Vicki Belo recalls celebrities who helped her build her beauty empire

Dr. Vicki Belo, Pops Fernandez, and Regine Velasquez

Dr. Vicki Belo has been in the beauty industry for 33 years, and in a recent interview, she named the first celebrity clients who made an impact on her career, making her brand a household name.

Sitting down with Mega magazine, Belo recalled the time her ex-brother-in-law, Ronnie Henares, who was Regine Velasquez’s manager at the time, referred her to the singer to fix her back acne problems.

“Regine had a problem; she had pimples on her back, which no doctor at that time could heal. It was frustrating [for her] because when she has a concert, she has to wear a backless. I applied something radical that will make you laugh, glycolic acid,” she said.

After fixing the problem of the Asia’s Songbird, Velasquez thanked her on live TV and recommended her to co-singer Pops Fernandez.

“She was so grateful that she went on TV, and she said, ‘Thank you, Dr. Vicki Belo, for fixing my back.’ At that time, the hottest star was Pops Fernandez. Pops asked Regine, ‘Where do you go?’ Then Regine, ‘Dr. Belo, she just arrived’ ganyan ganyan.”

Belo said that after Fernandez went to her, suddenly all the showbiz people started coming in as well. “Nagthank you, thank you sila sa TV, and then biglang naging sikat na ako.”

The beautician revealed that she was surprised at how easy it was to market in that way, even if she didn’t charge Pops or Regine for their respective treatments.

“I said, wow, that’s a nice way to market because it didn’t cost me anything. I didn’t charge Pops. I didn’t charge Regine because she’s Ronnie’s talent, but they just made an act.”

Thank you, Rosanna Roces

Belo noted that even if celebrities mentioned her on television, making her the secret of the rich and famous, it wasn’t until Rosanna Roces came into the picture that she became a household name.

“The defining moment is thank you, Rosanna Roces. She was a big star then, and when she came into my clinic, she wanted to have a lipo,” she recalled.

The doctor narrated her experience doing the procedure to the actress, and she said when Roces went on live on “Startalk,” she showed her bruises from the treatment and bragged about it to the public.

“She made it something really to be proud of—to have a lipo. And from then on, everybody knew my name. It was all over the place. I think I have to give it to her,” affirmed Belo.

Despite starting as friends, Belo later on filed a libel complaint against Roces in 2004 for allegedly ruining her name after saying that the doctor was not qualified to do liposuction.