the doctor, it’s much faster because it has a bigger foot and its much easier to use. It really treats laxity and sagging which is the most common problems for Asian skin.” Belo explained.

Chris Cachuela of Thermage distributor Solta Medical explained that the aesthetic treatment uses a patented radio frequency technology to create a uniform heating effect in the deep layers of the skin. This contracts existing collagen and stimulates more production, aiming to result in reduced fine lines and wrinkles, tighter skin on the face, jawline and neck, and a more contoured face.

Cachuela said the new machine works 25 percent faster than its predecessor, thus shortening treatment time to 30 minutes. This improvement has been made possible by increasing the size of the tips that are used to treat the patient. These tips are now 33 percent larger, enabling a more extensive surface area to be targeted at a shorter time, thereby lessening the machine’s carbon footprint to almost zero, making it environmental-friendly.

The new machine, only described by Belo as “very expensive,” also comes with a smaller tip for targeting the sensitive eye and periorbital area, and a much bigger tip that can help tighten the arms, abdomen, thighs and back rolls. 

Apart from providing instant facelift, Belo said the new service wakes up the skin’s cells, called fibroblasts, to make more collagen and elastin, the skin’s basic building blocks. Thus, she assured the treatment continues to work up to six months after the procedure. 

Actress Anne Curtis said she is usually adamant to have anything done on her face. But since the new service promises her no pain and no downtime, she gave it a try.

According to the actress, which endorses the service, the non-invasive treatment only lasted for about half an hour and gave her only a cooling sensation. She also noticed an instant, but not a drastic change in her face, as if it immediately slipped back to being contoured and no trace of being bloated after all those pizza and food she had been eating. 

“For women like me, 34, actually 30 onwards, you actually start to lose collagen. And especially for someone like me with my lifestyle, I’m always puyat, I’m always running and working out, you lose collagen. So, it helps re-boost (collagen),” the actress assured.

During her launch as the new treatment’s endorser, Anne again exhibited her passion for singing, covering Sia’s 2014 hit, “Chandelier.” — Videos by Erwin Cagadas Jr.

Related videos: Dr. Vicki Belo on her new non-invasive treatment

Anne Curtis on the new non-invasive treatment