Celebrity Life
Hong Kong Celebrities and Socialites Reveal Where They Get Non-invasive Cosmetic Procedures
Where do celebrities, ageing models, ladies who lunch and an ever-increasing contingent of men in Hong Kong get their non-invasive cosmetic procedures done? We asked. They answered. Anonymously
When reality-TV star Kelly Osbourne (the most vocal child of Sharon and Ozzy) revealed her new “look” to her 2.4 million Instagram followers early this summer, the world took pause and note. The peanut gallery called out her dramatic physical transformation, the purple hair being the least of the twitteratis’ concerns – to pilfer one quote, it looked as if she’d had a “God-damned head-transplant”.
There were indeed many changes to the once-cherubic reality-TV star, from the razor-sharp cut of her jawline to the marmoreal polish of her alabaster forehead, and the voluminous lower lip to the perpetually perched eyebrow. This was clearly not the relatable girl that a generation grew up watching on
MTV’s The Osbournes between 2002 and 2005.
In answer to her critics, she released the following statement: “I have never done anything to my face … other than a couple of injections in my lips, in my jaw, and in my forehead.” Although technically she didn’t lie on a slab and get wheeled into surgery, the popular Instagram account @cosmeticdocs broke it down: a lip filler, masseter botox, forehead botox. Her dramatic weight loss is a result of her 2018 gastric sleeve, to which she’s admitted. Observers also point to possible derma fillers, lip enhancement, silicone lip fillers, facial contouring and perhaps restylane fillers on the crevice of the cheek. And the cost? Roughly upper-five to six figures.
We sent smoke-signals to a dozen local socialites to find out whether they were eating what Osbourne was serving up. No one was prepared to go on the record, but we did find out much more of what lies beneath … the epidermis.
Gone are the days when cosmetic surgery was frowned upon – though some couldn’t frown if they tried – as non- surgical, non-invasive and non-life- threatening procedures are now a dime-a-dozen. But with flights to Korea, Thailand, Paris, the Philippines and other cosmeceutical capitals grounded, where are the “swans” (as Truman Capote termed socialites) getting their long necks, er, spruced, refreshed or revived?
Now we know that Dr Vicki Belo in Manila has been a favourite of many a bold-faced name from our party pages, and in Central, many swear by dermatologist Dr Henry Chan. Both provide a multitude of services including “cool sculpting”, a treatment that freezes the fat away.
Dr Stephen Chan at Lifeclinic on Wellington Street is a favourite of others, while Carrie (Carrey Cheung) at Careyou Beauty in Landmark is more like a friend to many of the well- manicured. In 2008, she introduced Korean semi-permanent 3D eyebrow with manual hair-stroke embroidery technique and invisible eyeliner into the social fabric of Hong Kong.
Thermage and Profhilo does wonders for many, freezing the ebbs and flows of time. The sub-dermal moisture treatment lasts for a good six months before you’ll need a quick touch-up. Dr Nicola Chan at Millennium Dermatology and Laser Centre, a specialist in dermatology, does Profhilo really well apparently. Just as Botox was the buzzword of the season a decade ago, Profhilo is currently the most- talked-about nonsurgical treatment, as it’s said to significantly reduce skin laxity and make it taut yet supple.
Just before charity balls and gala affairs, many a socialite pops in for a quick fixer-upper at LifeHub, trying the ever-popular Skin Glow IV. This drip contains a potent antioxidant that’s designed to achieve luminous, glowing and healthy-looking skin. Painless and efficient.
For those squeamish about needles, there are simpler perks and plucks. One of our favourite socialites swears by Novolash on Lyndhurst Terrace, while Sense of Touch has many non-invasive beautifying procedures available in its remaining branches (a handful of them closed during the pandemic).
For brow lamination, grab an Uber and head to How Brow You in the depths of Cheung Sha Wan, while microblading, lash lifts and extensions can all be done at Lash Artist on D’Aguilar Street. Time was that Hong Kongers made an annual visit to Brussels or Marrakesh, where they checked in at Estheclinic. Its highly advanced treatments covered anything from permanent hair removal, anti-ageing, skin rejuvenation and body contouring, to the removal of cellulite, acne and stretch marks removal. However, there are now two branches in Hong Kong, one on Lyndhurst Terrace and the other in Sai Ying Pun.
Many in the social circuit head to Perfect Medical – it has 12 outposts around Hong Kong – for a variety of reasons that range from the permanent removal of dark spots permanently removed to body re-sculpturing.
Ever the proponent of constant touch-ups, comedian Joan Rivers famously said her grandson called her “Nana new-face”, which reminds us of NUFace, which provides a wide array of gadgets and serums as part of a daily skincare routine. There’s range of products by ZIIP – gold, silver and crystal gels that can embalm your physiognomy for a party, if not posterity.
As we go to print, you probably won’t be landing in Seoul anytime soon, but you can order from Korea the ever-popular Cellreturn face masks to manage pigmentation, which are popular with both men and women. Those with receding hairlines, meanwhile, can order a Hairmax LED comb that promotes both growth and fullness.
Now we aren’t ones to judge what anyone chooses to do when it comes to self-care and -improvement. After all, as 75-year-old (“but parts of me are 20”) Cher famously said, “If I chose to have my ass back to front, it’s nobody's business but mine.” To which we can only add, hear, hear!
The post Hong Kong Celebrities and Socialites Reveal Where They Get Non-invasive Cosmetic Procedures appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.
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How Celebrity Dermatologist Dr. Vicki Belo Built Her Beauty Empire
"Belo means beautiful in Portuguese, it’s bella in Italian. I’m so convinced that I was born to be a doctor of beauty because my name is so perfect for it.” Celebrity cosmetic dermatologist and surgeon Dr. Vicki Belo is so renowned in the Philippines that she’s a household name. Her award-winning Belo Medical Group is the most respected in the country, but she commands a faithful following that spans Asia, the Middle East and beyond, and includes in its ranks such Hong Kong KOLs as Bryanboy and Tina Leung. The city’s wealthy socialites are said to flock to her in droves, though names are kept strictly under wraps.
“People say that I’m a branding expert because of Belo,” laughs the remarkably youthful-looking 63-year-old when we meet in her Makati clinic. “In the Philippines, Belo is already a verb -- people joke that if you have something wrong with you, you should ‘magpa Belo ka’, which means you should go to do a Belo.”
Today’s technological advancements have ushered in a new era of beauty treatments and cosmetic surgery. The popularity of anti-ageing skin treatments like Thermage and the Enerjet Kinetic Facelift offer a more natural youthful look with minimal invasiveness.
“People are liking really natural beauty,” says the doctor, and in terms of shifting trends and ideals, women are more into “a smaller face or a baby-face look."
“What’s come in big is definitely the Korean style of beauty. And more people are accepting their skin colour, not wanting to be so white any more but wanting skin just to be even.”
Her clients in the past few years have been getting younger, “I think because of digital media, which makes people more conscious of how they look.” And though beauty trends tend to unify more across cultures in the digital age, Belo tells us that despite the rising popularity of curves, most of her Hong Kong clients still worship a stick-thin ideal.
Not everyone will be receptive to the idea of cosmetic treatments and procedures. But if anyone is a bold advertisement for her company, it’s Belo herself. Dressed in a designer jacket and white cigarette pants, coiffed hair and heels, at first she seems more 40-year-old glam socialite than a skin doctor in her sixties with almost three decades of practice -- that is, until you get her talking about lasers, lipo and medical tech.
Despite now being a regular on TV and in Philippines society and gossip columns, Belo says that hers was definitely not always a life of glitz, glamour and galas.
“How did I get into this profession? My story began whenI was five years old,” she reveals. “I was adopted and here in the Philippines they kind of put this down, they would say, ‘You’re not a real child, you were adopted.’ I would hear that all the time being said behind my back.”
She would spend afternoons in tears because of bullying from classmates who said that she was given away “because she’s so fat ... because she’s so ugly”.
But part of her psychological make-up has always been seeing problems and trying to solve them. “In a way I’m grateful that I had so many problems because I’ve been able to solve so many. So my five-year-old mind thought, this is what happens when you’re fat and ugly -- people don’t love you and give you away. I figured that I’ll make everybody beautiful so that no one is given away,” Belo adds.
Weekly visits to the dermatologist started at 11 years old when she was ridden with acne: “Though I’d lost weight, I then had this super-bad skin and was so embarrassed going to parties.” A decision was made to become a dermatologist during those painful hours waiting in clinics as a pre-teen.
She studied medicine and dermatology at Thailand’s Institute of Dermatology in Bangkok, and then at Harvard under the tutorage of Dr. Jeffrey Klein, inventor of the tumescent liposuction method, a radical departure from traditional lipo.
When she started her practice in beauty-pageant-obsessed Philippines in 1990, she was an instant hit. Today, with 28 years of practice, she has outwitted local competition with her pioneering approach to medical beauty, expertise and national exclusives on new tech entering the market.
Of course, there’s also powerful branding and celebrity cachet. It would be remiss to not mention her 1.8 million Instagram followers (@victoria_belo). To put things into perspective, the world’s “most famous aesthetic doctor is probably the one who does the Kardashians -- he has over 2 million followers. That would be a dream for me,” she quips.
The Belo brand is so successful partly because it’s become about more than just cosmetic surgeries, botox, liposuction or the latest in anti-ageing tech -- it’s become a whole lifestyle in the Philippines. There are the celebrity endorsements, high-society friends, media appearances and even legendary themed parties for her staff; the day I leave Manila, she and her handsome 38-year-old husband Dr. Hayden Kho hired a helicopter to host a glamorous aviation-themed do, dressed in full regalia.
Then there’s also a new addition to the family -- three-year old daughter Scarlet, conceived via surrogate with Kho. Scarlet is arguably one of the most famous children in Asia, already a cover girl for local magazines, starring in TV campaigns and with 2.9 million followers on Instagram (@scarlettsnowbelo); she just launched her own prayer book for children. I find out that evening at the Belo household that Scarlet can already belt out more songs than most adults. As her parents and their friends dote on her, it seems that life is currently quite beautiful in the Belo household. But the doctor’s ambitions go far beyond her family, friends and beauty empire. She has grand ambitions of making her native Philippines a top destination for medical tourism.
“Thailand became the hub for this in Asia, but my dream is for the Philippines to take over.”
The post How Celebrity Dermatologist Dr. Vicki Belo Built Her Beauty Empire appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.
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The post Why more Singapore men are turning to plastic surgery appeared first on The Peak Magazine.
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