P-Beauty is here with Aivee at Parqal
What is so compelling about beauty that people will even travel to Korea and Thailand, known for their skincare and beauty technology? They have raised a standard that Asians want to emulate—clear, translucent skin, slim faces and a youthful glow. This pursuit of beauty is a never-ending quest, rooted not just in vanity or a desire to display a culturally accepted standard of attractiveness. Beauty isn’t frivolous, if it ultimately makes you feel good about yourself, helping you to face the world with confidence.
But Dr. Aivee Teo and her husband Dr. Z Teo share the goal of making the Philippines a destination for medical beauty tourism. “That’s why we opened our newest clinic here at Parqal, because it’s near the airport,” says Dr. Aivee.
“You have T-beauty and K-beauty,” adds Dr. Z. “Here, we have P-beauty!”
Dr. Aivee says, “There’s a huge interest in beauty treatments, and people fly to other countries for that. Our goal is to make sure that the Philippines is at par with international standards, and that we’re really world class in facilities and experiences as well. In the Aivee group, we constantly innovate and we bring the best quality treatments available from all over the world.”
Aivee Parqal is also different from all their other branches. “We have not just the clinic, but we also our first Aivee skin spa and our first Aivee retail. It’s a brand-new concept, the first time that you have all three in one destination. This is something very new at Aivee Parqal,” says Dr. Aivee.
Aside from offering the best in skincare and beauty treatments, the setting Aivee Parqal creates is more like that of a luxury hotel rather than a clinic. It has elegant cream and gold fittings, rich upholstery, phalaenopsis and other white flowers dotted all throughout for a subtle level of luxe. The waiting areas are private nooks where you sink into plush seats, have a selection of glossy magazines to read as you sip your matcha or other healthful offerings from the beverage counter. Attentive staff welcome you warmly and check up on you frequently to see if there’s anything you need, making you feel at home. There are fully appointed, private consultation rooms that feel like hotel suites, where you feel relaxed as you open up about your concerns.
“We want to make sure that every Aivee clinic we build is really elevated,” says Dr. Aivee, “It’s intentional. The Aivee experience has to be even better each time. We want to make sure na lahat ng bago natin clinics, pinapaganda pa natin. We want to make sure they are world class. We want to invite all other people to visit our country for beauty medical tourism. Hopefully, people will say, ‘Oh, we can just get the treatments done here in the Philippines!’”
Dr. Z explains, “We see a lot of foreign doctors and experts, they visit the clinic and always say, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before in the world!’ Our facilities are of a different level, and then at the same time we have all the latest technologies, so we have almost everything in terms of beauty and advancement. But definitely in P-beauty, we are known for hospitality that is heavily infused into the clinic, into the spa. When they come in, they can really feel the Filipino hospitality, the care, the concern and that, together with all the latest treatments, gives it a very special concoction. That’s what P-beauty is.”
Besides, K-beauty is not exactly the same as P-beauty, as Dr. Aivee notes: “We’re tying up with Korean manufacturers and pharmaceutical skincare so that our retail line is very much aligned with Asian skin. A lot of skin care is aligned with Western skin pero siyempre, iba naman ang skin ng Asian.”
But, Dr. Z explains, “K-beauty has its own signature, they have their own treatments, their own protocols. For P-beauty, we have our own signature treatments, very much catered to the Filipino skin type, the morena skin type as well. It’s slightly different because Korean skin is different from ours. We tweak our settings, we tweak our protocols to adapt.” The weather here being more humid is factored in because it results in oilier skin.
“Filipino skin is more prone to breakouts,” says Dr. Aivee. “For Gen Z and teenagers, one of the most common problems is teenage acne. We have to address treatments tailored to them. We don’t want to cater only to our patients who are in their thirties or forties but kailangan all ages.”
Dr. Z agrees. “In the clinic, we have new treatments like Aivee Clear, the world’s first FDA laser for acne treatment. In just one or two sessions, you don’t have to take too much medication anymore. These are some of the innovations that we are putting out in our Aivee clinics. Right now, there are new machines, new lasers coming out together with the spa, the retail and cutting-edge skincare. This is going to be an integrated one-stop shop, so it’s a nice hub for everything you need.”
“Our treatments are personalized, we don’t believe in one size fits all,” Dr. Aivee says. “We need to have a thorough consultation and assessment so we can recommend a treatment that’s suited for your skin and your skin type. In general, for patients in their thirties and forties. we really recommend skin tightening. That’s very important and it’s non-invasive.”
Dr Z adds, “The only thing constant is gravity! It will pull everything down, everything will drop. You’ve got to start early, get the skin-tightening procedures as early as possible. Even in their 30s, clients can start continuously tightening and address collagen formation; this will prevent the face from dropping down and will reverse the aging process.”
Dr. Aivee points out, “Our collagen decreases in our late 20s and early 30s, we lose one percent of collagen every year! We have to replace that, so it’s important to do skin tightening. Then, from there you can progress to other treatments as you feel more comfortable doing the procedures.”
In the summer, many people trek to the beach and like to sunbathe. But the doctors caution against unprotected skin exposure.
“We cannot overemphasize sunscreen protection,” says Dr. Aivee. “We always have to make sure we take care of our skin because the sun is one of the biggest causes of aging of the skin.”
