Natural Results; Little Downtime

Face healing update - picture is no make-up, outdoors on August 8th (less than 3 months post-op). Scars are pretty much the same - slowly dissipating, not too visible, still putting bio oil and other natural oils (comfrey and noni) to help with healing. The scars from the place where the fat was harvested are still bad though, I'm really bummed about those and wish I had known more about how to treat them and how bad they would be. Another friend has the same issue - they are very visible and raised and don't look good with a bathing suit:( My face, however, is good in all respects.

Incremental changes still occuring - my natural self is coming through more every day, but without the laxity that I started with. Along with the video transformation, I've posted some before pics and an after pic on June 23, 2021 - a month and a few days post-op. Suture areas/scars are healing well.

Great experience with the staff and with Dr. Karam. I had a full face rejuvenation (vertical restore with fat transfer in face & lips) and a full eye rejuvenation (upper bleph & lower eyelid skin pinch with fat transfer), and a contour laser on May 20, 2021.
They make the whole process very easy and I highly recommend going on the website and watching all of the videos there, as well as on the youtube channel, and following Dr. Karam on Instagram. He provides so much useful information that I had hardly any questions during my consultation.
Don't feel weird with the requirement to have to call for pricing. You're not committing to anything and it doesn't take any time at all to get some basic information. They basically just need to get some information from you, and then will send you a detailed email with the pricing structure and how payment and formal consultations work - it's very helpful so that you can plan accordingly. They won't continue to reach out to you or spam you either. While the pricing is higher for this doctor, it is well worth it. He specializes in faces only, and has created a special vertical restore facelift that gives such natural results with little downtime.
I was able to work from home within 5 days, and be out of the house with sunscreen that they provide with friends within 10 days. Had I not had the laser which required me to put a lot of aquaphor on my face for 10 days, I probably could have been on video conference calls earlier. But, that is a comfort level thing and it depends on each person's healing experience.
I had very, very little bruising and a fair amount of swelling that really wasn't visible via video or picture. The office gives you a very specific set of vitamin protocol and has you go off anything you are currently taking (except for certain prescriptions as necessary) that help with healing. You get a morning and evening set of vitamins, along with bromelain, arnica, vitamin K. You are also provided a basic suggested meal plan for best healing - high protein, low salt, soft foods. I followed the protocols and, like I said, I had very little bruising and healed quickly.
They schedule follow-up appointments based on the procedures you have done and at those appointments they will give you the scar healing gel, and the sunscreen according to the timing of your procedure.
I've created a powerpoint video slide of all of my pics for the first 4 weeks and have uploaded that, and will be sending it to the doctor's office so they can use it if they want.
I am still healing as full healing takes up to 1 year (numb on the sides of my face and under chin, etc.), but I am totally presentable and able to go out and about as normal. I feel incremental changes happening daily, but at this point, I think that we're at the long stretch where I will continue to see healing and improvement over the next year.
I am very happy with how everything has turned out and my experience with Dr. Karam and his office. If I were to do anything differently, I maybe would have foregone the contour laser. HOWEVER, I say this as my OWN experience. I do monthly chemical peels and have had various dermabrasian and laser procedures and I NEVER peel that much. So, this contour laser wasn't much different for me in that respect - I had very little peeling. I barely peeled and the scarring that I was hoping would be minimized really wasn't all that different - I think the scarring spots are just very deep and I may need to talk to the doctor about those concerns specifically, or just continue to do peels as it will likely take time. Although I was putting lots of aquaphor on daily and I'm sure there was still a lot of skin sloughing that I just didn't notice because my skin is a lot smoother - less fine lines and has a really nice glow to it, so all in all, it probably was worth it and would be for others as well. It's certainly a nice thing to do since you're going to be resting anyway.
Highly recommend Dr. Karam if you're looking for natural, great results from a facelift.