Liza Lorena: A face-lifting experience

Renowned as the country’s one and only "Doctor of the Stars," Dr. Vicki Belo always elicits an uncommon sense of fulfillment from seeing a satisfied patient. It’s almost as if she were witnessing the blossoming of a rare flower in her garden.

One such beautiful orchid is award-winning actress Liza Lorena, who approached Dr. Vicki for a nip and a tuck here and there, just in time for a crucial milestone. It’s not just because of vanity. Liza, in fact, was not too concerned about her looks until she reached her mid-forties. And like most mestizas, Liza or Elizabeth Ann Jolene Luciano Winsett in real life wanted to age gracefully, minus the unsightly weight gain and sagging of features associated with those of Eurasian ancestry (her father is Irish-German, while her mother was from Pampanga).

As the clock kept ticking, Liza considered all her options. The decision to call Dr. Vicki was made all the more imperative because fifty-something Liza is busy preparing for the grand wedding of son, actor Tonton Gutierrez, to actress Glydel Mercado on March 15. Needless to say, Liza wanted to look her best on her son’s Big Day.

Dr. Vicki’s heart goes out to Liza. "Oftentimes, because all the attention is on the bride, we forget about the mother of the groom, who is also an important part of the entourage," Dr. Vicki relates.

A former flight attendant and beauty queen, Liza has every right to look radiant on the most important day of her life as a mother. But then again, she has always been a bit leery of going under the knife. Those gritty documentaries on television undoubtedly scared the wits out of most people, who now equate cosmetic surgery with gore. Liza is not only fearful of the "usual facelift," she also finds previous results unappealing, "as if the women emerged from the same face factory, with the same stretched and pinched look."

That was why when she heard of Dr. Vicki’s latest cosmetic procedure, Liza felt encouraged, to say the least. The acclaimed actress feels that the Aptos Thread Seamless Facelift was just the right solution for her. "For one thing it’s only slightly invasive," Dr. Vicki explains. "And only drops of blood will be shed."

Moreover, Liza was the perfect candidate for such a procedure because she only had very fine lines and very few areas with loose skin. "Liza’s main problem areas were her checks that were starting to droop and her heavy eyelids," Dr. Vicki volunteers. "Aptos was performed on her temples and eyebrows, to lift her lids and cheek area and to contour her cheeks."

After the treatment, Liza was able to regain her patrician profile and her elegant cheekbones that were the envy of her contemporaries in the ’60s and ’70s.

Invented by Russian specialists, Dr. Marlen Sulamanidze and son Dr. George Sulamanidze, the Aptos Thread Seamless Facelift makes use of the latest in cosmetic surgery technology. The Belo Medical Group, in fact, is only the second team in the whole world with the expertise to perform such a groundbreaking procedure. (Aptos Thread Seamless Facelift is available in three of her five clinics: Makati, Morato and Greenhills).

"Dr. Sulamanidze is brilliant," Dr. Vicki attests. "He was able to figure out a way to anchor the stitches as early as 10 years. He put in sutures. The Aptos Thread is a feather-weight and high-resistance thread that anchors to the facial tissues, thus lifting sagging cheeks, jowls, and eyebrows." The end result is a facelift with no cuts and no visible scars. "And the results are instant and stunning," Dr. Vicki beams. "It’s really ideal for people who have no time for the usual facelift procedure."

To complement the Aptos Thread Seamless Facelift, Liza also availed of other cosmetic enhancement procedures: like liposuction of the neck and double chin and eyebag removal. As a result, Liza looks more than a decade younger. "You can really see it in the pictures, "Dr. Vicki asserts. "She was able to shed off a good 15 to 20 years from her face alone. She still looks like the same person. Only younger."

Now, Liza says she can confidently traipse down the aisle in the off-shoulder gown she has planned to wear when her son Tonton exchanges marital vows with Glydel on March 15.

More than anything else, Dr. Vicki feels that she is in the business of not only making people look, but also feel, wonderful and beautiful. "The surest, shortest, and fastest way to feel good about yourself is by looking good," Dr. Vicki affirms. "Especially for us Filipinos who put such a high premium on the physical."

In her mission to make Filipinos more informed about the latest in cosmetic dermatology and surgery, Dr. Vicki recently came out with Skin magazine, which she edits herself. It is filled with instructive and insightful features, along with compelling testimonies from several celebrity clients.

Indeed, when it comes to looking lovely and luminous, the country’s top celebrities always turn to Dr. Vicki Belo and her highly qualified team of medical professionals. These sizzling and sultry stars all swear by Dr. Vicki’s most sought-after treatments like Facials and Peels, Laser Hair Removal, Lipo-Dissolve, Laser-Assisted Liposuction, among others, which are all available in her five clinics all over the metropolis.

The Belo Medical Group counts such A-list stars as Kris Aquino, Regine Velasquez, Aubrey Miles, Angela Velez, Katya Santos, Diana Zubiri, among others, as her staunchest supporters and clients.

Now, Liza Lorena can proudly claim to be included among this bodacious bevy of Belo beauties, largely thanks to the wonders of Aptos Thread Seamless Facelift.