KRIS AQUINO’S legendary candor is the stuff of legend. But behind that celebrity gloss is an overly sentimental person who’s easy to please and, like her brother President Benigno Aquino III, places a premium on loyalty.
These qualities allowed leading cosmetic surgeon Dr. Vicki Belo to woo Aquino back to Belo Medical Group (BMG) after a controversial falling out in 2007 involving the latter’s estranged husband James Yap.
(After a BMG receptionist claimed that she and Yap had an affair, a visibly hurt Aquino publicly accused Belo of condoning it. Still under contract with BMG, she left the company to endorse a competitor.)
“We didn’t even get to talk about it,” said Belo. “We hadn’t seen each other for years until she invited me over for dinner in her condo a few months ago.”
With Yap already out of the picture, both women seemed to have put their differences behind them, as Belo formally announced her star endorser’s return with a grand media launch recently at Makati Shangri-La’s Red.
Looking as toned as ever and sporting a short, flattering bob, Belo welcomed a visibly radiant and slimmer Aquino, who credited her looks to BMG’s exclusive non-invasive treatments such as Cosmelan, Multi-polar and a yet-to-be named regimen of herbal diet pills.
“I don’t get dark, but I’m prone to getting freckles when I’m out in the sun too long,” said Aquino. “I noticed this after I campaigned for my brother last May. Even if you put on sun block with SPF 80, something bad is bound to happen to your skin if you’re out in the sun all day.”
But she noticed considerable improvements after just one application of Cosmelan, which, unlike Obagi, doesn’t consist of a cocktail of medications that you apply step by step. After using it on a number of affected areas, including her face, a few more times, Aquino’s freckles became history.
Cosmelan, said Belo, is also effective in addressing melasma or unsightly brown, map-like patches on the face also caused by sun damage.
Regular exercise
It may also come as a surprise to fans, but the workout-averse Aquino now exercises regularly at home on the treadmill while watching her favorite American TV shows such us “Modern Family,” “The Good Wife” and “Nikita.”
A personal trainer sees her thrice a week to help her work on her arms and upper body using a Precor weight-training system.
“I need to be fit and not be as lampa (weak-kneed) because my role in ‘Dalaw,’ a Metro Manila Filmfest entry, requires me to do a lot of running,” she said.
Aquino, who’s down to two dress sizes, will start shooting the horror flick for Star Cinema later this month. She credits exercise and BMG’s herbal diet pills for helping her burn unwanted calories twice as fast. She took the capsules once a day for 10 days after a light breakfast.
“It gives you a feeling of fullness with none of the usual side effects like sleeplessness, palpitations and dryness in the mouth,” she said. “It doesn’t kill your taste buds.”
She also underwent a series of sessions using BMG’s Multi-polar machine to help tone and zap those unsightly inches from her upper arms and thighs.
“Multi-polar, like bi-polar, emits radio frequencies to tighten skin and melt fat without the need for surgery,” said Belo. “Most of the machines available these days are bi-polar. With Multi-polar, you simply have more energy zeroing in on specific areas.”
True to character, Aquino soon “outed” elder sister Pinky Abellada for also undergoing the treatment. Abellada, whose civic project, a depressed area in Bacolod, is a beneficiary of BMG, graced the affair. She managed to laugh and take her sister’s revelation in stride.
“I’m not the endorser here,” said an amused Abellada.
Indeed, whereas Aquino was all too eager to announce a series of liposuction and breast augmentation procedures done on her by Belo several years ago, she now seems more enthusiastic in advancing a gentler, non-invasive approach to beauty.
After giving birth to Baby James by Caesarean, her doctors learned she’s a high-risk candidate for surgeries because of a blood-clotting problem.
“I don’t know how I’m going to promote my surgeries now,” said a smiling Belo, who has a reputation for being one of the country’s foremost experts in liposuction. “But I was told that Kris’ condition has always been there. We were just lucky it didn’t manifest itself before. But I’d rather not risk it.”
Contrary to what cynics might think, Belo thinks neither money nor fickleness on Aquino’s part has anything to do with her decision to “come back home.”
“She’s been going to me since 1995,” she said. “She left only in 2007, and now she’s back. I don’t think that’s being fickle.”
Belo and Aquino, through their respective emissaries Joji Dingcong and Boy Abunda, signed a three-year contract on the eve of the May 10 elections. Dingcong is a BMG consultant, while Abunda is Aquino’s manager on endorsement deals.
“That they took me in no matter what would happen meant a lot to me,” said Aquino, referring to her high-profile participation in her brother’s presidential campaign.
Celebrity endorsers
Belo started the trend among beauty clinics of getting celebrity endorsers to promote her company in exchange for free services. The scheme evolved over the years as competitors took BMG’s lead and began pirating its biggest endorsers by luring them with hefty sums.
This time, Aquino won’t only get unlimited access to BMG’s services, but is also assumed to be several million pesos richer after signing the deal. Both women were mum regarding actual figures, but Aquino insisted she charged BMG a “friendly” price.
Their reunion dinner took place right after Aquino and her two sons went on a US vacation. Weeks earlier, the so-called “Queen of all Media” announced to the world her decision to separate from Yap for good.
“I was quite nervous while I was in the elevator, but as soon as I saw her everything went well,” said Belo. “Nothing was said as we hugged each other.”
Belo also discovered how extensive Aquino’s designer shoes and bag collection had become during that visit. The number of YSL Tributes in Aquino’s shoe closet was even bigger than Belo’s, who’s known to lavish her endorsers with expensive gifts.
Rather than give Aquino another bag, Belo showered her two boys with toys. Aquino appreciated the gesture, especially when Baby James was confined recently in the hospital. She also regularly sent comfort food, including her cook’s special pancit molo and Aquino’s favorite Hainanese chicken rice.
“She knows it’s my favorite dish,” said Aquino. “I don’t know why Dr. Belo chose Thursday, but she has been sending pancit molo to the condo on that day every week. She’s really a warm and gracious person. It’s hard not to like her.”
When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.Source:
Philippine Daily Inquirer
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