Gleam Maker

Doctor to the stars, Dr Vicki Belo’s motto is to make the Philippines the most beautiful country in the world, one person at a time.

- Stephanie Shiu

The first time we meet, Dr Vicki Belo breezes in and hikes up her black satin dress to show me the girdle strapped around her thigh from yesterday’s liposuction. It is entirely undetectable under her crisp lab coat. “See I’m back at work the next day!’ she says beaming. Gone are the three-night hospital stays and blood transfusions of liposuctions past, things have come a long way, and the CEO and medical director of Belo Medical Group remains at the industry forefront.

Although Dr Belo considers lipo the golden standard for shaping, more than 75 per cent of her clinics’ procedures are non-invasive, with skin whitening the most requested procedure. With a clientele that reads like a who’s who of the A-list in the Philippines (or ‘Belo babies’ as she calls them), she is a celebrity in her own right, last year winning her third consecutive Black Diamond Award – the Oscars of beauty innovation.

Aside from top-of-the-line equipment, training and giving clients what they feel they need, Dr Belo seeks to make a difference in their lives. “I believe if you’re better looking, or confident because you feel you look good, life becomes better. That’s what happened to me.” An adopted child, Dr Belo was taunted by school bullies for being overweight and having acne, wounds that run deep enough to make her tear up today.