Raise your hand if you’ve ever stretched the skin on your face after looking at yourself in the mirror — or worse, the little Zoom box — just to see how you’d look. Congratulations: You’ve just had a home facelift. For a few seconds anyway.
According a report from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, people in the United States spent $16.7 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2020, nearly $1.9 billion of that on facelifts. Second only to rhinoplasty and eyelid surgery, facelifts were the third most popular cosmetic surgery, with 234,374 performed in 2020 — a 75 percent increase from 20 years ago.
But what if you could skip the cosmetic surgery—which costs, on average, $8,005—and instead sculpt your face from the couch? Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram are full of beauty tutorials offering ways to achieve a more rejuvenated look through facial massages, at-home gadgets and even facial tape. (Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Tape. In your face.)
Can anything deliver facelift-level results at home?
To put it bluntly: No. “‘Home facelift’ is a great marketing term,” said Dr. Jacob D. Steiger, a facial plastic surgeon in Boca Raton, Florida. “But anything you do at home is only going to treat the skin. You’ll never go deep enough to make the facial ligaments.”
Our face contains ligaments, which hold the cheek, jaw and neck structures together. As people age—usually around their late 40s and early 50s—these ligaments can begin to sag, resulting in sunken cheeks, drooping cheeks and a shiny turkey neck, a fleshy pouch with loose skin and fat under the chin.
A facelift, or rhytidectomy, is a surgical procedure “that lifts those structures in the face” that were causing the sagging appearance, “and puts them back in their original position,” Dr. Steiger said. This results in a tighter, more defined face that can make you look more youthful.
Sure, you can improve skin texture through laser resurfacing at a dermatologist’s office or create the illusion of a lift with injectable fillers. You can even tighten problem spots with radio frequency therapya non-surgical skin tightening procedure that heats the deeper layers of the skin to encourage the production of collagen and elastin, proteins that make the skin firm and firm.
But even that process only gets you so far, said Dr. Debra Jaliman, a dermatologist in New York City. “We always tell patients, ‘Yes, it will tighten your skin, but remember: It’s not a facelift.’
As for taping your skin to keep features in place and stop facial muscle movement? “Old-time actresses used this trick a lot,” said Dr. Michelle Green, a dermatologist in New York. Alas, he said, while you might seem tougher for a while, “when you remove the tape, everything goes back to your previous state like a house of cards.”
What about household microcurrent devices?
Microcurrent facial toning devices, such as those made by NuFace and Ziip, claim to lift and tighten skin by using low-voltage electrical current to stimulate facial muscles and encourage collagen and elastin production. But experts are lukewarm about their effectiveness.
“There’s not a lot of substantial data or any well-conducted studies that show strong evidence that these devices actually promote skin tightening,” said Dr. Rina Allawh, a dermatologist practicing in a Philadelphia suburb.
While Dr. Allawh has patients who claim to see results, he said it’s possible some of the improvement actually comes from the serum they combine it with. “Many of these devices come with primer gels that contain hyaluronic acid, which is an ingredient we use in fillers to help plump the skin,” she said.
Because home devices use a low level of power — the NuFace runs on a 9-volt battery, while most medical-grade devices typically need about 110 volts — “they need to be used often and often” to see any kind of results, Dr. Kenneth Rothaus, plastic surgeon in New York and partner at Modrn Sanctuary medspa. (NuFace, which advertisesthe 5-minute facelift,” recommends using it five times a week for five to 20 minutes each time for the first 60 days, then two to three times a week.)
“Not many people are really going to comply with it,” Dr. Rothaus said. “Reality will be like this hallway that doubles as a coat rack.”
Dr. Green said that rigorous use can “temporarily make you look better — but only temporarily.” Any effects would tend to last only a few days, he said. An at-home microcurrent device “is certainly not going to replace Botox or laser resurfacing or a real facelift,” he added. “I don’t really see that this could have any long-term benefits.”
If you decide to try it, don’t overdo it — and think about what you know about your skin before you start. If you’re prone to sensitivity and irritation, Dr. Jaliman said, an at-home experiment may not be worth it.
Can facial massage help?
Massaging your face with a piece of jade or rose quartz may be a social media moment, but gua sha and jade rolling have been used in Chinese medicine for centuries to get the flow of ‘chi’ (or energy) going. of the body and relieve the muscles. pain and tension, said Giselle Washfi, a doctor of Chinese medicine and founder of Chicago-based REMIX Acupuncture and Integrative Health.
Although traditionally done on the shoulders and neck, facial gua sha — in which you slide a contoured stone tool over your skin — has grown in popularity as a beauty treatment in the United States in recent years, Dr. Wasfie said.
Along with pushing topical products into the skin for better absorption, both gua sha and jade rolling can increase blood flow, improve lymphatic drainage and reduce inflammation and swelling, she said. Since the gua sha tool is more precise than a jade roller, Dr. Wasfie added that she has noticed that it gives her clients a bit more of an “elevated” look than a jade roller. The massaging motion of both techniques can also help relieve tight muscles in the face and jaw. “You can get a soothing benefit from the stone on your skin,” he said. “It’s almost like a little meditation.”
What gua sha and jade rolling won’t do is promote collagen production or erase wrinkles, Dr. Allawh said. “To date, there is little evidence to support this.”
What can I do at home to get a more youthful appearance?
On the budget you’d use for an at-home microcurrent device — the NuFace Trinity costs $339, the Ziip GX is $495 — Dr. Jaliman advised investing in skin care products. A retinol, glycolic acid toner, vitamin C serum and niacinamide cream can “make your skin look really great at home,” she said. You can also try a product with hyaluronic acid for hydration and an eye cream with peptides to stimulate collagen production.
“I think in the end you would see more bang for the buck,” he said.
And of course, sun protection is key. “Many times, the reason we see facial drooping or sagging is sun damage,” said Dr. Allah. “Prolonged sun exposure actually accelerates the loss of collagen in our skin.” This means (you guessed it) that you must commit relentlessly to SPF.
“I tell people the three most important things are sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen,” Dr. Green said. “Nothing you’re going to use is going to reproduce just by avoiding sun damage.”
For a quick fix, take a page from beauty influencers and fake it with makeup. “It’s all about the play of light and shadow,” said Danielle Vincent, celebrity makeup artist and founder of beauty brand Kimiko. “You can trick the eye into seeing something three-dimensional that isn’t there.”
To create the illusion of a more lifted cheekbone, blend highlighter into the top of your cheekbones, then add blush just below it, on the outer part of the cheekbone, Ms. Vincent said. Finish with a matte makeup contour just above the natural hollow of your cheek. You can blend the makeup along the jawbone to cover the sagging, “or even a little higher, so you’re receding something that might catch the light,” she said.
Whatever you try, be sure to manage your expectations. And keep a healthy dose of skepticism towards the idea of a home facelift. “It’s like a dream,” said Dr. Green. “It’s a sexy term that has mass appeal. Who wouldn’t want a facelift at home — no needles, no anesthesia, no recovery?”
Unfortunately, he said, “It’s just a medical weakness.”
Holly Burns is a writer in the San Francisco Bay Area.
