Everyone’s Talking About The Deep-Plane Facelift, But What Is It?

You’re scrolling through Instagram (or TikTok), and suddenly, you see a star looking suspiciously refreshed. Their jawline’s sharp, their cheeks are sitting higher, and they somehow look 20 years younger. They say it’s just green juice and moisturizer, and maybe they’re right – or maybe it’s the deep-plane facelift. 

The procedure has seemingly replaced Botox and fillers in L.A. now that “tweakments” are glaringly obvious and accessible. While most celebrities aren’t openly crediting the “deep-plane facelift” to their latest makeovers, the internet has become pretty good at spotting it. Kris Jenner recently told the Keeping Up With the Kardashians cameras she had some “recent work” done by Dr. Steven Levine. Meanwhile, Lindsay Lohan and Donatella Versace are sparking online speculation despite staying mum.

The "Not Too Much" Look Everyone's Chasing

According to a piece published by The Cut, the deep-plane facelift has quietly become the go-to among celebrities who want to look younger without looking obviously altered. Dr. Akshay Sanan, a board-certified plastic surgeon, told the magazine, “The deep-plane facelift delivers results that are powerful and natural… Celebrities, public figures, and high-profile individuals are having it done quietly. If someone looks amazing for their age, chances are they’ve had a facelift – most likely a deep plane. It’s the ‘not too much’ look people are chasing.”

Yep, it’s true. The procedure doesn’t stand out the way overfilled cheeks do. At a time when no one admits to surgery and TikTok surgeons are breaking down every celebrity face, subtle work that looks natural – but isn’t – is quickly becoming the gold standard.

What It Actually Involves

This isn’t the facelift we’re all familiar with, where surgeons would pull the skin back and call it a day. That worked in decreasing skin sagging but also created that overdone, stretched-too-tight appearance. Speaking to The Cut, Dr. Bob Basu explained, “The problem is that traditional skin lifts may be easier to perform, but they can make people look too tight, giving that artificial, over-pulled, overdone look. In some cases, it can unnaturally change your appearance.”

That’s where the deep-plane technique comes in: Instead of tugging on the skin, the surgeon lifts and repositions the underlying muscles and connective tissue as a unit, keeping the skin attached. Dr. Basu said, “There is no pulling of the skin… This technique helps to reposition your facial anatomy to what it was ten to 20 years ago.”

The surgery can take anywhere from three to six hours, even longer if you’re bundling it with a brow lift or eyelid surgery.

Downtime, Cost, and Risks 

In terms of recovery, you’re looking at roughly two weeks of what Dr. Sanan calls “social downtime.” You’ll be bruised and swollen, and definitely not lifting weights or running errands. However, pain-wise, it might not be as bad as you think. According to Dr. Basu, “Typically, you should be fine to work from home within two to three days after your surgery… Over 90 percent of patients can get by with a Tylenol here and there.”

Still, let’s not pretend this is low-stakes. Dr. Basu told The Cut that “potential complications include temporary nerve injury, facial weakness, or numbness, which resolves in weeks to months, but permanent nerve injury is extremely, extremely rare.” And if you don’t plan your recovery right, you can mess with your results. As stated, "The worst thing you can do is have surgery and fail to plan ahead for the recovery… I always remind patients that what you do after your surgery is equally important as what is done by me during surgery.”

What about the price tag? According to Dr. Sanan, the procedure can cost anywhere from $30,000 to $200,000, depending on the surgeon, the city, and how much you’re having done. His “full facial rejuvenation” package (which includes a deep-plane facelift, neck lift, brow lift, and eyelid surgery) goes for around $90,000.

Who’s Even a Candidate?

Not everyone qualifies, and you definitely shouldn’t be booking a consult just because your favorite actress looked suspiciously lifted at Cannes. Ideal candidates tend to be in their 40s to 70s, with noticeable skin laxity, jowls, or sagging. Younger patients with good skin tone might get better results from less invasive treatments like radio-frequency-assisted liposuction.

The Pressure to Look Younger

We’re no longer in the era of pointing fingers at every celebrity with a nose job. Now, we praise them for “aging gracefully,” which often means “still looks 35 at 55.” We say we’re over the shame of plastic surgery, but the secrecy still lingers. People don’t want to be caught trying to look younger. They just want to look younger.

So, we keep guessing. If someone looks noticeably snatched but insists they’ve only been using gua sha and vitamin C serum, the whisper network fills in the blanks.

At the end of the day, a deep-plane facelift might deliver incredible results, but it’s still expensive, time-consuming, and risky like any other operation.