The best facelifts do not do minimal work.  They do a lot of work.  They lift, readjust volume, add volume to deficient regions, and are often combined with many ancillary procedures such as skin resurfacing. 

If you are limiting your results by selecting a procedure that is "less invasive", you may save yourself 48-72 hours of healing time, but be troubled with the sub-par rejuvenation or excessive scarring for the rest of your life.  Most surgeons would agree that a well performed facelift will give rejuvenation which will last a lifetime.  The older the patient, the more sun damaged, the more favorable the anatomy, the more ancillary procedures etc. the longer (in years) the facelift will appear to have turned back the clock.

The best facelifts are not defined by whether the deep plane, the composite, the PSP, the MACS or a minilift is performed.  In varying forms, an experienced facelift surgeon may use all of these techniques at some point.  They are defined by the reputation and the ability of the facelift surgeon performing your work.

One of the biggest misconceptions of facelift surgery is that there is a universal way the procedure is performed.  Every PSP facelift is the same.  Every MACS facelift is the same.  I suspect this belief is based on consumer items, where any two items with the same Model Number are basically the same, no matter where they are purchased.  

Nothing could be further from the truth with respect to facelift surgery.   You are purchasing art.  That art cannot be defined by a Model Number or name. 

The one unifying feature of the best facelift results is that they are comprehensive but they are not cheap.  Long after the cost of the procedure has been forgotten, the results will be there for all to see.

I receive questions like this often from patients trying not to make a mistake. Forget about what technique the doctor says he uses, since you'll be asleep and won't know what he does anyway! My son can show you pictures and diagrams of facelifts or noses---he knows nothing about these, but is very good with a computer.
Instead, find a surgeon you trust, shows you one year photographs or longer of his results, and lets you see real patients who have had a facelift by him or her. That's what really counts. Good surgeons know when do do various types of facelifts, depending on the individual aging factors of each patient.

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