Mini-makeover, when’s the right time ?

Mini-makeover holds a spectrum of meaning and can mean different things for different people. But as the word infers, a good mini-makeover simply attempts to slow down the natural aging process and temporarily turn back the hands of time without an obvious change or transformation which is sometimes associated with major-makeover. In general mini-makeover involves very gentle combination of procedures to address all the natural aging changes that’s unfortunately taking place simultaneously, in a more holistic approach.

Usually by mid 30’s, three different aspect of aging changes to the face takes place:

Effect of gravity to the face
Effect of loss of volume to the face
Effect of aging changes to the eyes aka “windows to your world”

Depending on when the mini-makeover is performed it can be categorized into:

Preemptive (this is usually patients in 30’s)
On-time (this is usually patients in 40-50’s)
Catch-up (this is usually patients in 60’s and beyond)

Obviously the combination and complexity of procedures will vary depending on whether the goal is preemptive vs on-time vs catch-up.

The most challenging and rewarding, and frankly fun (because I never get tired of it) part of my job as a Clinician and a Surgeon is to:

1. accurately diagnose what combination and spectrum of aging changes are taking place to the individual patient .
2. Envision the likely outcome of the mini-makeover and impart and share this vision with the patient
3. And using the right formula or alchemy of procedures, achieve this vision of subtle and natural enhancements so that you always look a decade younger than your chronological age…..so that you never have to resort to a major-makeover, often resulting in mixed sentiments about changes to your persona and your identity.

On this blog we are showcasing our beautiful 36 years old patient who underwent a JK “Preemptive” Mini-makeover consisting of upper and lower eyelid surgery, 3-D fat grafting, and thread lifting. After a thorough consultation, the patient and I both strongly felt that the early showing of the lower eyelid fat bag constantly made her look tired and stressed, which made her job more difficult as an interior designer. Early hooding of her upper eyelid, especially towards the outer end was also making her look less energetic and practically speaking, more difficult to put on eyeliner and shadows. Finally she was seeing early signs of widening of her face both on mirrors and selfies due to beginnings of laxity of her mid- face, but definitely not ready for any formal open surgical intervention, thus opting for thread lifting. Finally, she has noted loss in volume in the usual areas along the nasolabial and lower cheeks as well as tear trough and temple area all working together to create a more deflated and tired appearance to the face. Rather than choosing multiple syringes of filler injectables, she opted for 3-D fat grafting since it’s her own fat graft and 30 to 40% will remain permanently to strengthen and re-volumize her soft tissue space and also since she will be recovering for a few days at home from the eyelid surgery.

As with our other Blogs and our Instagram, we want to impart as accurately the entire journey of the Jk Mini-makeover from the intra-operative experience where my procedures are done under local anesthesia, meticulously performed with minimal bruising and swelling in a minimally invasive manner, and finally making it interactive, enabling the patients to feel more at ease.

1. The first video provides patients intra-operative journey of the upper and lower eyelids. Even with some swelling and bruising, you can see the upper eyelid appears more lifted with less hooding and better delineation and show of eyelid crease. Lower eyelid fat bags are gone and lower eyelid skin has been gently lifted

2. The second video provides intra-operative journey of the thread lifting on both sides and immediately following 3-D fat grafting on the right side. You can see how thread lifting as improved entire mid face along the tear trough, the nasolabial and marionette lines, and better delineation of her jaw line. Through 3-D fat grafting, you can see how Dr. Kang added a little bit of volume in all the needed areas and yet remained anatomically true to bring out a natural “porcelain” effect on the right face compared to the yet done left face.

3. The third video provides patient’s visit with Dr. Kang for two week follow up to discuss post-operative progress and address any concerns.

4. The fourth video provides patient’s perspective as she shares her 3 month journey following the JK Mini-Makeover and what she has gained from this preemptive makeover procedure.

The term makeover has many connotations. For us at JK plastics, it simply means addressing patients aging changes from a more holistic approach so that every aspect of the aging changes can be addressed since this is the only way to slow done the aging process and truly turn back the hands of time while still appearing natural.