Making people beautiful & building homes

MANILA, Philippines - Last week, the Belo Medical Group formally launched its newest Belo clinic and its non-surgical center, Sexy Solutions, at Bonifacio High Street Central in The Fort, Taguig City, with Cristalle Belo Henares.

Joining Cristalle, who looked very sexy in red, were her celebrity pals Iza Calzado, Phoemela Barranda, Karylle, Toni Gonzaga, Dingdong Dantes and Christian Bautista. Also sharing the stage were officers from Habitat for Humanity.

Dr. Vicki Belo and daughter Cristalle Belo Henares have been very active in raising funds for Habitat and have so far been able to build about 20 houses for the organization. Cristalle works closely with Habitat’s Jessica Santos to provide deserving families decent homes.

On some of the sites, Cristalle literally helped build the houses, laying bricks under the sun alongside her friends and Habitat supporters, and she says those were experiences she would always treasure. The launching of the High Street clinic was the perfect occasion to highlight both Habitat’s mission and the Belo Group’s advocacy.

The Belo clinic and Sexy Solutions, which have separate entrances but are connected inside, have been in operation since April last year. Cristalle says the response has been nothing short of fantastic. “It’s a great location for clients living in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, and the subdivisions along C5.”

She says the less-than-a-year-old branch is comparable to one that’s been operational for, say, three years in terms of building its clientele. “It’s already doing as well as the Megamall branch, which opened in June 2009.”

What’s also exciting about the clinic is that apart from its menu of services, it is offering the latest technology in eliminating fat: a non-surgical procedure that reduces fats and gets rid of bulges in stubborn problem areas such as upper or lower abdomen, love handles, inner thighs, back, saddlebags and hips. Called Cool Sculpt, the technology combats fat cells and melts them away naturally — without surgery.

Drs. Jetty Lopez-Magallona and Regina Bauzon-Llorin explain that Cool Sculpt helps dissolve fat with the use of cryoliposis. “The targeted area is subjected to a cooling process that kills the fat cells underneath the skin, literally freezing them to the point of elimination. The fat cells then die and are naturally eliminated from the body through your lymphatic drainage. No knives, no suctions, no needles or scars.”

Cristalle admits that Cool Sculpt can be as expensive as liposuction if you need several sessions (one cycle is P30,000 plus VAT) but that it is perfect for people who don’t want to undergo lipo. “And there are more and more people who opt for non-invasive procedures and the technology for such is vastly improving so now they have more options that will work for them.”

The session lasts an hour and there is no downtime. After the procedure, the area is massaged for the “frozen” skin to go back to its natural shape. 

How many sessions are needed? Dr. Jetty says it depends on the problem area. “It’s for people who have stubborn bulges that wouldn’t go away no matter how much they lose weight or exercise.”

Dr. Llorin says that years ago, scientists and researchers were trying to break down fat through heat, “but then they realized that when you freeze something it breaks easily, so that’s how the whole Cool Sculpt concept came about — you freeze the fat to the point of cell death and it is then expelled through natural process. We explain to the patients that results are best seen after three months.”

Apart from Cool Sculpt, the Belo clinic at High Street offers non-surgical procedures that BMG is known for, including Botox to smoothen wrinkles; Eprime, to stimulate the production of collagen and elastic through the use of bi-polar radio-frequency energy; Fractional CO2 for acne scars and stretch marks; Fractional Microneedling for skin tightening and improving skin texture; Ematrix/Matrix RF, which also uses RF, for skin rejuvenation; Pixel RF to improve acne scars, fine lines and wrinkles; PRP Lift and Filler, which uses platelet-rich plasma (which comes from the patient’s own blood) for fuller and tighter skin; Dermal Fillers, which are injected into problem areas to create volume; Radiesse to improve volume loss; Thermage, which uses a Thermal Tip device, to lift skin and smoothen out wrinkles.

There are also the laser and light treatments and facials, including Aurora Photofacial hair removal and Fraxel, and botanical cleaning, glycopeel cleaning, and Obagi oxygen facial.   

Among the many body treatments and contouring procedures at the clinic are body scrub with bleach, Schlerotherapy, wet and dry dermabrasion, biosculpt, carboxytherapy, endermologie, lipolite, multipolar, Nova Shape, and Tenor.

Next door at Sexy Solutions, fitness expert Edward Mendez “will walk patients through and tell them how to go about losing weight through fitness, even when they have little time or knowledge on how to go about it. Our nutritionist Nadine Tengco will design a nutritional plan for them.”

“We do get a lot of patients from Belo crossing over when they decide they don’t want to undergo liposuction as a way of losing weight.” Cristalle says. “What we want to achieve in the future is to be a one-stop shop for anything you need to be sexy. You have a nutritionist, a fitness expert, and all the people you need to consult with for getting thin and staying sexy.”

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Belo Medical Clinic and Sexy Solutions are located at the lower ground floor of Bonifacio High Street Central, 28th Street, BGC, Taguig City. For inquiries, call 621-4030, 621-4031, or the Belo Medical Group hotline at 819-BELO (2356). Log on to www.belomed.com.