Nora fights aging; gets
whitening, laser treatments
Posted: 10:15 PM (Manila Time) | Feb. 24, 2004
By Nini Valera
Inquirer News Service
A PUBLICIZED tiff with a prominent beauty surgeon was what led Nora Aunor to Ellen's Aesthetic Center on Timog Avenue in Quezon City.
For three months now, Nora, 50, has been coming to Ellen's for facial and body treatments, according to Ellen Lising, proprietor of all Ellen branches in Metro Manila and Luzon.
"She was concerned about the fine lines under her eyes and the laugh lines around her mouth," says Lising. "She doesn't really want to become fair or white. She only wants to remove the dark spots on her skin, which came about because of an allergic reaction to a cosmetic that she used."
The actress also needs to lighten the dark lines around her neck, and patches of darkened skin in her armpits.
"But the armpits, they are very minor," says Lising, who is 50-years-old herself.
She is the first to say that she cannot make miracles. But she is quick to face a challenge. In Aunor, Lising's 20-year expertise in beautifying women, particularly in defying age, is put to a very public test, considering the actress' status and how media have quickly picked up the story.
No miracle worker
She describes Aunor as a "fabulous" woman, whose vanity she has yet to tap.
"I told Nora when she first came here that I can guarantee that she would look ten to 15 years younger is she comes regularly for treatments," says Lising. "But she keeps on skipping sessions that we have to start from scratch again when she returns."
Last Monday, Lising was waiting for Nora to arrive at her branch on Timog. The actress cancelled her appointment last Friday. This was reset for Monday, but Nora again missed her session. Lising could only shrug her shoulders.
"If she wants results, she must cooperate with me by coming regularly," Lising stressed. "Her first session took all of five hours. She probably got bored. If she comes at least once a week, the next sessions would be shorter."
Laser treatments, body peels
A trained aesthetician at the time the concept of aestheticians has yet to be invented, Lising has recommended laser treatments and facials for Nora's face, and a whole body treatment that would make use of a micro-peel solution to scrub off the dead skin all over her body.
The treatments would cost Nora a little less than 50,000 pesos, inclusive of a discount, in exchange for subliminal endorsements by the actress, such as this story, for which Lising had to ask Nora's permission.
Middle-age
But long before Nora discovered Ellen's, middle-aged women, who belong to the working class or whose husbands are foreign overseas workers, have been coming to Ellen's for their facials.
"Masa, that's my market," says Lising. "I am known for my facials, which are inexpensive. Then I started acquiring equipment, like lasers, to enhance my treatments. Now, I even include plastic surgery and liposuction among the services I offer."
But a qualified surgeon is the one who does the lipo procedures, the nose jobs, and the boob enhancements. Ellen herself has gone under her doctor's knife for liposuction in her tummy.
Aesthetician
When it comes, however, to facials and topical products to be used on facial skin, it's Lising who's the resident expert.
She took courses in Hong Kong to become a qualified aesthetician. She is not a dermatologist or a surgeon. She is also not God.
"I can only enhance a woman's beauty, make her look younger than her age through facial treatments and lasers," says Lising. "But nobody's perfect. I cannot erase lines on Nora Aunor's face. They can only be minimized. You'd need surgery to remove them. I am popular for bringing back the bloom in a middle-aged woman's face."
Celebrities, like former beauty queens Melanie Marquez and Evangeline Pascual, bold actresses Stella L. and Hanni Miller, actresses Alma Concepcion and Elizabeth Oropesa are regulars at Ellen's. But more than the facials, it's the pampering that the customers come for in Ellen's. And Lising's conversation, in her chirpy voice, about how women don't have to look their age. Ever.
