This Woman’s ‘Late-in-Life’ Glow-Up Shows the Power of a Deep Plane Facelift

When businesswoman Regina, 57, wanted a late-in-life glow up, she went to Dr. Daniel Gould, a board-certified plastic surgeon based in Los Angeles, California

Gould said Regina, who’d seen his work on a friend, wanted to “look natural and well balanced” and had a specific timeline in mind that she wanted to base her makeover around. His patient “thought of herself as a late bloomer and wanted to fully realize her potential,” he told The Looker.

Regina had lost weight, changed her lifestyle, become more active—and wanted the face to ‘match’ her body. Her decision to go into the OR wasn’t based on GLP-1-induced sagginess, Gould says, but rather because “she was really just interested in taking advantage of this special time in her life and looking her best for work and family.”

Gould told the Looker that Regina wound up getting a reset lift, his surgical technique that “resets the anatomy.” It includes a temple lift, deep plane facelift, deep neck lift with gland reduction, central fat reduction, anterior digastric trimming, platysmaplasty, mastoid crevasse neck inset, upper blepharoplasty with fat repositioning, CO2 laser, fat and nanofat transfer to the face, and microneedling of the nanofat into the skin.

Amazingly, all of these procedures counted as “one” surgery—though one that cost $68,000 and took seven hours in the operating room.

Gould said Regina had a relatively easy recovery, with her sutures removed after a week. Facial sensation returned in the third week post-surgery, with bruising gone the following week (though some slight swelling in her cheeks and jawline remained). By the second week, she was able to take long walks and restart other low-impact fitness activities like using an upright bike, stairmaster and elliptical at low speeds; within six months, she was able to go to the gym without restrictions.

Regina “had realistic expectations,” the doctor added. “But she wanted a seamless result, something with very little evidence left behind,” meaning the work had to be perfect.

Gould explained that he uses a special technique within the face to “reset” connecting ligaments between the deep bones and fascia, using the roadmap that already exists there to keep the skin from looking abnormally tight.

An easy way to think of this distinction, Gould says, is to think of the reset lift as anatomic and not artistic. It also avoids creating a uniform “look” that’s trending or en vogue.

Paying attention to the patient’s anatomy and not oversewing the muscles is key to a natural result, Gould explained. Sometimes surgeries only look good in static photos but can have a bit of a “tell” when the patient moves, smiles, or otherwise animates their face.