I don’t really view the outcomes of facial aesthetic surgery as lasting a certain amount of time. In someways, the results are permanent and other ways having a facelift does not stop the process of facial aging. Generally speaking mini procedures, give mini results so in that sense the name of the procedure speaks for itself. My view is that the procedure should be done correctly and doing something halfway gives halfway results. I personally had a facelift when I was in my 40s and have no regrets. I also selected an exceptional surgeon. For most cosmetic surgery, the two most important variables are going to be the patients candidacy for the procedure and the selection of provider. Facelift surgery has a great degree of finesse and not all plastic surgeons are talented at this procedure. When it comes to mastering procedures, for facelift surgery, it generally takes a total lifetime dedication and decades of experience. The number of plastic surgeons who truly master a single procedure is relatively small. Finding a truly, exceptional facelift surgeon usually takes a bit of work. Generally speaking those who master facelift surgery usually have been in practiced for at least two decades, and typically specialized exclusively in facelift surgery or facial aesthetics. Plastic surgeons cannot be a specialist and a generalist at the same time. To find the right provider, I generally recommend patients have multiple in person, consultations with senior, board-certified plastic surgeons, who seem to do a lot of the procedure you are interested in. During each consultation, ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of before, and after pictures of previous patients, who had similar facial characteristics to your own. A quality assessment is absolutely fundamental to understanding your candidacy for the procedure. A lot of plastic surgeons view facial, aging, more comprehensively, and typically recommend or often provide multiple procedures as part of restoring facial aging. This often includes a combination of facelift with blepharoplasty or brow lift procedures done in conjunction. An experienced provider should have no difficulty showing you the before, and after pictures of at least 50 previous patients. Being shown a handful of pre-selected images, representing only the best results of a provider career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like in the hands of that provider, What your results are likely to look like or how many of these procedures they’ve actually done. Bring appropriate facial pictures of yourself to use as a reference when reviewing before and after pictures. Learn to recognize what differentiates quality facelift surgery. This includes having flawless incision lines around the ear with very impressive, jawline definition, and avoiding a swept or surgical appearance. There’s no correct number of consultations needed to find the right provider. The more consultations you have the more likely you are to find the best provider. The biggest mistake most patients make is having only one consultation which pretty much eliminates the ability to choose the better provider. The best facelift surgeons typically don’t come cheap, so patient should expect to pay for quality work. Without seeing pictures, we can’t begin to make an assessment. Best, Mats Hagstrom, MD.