Bangkok is loaded with aesthetic centers that promise they can give their clients more beautiful faces and bodies with their treatments. Well, I decided to find out if they work, for myself.
By Coco Lavender
Let’s face it: after turning 30, even eating less than before, we are not getting any slimmer.
According to experts, metabolism slows down after this age. I hate to admit it, but I can see this in myself. So in an attempt of getting back in shape before my holidays in Hua Hin, I decided to come up with a slimming plan. I stopped eating after 6 p.m. and tried to cut back on nibbling on something in between meals; I switched the pork belly for veg stir-fry, and it was all good … except that I could do this for only three days—some of us were just not born to exercise or diet, especially in this heat, and when living in Thailand tempts you with wonderful food all the time.
I had seen a photo of Christina Aguilar, the Filipino-Thai artist, all around Bangkok promoting how she lost 12 kilograms with a program called “Perfect Fat Killer.” I had to go and check it out.
So I made an appointment at an aesthetic center called Perfect Slim, determined to go back to the size that I used to wear in my 20s. I got weighed, my body water and fat were checked, and what seemed to be a very high-tech machine actually proved to be so when it came up with a customized plan for me based on the information it collected. According to the machine I’m not fat, but the Burberry pants that I used to wear last year are telling me the opposite, and I want to change that.
Hence, instead of hiring a personal trainer to kick my bum or limiting the intake of the food I love, I went ahead and bought a slimming package at Perfect Slim. In a program that will consist of ten sessions, with three daily treatments of approximately 20 minutes each, I will be able to have Christina Aguilar’s body— well, close to it. Each set program at the center consists of four phases: draining, slimming, cellulite shaping, and firming, although each phase is customized with the use of one machine or the other depending on each person’s needs. The center also offers the possibility to buy a la carte treatments for specific areas, but my requirement was a very straightforward one: “Get me back in those pants.”
Perfect Slim is a Thai brand launched approximately 9 years ago under the name Unisense Slimming Centre, and it was rebranded in 2010. There are currently nine branches in Bangkok and one in Phuket, and they assured me that thousands of people have already tried their services and have gotten slimmer with their help. Well, at least I know two people who really did: Christina and my boss, who went for the Six Pack Transforming Treatment before his most recent holidays at the beach.
To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect of a slimming center, so I have to admit that my first session felt … funny. That day, as they changed the equipment they used on my body every 20 minutes, I felt electricity, cold, heat, tingling, suction, and pressure. The first machine was for draining, the second one for fat balancing, and the third for cellulite shaping. I am on my fourth session now and, what can I say: besides the fact that I already see some changes as my body is shaping up nicely, I like that none of their treatments are invasive or painful, and I love the thought of just lying back and knowing that in less than a month I’ll be doing the same at the beach, proudly wearing my bikini.
Way to go, Christina. My favorite place to shop for beauty now seems to be the same as yours.
