FAB Knifeless Facelift Debuts

David M. Alessi, M.D., FACS, in his office with his patient, 50, showing results of her recent FAB Facelift.

When we get word of a “facelift” that doesn’t involve surgery, our skepticism meter immediately starts running. Sure, cosmetic treatments like “lifting” facials feel good and make our skin glow for a short time, but for a real wrinkle overhaul, we know that nothing supplants the scalpel.

But plastic surgeon David M. Alessi, M.D., FACS, who recently invited us to his Beverly Hills, CA, office to see his latest handiwork, the FAB Facelift, actually does deliver a youthifying treatment without a single cut. The secret is in the deft combination of the three tools represented in the treatment’s acronym: “F” for fillers (Restylane, Radiesse, etc., to plump up deep lines); “A” for ablative laser (which removes superficial wrinkles and tightens underlying collagen); and “B” for the old standby, Botox, to relax worry lines.

While Alessi is the first to concede he “can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” he did make a 50-year-old patient he had on hand at his intro event look like a vibrant 40. In fact, the only downside we could see to the procedure, which requires just a single day of recovery time, is its cost: $3,000. And while even that may seem like a relative bargain compared to a surgical facelift, it is essentially a temporary procedure — a stopgap measure to hold off a full facelift rather than a permanent fix, as Alessi explains it. FAB’s flattering effects last a year to 18 months, depending mostly on how carefully you protect your new face from the sun.

We like the newer, more subtle options for facial work. To read more about the increasingly wide array of medical cosmetic options, see “Youth Movement” in VIV’s upcoming July/August issue.

And tell us, would you consider employing any or all of these wrinkle removers?