I did perform Quicklift surgeries in the past and I was never involved with Lifestyle lift. For disclosure, purposes, I have no direct or indirect affiliation with either of them at this time.
In my practice Quicklift type (MACS lift) successfully replaced traditional facelifts especially for younger patients because of shorter recovery, comparable durability and effectiveness with improvement of face, neck, jowls, cheeks. Despite popular belief, Quicklift method can improve cheeks also by adding another suture.
I would not put Quicklift in the same category as other skin only minilifts. It is not skin only based and therefore more durable. It is not based on skin tension and therefore does not create un-natural pull on the face. It takes about 1-2 hours and recovery is about 5-10 days with proper post - operative recommendations. I performed well over 100 every year with very high level of patient satisfaction. It is similar to SMAS flap lift and the advantage that I see is that the muscle is attached to a fixed bone structure.
However, it is not for everyone either. Some patients will require more aggressive procedures especially if they desire more significant improvement of cheeks or nasolabial folds. Undermining under skin in Quicklift is not much smaller than in SMAS lift either. That is why I do not do it on smokers.
Based on recent articles by other plastic surgeons, Lifestyle lift is a SMAS based procedure. The recent description in our professional journal describles a technique most plastic surgeons would use to lift the face. As it was described, it is not a minilift per say.
As any surgery, there are happy and unhappy patients. Satisfaction rate from traditional facelift is in mid 70 per cent. As with any other surgery, there are different case scenarioes and different outcomes. Some patients will develop thicker scars and more bruising.
Because of aggressive marketing, Lifestyle lift has more patients then other companies or surgeons and as such more unhappy patients by numbers.
However, at the end of the day, there are some very qualified plastic surgeons performing Lifestyle lifts, Quicklifts and other variations of procedures. The results are not dependent on the name of the surgery but on experience of surgeon performing it.