WHETHER we like her or not, most of us—the women, at least—listen when Kris Aquino talks about beauty. After her initially self-imposed vacation from show business, which later on threatened to put her career in hiatus mode, Aquino is back with endorsements, an upcoming travel special on TV and a viral YouTube video.
She walked into the room for the launch of her new endorsement, Ultherapy, with a limp but looking fresh and young. Aquino was wearing Hermes slippers, because she had injured her foot in a freak accident while taping for her TV special.
“I just took painkillers, so I might say some things I’m not supposed to say,” Aquino said.
She was straightforward about having undergone Ultherapy, a noninvasive lifting-face treatment, in January, after seeing the effects on her friend, construction magnate Alice Eduardo.
“She looked really good without it being too obvious. Her face had expression. It looked so natural,” Aquino said. Aquino’s main problem about surgical treatments is that she’s allergic to a number of painkillers and anesthesia.
“I felt surgery would cause more problems for me than what it would be worth,” she said. “I didn’t want anything drastic and high maintenance. I just thought that I’d be happier without a few lines here and there. So, when I was told about this nonsurgical lifting procedure that would just take over an hour and needed no downtime, I had to try it.”
To break down this beauty breakthrough and why it’s gained a lot of popularity: Ultherapy lifts the skin using ultrasound technology to stimulate the body’s own healing process, treating the deeper layers of the skin without disrupting or cutting the surface.
Ultherapy is from one of the world’s leading aesthetics companies, the German pharmaceutical company Merz. It’s one of its many products in the field of aesthetic medicine since reportedly creating the world’s first antiwrinkle cream in 1953.
Since Ultherapy’s US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance, it has improved its technology for patients, while still maintaining unparalleled safety and efficacy.
“This technology is the first of its kind in that it is able to get to deeper skin layers and treat them without any damage to the outer layers. Lasers, radiofrequency and other devices, on the other hand, treat from the outside going in, and are not US FDA-cleared to lift skin,” Merz Asia-Pacific Senior Regional Medical Director Dr. Owen Sunga said. “The ultrasound technology used in Ultherapy prompts new collagen and elastin formation so the body is able to treat itself.” With just one Ultherapy treatment, the lifting process is initiated, but the effects are gradual as new, stronger collagen and elastin are created. Results are maximally visible in three months, and further improvements can appear up to six months to one year after a procedure, as the collagen-building process continues.
Ultherapy can be done on the brow, under the chin, neck and décolletage.
The procedure normally takes about 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the treatment area. The patient can return to normal activities right away, without needing to take special measures. Results gradually appear over two to three months as new collagen works to lift and tighten skin. Further improvements can appear up to six months after the procedure as the collagen-building process continues. A session of Ultherapy costs about P100,000 to P120,000, depending on the area being treated.
Aquino admitted the procedure was painful and caused some bruising, but that’s because she bruises easily.
To complement her Ultherapy treatment, Aquino makes sure to get eight hours of sleep every day. She applies three different kinds of cream in the morning and seven different kinds of cream on her face at night.
Ultherapy is currently available in over 60 countries. In the Philippines Ultherapy is available at 21 accredited clinics. Visit https://locator.ultherapy.com/philip for the full list.