Deep Plane Facelift with Lip Lift and Blepharoplasty

Patient Overview

• Patient: Sibel

• Age: 53

• Gender: Female

• Procedures: Deep plane facelift, neck lift, lip lift, upper and lower blepharoplasty

• After photos taken at: 7 months post-op

• Location: Istanbul, Turkey

Seven Months: A Fully Matured Comprehensive Facial Rejuvenation

By seven months after facial surgery, every element of the result has reached its definitive state. The deep tissue repositioning has settled, the skin has finished redraping, the scars have faded into their long-term appearance, and the swelling that characterises the early postoperative months has completely resolved. Sibel's photographs at this stage show what a four-procedure comprehensive facial rejuvenation looks like when all healing is behind it — not a preview or a work in progress, but the version of the result that will accompany the patient through the coming years.

Sibel, a 53-year-old female patient, underwent a deep plane facelift, neck lift, bullhorn lip lift, and both upper and lower blepharoplasty in a single surgical session with Dr. Cem Berkay Sinaci, a fellow of the European Board of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (FEBOPRAS) and member of ISAPS and ASPS. Each procedure addressed a distinct zone of the face, and together they restored harmony across the entire facial frame — from the brow to the neck, from the eyes to the mouth.

Read Sibel's full patient story here.

The Deep Plane Facelift and Neck Lift

The foundation of Sibel's rejuvenation was the preservation deep plane facelift with neck lift. At 53, she presented with jowling along the mandibular border, loss of midface definition, and cervical laxity — the characteristic triad of lower facial ageing. The deep plane technique addressed these changes at their source, working beneath the SMAS layer to release the retaining ligaments and elevate the descended soft tissues as a single composite unit. The jowl volume was repositioned above the jawline, the midface was restored to its youthful projection, and the neck was tightened through platysmal repair and skin redraping.

At seven months, the jawline contour is sharply defined, the transition from jaw to neck is clean and elegant, and the overall lower facial silhouette reads as naturally youthful. These structural changes, achieved through deep tissue repositioning rather than skin tension, represent the durable, long-lasting element of the result. Having refined his deep plane approach through fellowship training with Raul Gonzalez in Brazil and cadaver dissection courses in Bangkok, Dr. Sinaci prioritises a result that will age gracefully from this rejuvenated baseline rather than showing early signs of recurrence.

The Lip Lift: Restoring Perioral Proportion

The space between the nose and the upper lip — the philtrum — elongates progressively with age, thinning the visible upper lip and altering the balance between nose and mouth. This change is subtle but contributes significantly to an aged lower facial appearance, and it is not addressed by a facelift. Without lip lift correction, a patient can have a beautifully rejuvenated jawline and neck while the perioral region continues to signal age.

Dr. Sinaci performed a bullhorn lip lift — the only technique he uses for philtral shortening. A precisely measured strip of skin is removed along the natural contour of the nasal base, shortening the philtrum and increasing the vermilion show of the upper lip. Internal suturing recreates the philtral columns — the vertical ridges that frame the central lip — adding structural definition. Non-dissolvable sutures were used for the external closure, removed at five to seven days, producing a fine scar that at seven months has faded into the natural crease where the lip meets the base of the nose.

The lip lift result at seven months is fully settled. The upper lip sits in its corrected position with natural vermilion exposure, the philtral columns are defined, and the scar is well matured. The perioral rejuvenation complements the lower face lift seamlessly — the mouth and jawline now age-match rather than presenting a discord between a lifted lower face and an untreated lip area.

Upper and Lower Blepharoplasty

Sibel's upper eyelids showed the skin redundancy and hooding that obscured her natural crease, while her lower lids presented herniated fat pads and skin laxity creating under-eye bags and shadowing. Both were addressed in the same session.

The upper blepharoplasty removed the excess skin through an incision within the eyelid crease, restoring a visible lid platform and eliminating the heavy, tired appearance. The lower blepharoplasty was performed through a subciliary incision, addressing the fat herniation and trimming redundant skin. Non-dissolvable sutures were used for all eyelid closures — their minimal inflammatory profile produces consistently finer scars in the delicate eyelid skin compared to dissolvable alternatives, with removal at four to six days.

At seven months, the eyelid result is completely mature. The upper lids show clean, well-defined creases without any hollowing or over-resection. The lower lids are smooth and rested, the bags eliminated without visible scarring. The eyes appear open, refreshed, and alert — changes that are immediately noticeable yet impossible to identify as surgical when viewed in isolation.

How Four Procedures Work as One Result

The principle underlying Sibel's surgical plan is that facial ageing affects every zone simultaneously, and the most natural rejuvenation addresses every zone simultaneously. Consider what each procedure achieves in isolation versus what the combination delivers:

A facelift alone would restore the jawline and neck but leave hooded eyes, under-eye bags, and an elongated philtrum — ageing cues that would undermine the lower face improvement. Blepharoplasty alone would refresh the eyes but leave them sitting in a face with jowls and a lax neck. A lip lift alone would improve the mouth area but draw attention to the contrast with the untreated zones above and below.

Combined, these four procedures create a single, unified transformation. Every zone of the face reads as the same biological age. There is no mismatch, no area that lags behind or jumps ahead. The result looks like the patient's face ten to fifteen years ago — not like a face that has been selectively tightened in certain areas.

The Seven-Month Milestone and Beyond

At seven months, Sibel's result is for practical purposes complete. Any further refinement will be minimal — perhaps a slight continued softening of scar tissue or a subtle settling of the deepest tissue layers. The version of the result visible in these photographs is what Sibel will carry forward.

The longevity of this result depends on the techniques used. The deep plane facelift, by placing the structural support on the SMAS rather than the skin, creates a framework that is not subject to the stretching that causes superficial facelifts to deteriorate. The lip lift result is inherently permanent — the removed philtral skin does not regenerate. The blepharoplasty correction is lasting, though the eyelids will continue to age slowly from this rejuvenated baseline. For a patient like Sibel, who underwent comprehensive rejuvenation at 53 with good tissue quality, the combined result can be expected to maintain its improvement well into the next decade.