The Liquid Facelift

Whether you prefer to age naturally or opt for additional enhancements— trust that there are a variety of minimally-invasive treatments to turn to instead of the traditional facelift.

When done properly by an expert hand, facelifts can restore one’s youthful appearance in a natural-looking way. But thankfully there are now more minimally invasive alternatives to a surgical facelift—which are capable of achieving noticeable results without the long downtime, and potential health complications.

According to Dr Hew Yin Keat, aesthetic physician and medical director of MAC Clinic in Kuala

Lumpur, if you allow nature to take its course unimpeded, by the time you reach your 40s you will start to notice obvious signs of ageing on the face, including increased wrinkles, skin laxity and facial sagging.

Instead of opting for surgery, more people seem to gravitate towards minimally-invasive aesthetic treatments such as the ‘Liquid Facelift’, as it is far less invasive than a surgical facelift and has minimal-to-no downtime.

Unlike a conventional facelift, a Liquid Facelift uses injectables such as fillers and botulinum toxins, usually in combination. The botulinum toxin is used to relax and soften the appearance of facial lines and wrinkles, while the fillers restore lost volume, by lifting and plumping up the skin from the inside out. In his practice, Dr Hew carefully selects the products based on the patient’s needs and the area of the face that is being treated, and it is not uncommon to combine two or more different types of fillers in order to achieve the desired result.

“When done well, fillers can enhance one’s beauty while looking perfectly natural. For example, fillers such as Volux® and Voluma from the Juvéderm range have different properties to suit different purposes. Volux® is firm and dense yet very moldable. And once shaped it will hold its form for up to two years which makes it suitable for chin and jawline augmentation. Voluma, which is less dense, performs very well in the cheeks, where it is firm enough to hold its shape and provide lift but elastic enough to allow the face to move naturally. They act synergistically to produce an overall result that is better than if only one type of product is used,” explains Dr Hew.

For well-balanced and natural-looking results, Dr Hew combines fillers with other treatments such as botulinum toxins, skin rejuvenating lasers or energy-based devices such as HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound).

“Using the right product in the right plane, with the right technique and in the right amounts is key to achieving natural results. The most obvious giveaway of an inexperienced doctor is usually an overly-plumped face or overly-enhanced features such as the chin, forehead, nose or the infamous ‘trout pout’ as seen on some famous faces here and abroad,” says Dr Hew.

The results are usually visible almost instantaneously, making the Liquid Facelift far more appealing to those who want to avoid surgery and anything too invasive.