MANILA, Philippines — Before becoming Internet sensations with a combined following of almost 280,000 on TikTok and nearly 13,000 on Instagram, aesthetic doctors Catherine Anne Caoile and Marjorie “Marj” Salazar recalled of a time when they even cannot talk about cosmetic surgery in the Philippines.
But today, they said, not only are Filipinos more open about cosmetic procedures; Filipinos are even now very knowledgeable about it.
“Actually, ang ganda na ng perception, acceptance nila. Before, medyo taboo pa. When we talked about aesthetics, ayaw pa nila making. But now, they’re very open,” Caoile told Philstar.com.
“Minsan, darating na lang ‘yan, sila na nagsasabi kung anong gusto nila. They’re very knowledgeable nowadays, unlike before na parang wala talaga silang idea.”
In the same interview, Salazar shared that in their Elyse Aesthetics clinic in Northeast Square, Greenhills, San Juan, it is the parents who even bring their kids for surgery as 18th birthday blowout.
“Some, you wouldn’t believe, would even give an aesthetic treatment to a girl turning 18 years old as birthday gift sa anak, kasama pa ‘yung magulang,” Salazar affirmed.
The medical community, on the other hand, is also now very welcoming of social media-savvy doctors like Caoile and Salazar.
“They’re very open-minded. The medical community is already very open-minded with social media and our platform really is for education talaga. If you’ll see our videos, you’ll see that we only teach. That’s our goal and I think that’s also the reason our patients got to know us more,” said Salazar.
“Sometimes, they (fellow doctors) ask for (social media posting) tips pa nga.”
Caoile said it may look like all they do is to do TikTok, but she stressed that they really don’t have the luxury of time.
“The secret there is we do our preparations… We actually shoot 10 to 20 videos in one day, one sitting,” divulged Salazar. “Talagang naka-schedule lang.”
But apart from promoting their clinic, the doctors said they enjoy being on TikTok and also recently, they started their YouTube channel, to educate and to inspire.
“Nakakatuwa kasi parang nagiging inspiration din,” attested Caoile.
Their tagline “Confidence reimagined” was coined after they received a lot of feedback that the treatments they give boosted people’s confidence, especially for those who had gone through extreme trauma like annulment or loss of a loved one.
“What we see from them is everyone of them has a reason, but behind it all what we see is when there is a change in the outside, in the physical, it radiates up to the inside,” expounded Salazar.
“Nagbabago talaga ‘yung confidence. Minsan nakikita mo pagdating dito medyo shy type, and then when they come back, they talk differently. They stand a little bit differently, they even dress differently. Makikita mo talaga ‘yung transformation.”
Hence, although thankful for their massive following, the doctors are more grateful for helping changing people’s lives – through YouTube, TikTok and the knife.
“Nakakatuwa ‘yung confidence na makikita mo sa kanila with just the procedures because it’s not just the procedures, it’s the transformative mindset that they can do anything, they can take the rest,” Salazar said. “Parang kapag nag-iba na ‘yung pangangatawan nila, nagugulat sila na may iba pa silang kayang gawin.”