Liquid Facelift – A Popular Yet Controversial Non-Surgical Rejuvenation Method

Liquid facelift is a non-surgical rejuvenation method that has recently gained popularity among our patients and in the world of aesthetic medicine. Simply put, this procedure involves reshaping the face using a significant amount of dermal fillers.

But is a liquid facelift truly a smart and effective solution for facial rejuvenation? Let’s evaluate this approach from a scientific, aesthetic, and clinical perspective.

What Happens to the Face as It Ages?

Over time, the face not only sags—it also loses volume. This volume loss accumulates and deepens over the years, gradually diminishing the youthful appearance. Therefore, restoring volume to the right areas has become a cornerstone of facial rejuvenation procedures.

However, successful volumization depends on injecting the right amount of filler into the correct anatomical planes and areas, while respecting age-specific facial proportions.

If you observe middle-aged women carefully, you’ll notice their faces are not as plump as those of younger women. They tend to have more defined, angular, and elegant facial features.

In short, fullness doesn’t always equal beauty.

What is a Liquid Facelift?

In a liquid facelift, 10 to 15 ml of synthetic filler is injected into one side of the face.

This includes areas such as the temples, under the brows, mid-face, jawline, perioral region, and chin. The goal is to comprehensively reshape the entire face.

A total of 20–40 ml of filler may be used in one session. While this can give the appearance of a lifted face in theory, it also brings along several medical and aesthetic risks.

1. Medical Risks and Complications

Every filler carries potential side effects, such as:

• Allergic reactions
• Granulomas
• Foreign body reactions
• Intravascular injections
• Visibility or migration of the filler
• Water retention and swelling

If complications can occur with just 1 ml of filler, the risks associated with using 30 ml are significantly higher.

2. Aesthetic Inconsistencies and Time-Dependent Changes

Immediately after the procedure, when the face is still swollen and makeup is applied, the results may appear impressive. But after 10–15 days, swelling subsides, fillers may clump, facial contours may look unnatural, and the overall appearance becomes bulkier.

Some days the face may even look puffier due to the filler reacting to fluid changes in the body. Fillers can also shift over time. It is not uncommon to see filler migrating downward weeks after the procedure.

Marketing of liquid facelifts often includes misleading before-and-after videos—same setting, same outfit, only hours apart. The “before” video uses harsh natural lighting; the “after” video features studio lighting and full makeup. Most importantly, there are rarely any follow-up images even 1–2 weeks later.

Often, these procedures are performed by non-physicians who travel from city to city with a suitcase, not a medical degree.

3. What Happens in the Medium and Long Term?

Injected fillers dissolve over time—but not uniformly. Some areas may absorb the filler quickly, while in others (e.g., areolar tissues, lymphatic spaces), it can persist for years.

Even highly skilled injectors cannot prevent the eventual asymmetry and unpredictability that comes as the filler dissolves unevenly.

High-volume injections (25–30 ml) can also stretch soft tissues. After the filler dissolves, the face may appear looser and more saggy—possibly pushing the patient toward surgical options sooner than expected.

4. Financial Considerations

Even if you're satisfied with the initial results, they typically last only a few months. To maintain the effect, the entire procedure must be repeated at a similar cost.

Someone who gets this done annually for three years will end up spending as much as a surgical facelift—without the 10–15 year durability that surgery offers.

5. The Procedure and Technical Aspects

A liquid facelift takes about 1 to 1.5 hours and is done under local anesthesia.

The procedure must be performed under sterile conditions and with blunt-tipped cannulas to avoid intravascular complications.

As a surgeon, I’m frankly astonished by those who entrust their face to practitioners whose understanding of anatomy is based on Google Images—injecting 20–30 ml into a structure as vascular as the human face.

So, What’s the Verdict?

At our clinic, we do not recommend liquid facelift procedures.

For a surgeon familiar with facial anatomy and experienced in facelift surgeries, shaping the face with filler is technically simple.

But I don’t perform this procedure—because I don’t believe it lives up to the standards I set for my patients.

What Are the Alternatives?

Long-lasting, natural-looking, and elegant results can be achieved with surgical or minimally invasive techniques tailored to the individual’s facial anatomy, age, and expectations.

Want to Learn More?

If you’d like to know more about liquid facelifts or high-volume filler treatments, feel free to contact us.

Stay beautiful, stay well.
OB