By artfully incorporating a combination of needle-based treatments, I strategically deliver neurotoxins, fillers and threads for perfectly tailored, refreshed results that leave my patients looking natural, beautiful and like themselves.
In the world of social media trends, my goal was to develop a protocol that focuses on how the face ages and how we can prevent the aging process and eliminate the unwanted signs of aging without changing one’s individual, natural beauty.
The aging process changes throughout the decades of our lives and keeping in mind the physiological changes taking place helped me develop these protocols.
20s
In our 20s, there is not much aging happening so our approach is preventative. Collagen production is still occurring at a nice rate but the trend with this age group is that they dislike when their makeup starts to settle in the creases of their upper face. For this we do light or ‘baby Botox’ to soften some of those fine lines without changing how one naturally expresses.
Another common request of women in their 20s is a fuller, sexier pout. Although I do not like to inject based off trends, it’s true, most people desire a plumper lip. I gently place a light amount of filler to the lips to give a little more volume for those whose anatomy can handle it. For most, I balance the lips, creating nicer proportions and a more attractive overall shape. Sometimes this is combined with a ‘lip flip’, and in some I inject neurotoxin to lessen a gummy smile. This leaves the face looking naturally sexy.
30s
In the 30s, we begin to see small, noticeable signs of aging. For most this occurs in the second half of this decade, and this is when people commonly begin to seek the help of aesthetic professionals to combat whatever they are not loving. For this age group, it is most common to start noticing that the high contours and angles of the face tend to lessen slightly. This population tends to seek sharper angles of their cheeks and jawlines. This is not a one-size-fits-all, so I assess the natural features of the patient’s face and based off natural facial balancing I can enhance what might be slightly lacking. For some it is cheeks, for others it can be the chin or jawline. I prefer to use products that offer some long-term benefit like biostimulating dermal fillers. I combine biostimulators with very subtle neurotoxin similar to what I use for the 20-somethings, and a light ‘lip fill’ if necessary to create our Natural Needle Lift for the 30s.
40s
This is the age range when most people come in telling us they look tired. In this decade lots of people are running the rat race after their growing family, or busy with careers, so it is no surprise they look tired. But they don’t want to hear they look tired or angry even if that is how they feel.
Neurotoxin use in this group is a little different: we focus on removing those sad, mad or tired expressions and relaxing the depressor muscles of the face to achieve elevation. A higher brow, more open eyes, and turning up the corner of the mouth are some examples.
In this decade, we see the physiological signs of aging. Some might notice drooping in the mid face due to the decrease and descent of fat pads, and bone starts to reabsorb as we get older. My approach during these years is more like preservation than restoration. I love to perform biostimulator treatments first to see what the patient’s body can do naturally. For example, in very lean patients with minimal fat, I use injectable poly-L-lactic acid and/or calcium hydroxylapatite first to see what volume will be naturally produced. Some patients have thicker skin that requires lift rather than volume. For these patients I reposition the fat pads with a thread lift first. Some patients require a little of both. Lastly, I use hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers to lightly fill in some areas that might be creating shadowing as an airbrush technique to create a permanent filter.
consider aesthetic enhancement, this would be a restorative treatment. Patients at this age and older always say “I used to have…full lips, nice cheeks, etc.” So, we look to see what features they once had that made them feel more attractive that might have lessened, or that they feel went away. I do not want to give someone something they never had, especially if this is their first time doing any aesthetic treatments.
This protocol almost always starts with a thread lift. However, the first question I typically ask most patients in this demographic if they have not done anything yet is if they would consider surgery. My career in aesthetics started with working with plastic surgeons and to this day I still first assist on facelift surgeries. A surgical lift is ideally the best intervention for most in this age group and beyond, but we know not everyone can have surgery. A thread lift will not take the place of a facelift, but it is the next best thing to do in conjunction with lasers and other treatments.
After repositioning the cheek and jowl fat pads to lift the skin, patients are left with softer jowls. I then use a combination of fillers – both HA and biostimulators – to balance the hills and valleys of the face, leaving the face with less shadows and softer transitions. Here, I add some neurotoxins to the neck, known commonly as the ‘Nefertiti Lift’. This will help soften jowls further because the neck muscles or platysma bands insert at the jawline, further pulling the face down. Relaxing these muscles can lead to a slightly more contoured jawline and a smoother neck. If the patient has already had a facelift, they probably will not need threads to lift, but I tell all of my patients I am here to protect their investment. If they’ve had the lift, we can help maintain their results.
Keeping patients looking natural and balanced is the key to this technique. Safety is also a huge priority, so we do a thorough health history to ensure the patient is a candidate for all treatments.
