Fifty-three-year-old Candi Luciano inherited many traits from her father, including a very specific, facial aging– related one she just couldn’t shake. “I knew I wasn’t loving how the skin around my eyes looked, but I didn’t realize how much I was headed in my Dad’s direction—he has skin hanging over his eyes—until I looked at a picture of him next to pictures of me in my 20s, and then back in the mirror.”
“The route was very clear. Gravity is real.”
The side-by-side photo comparison came courtesy of Scottsdale, AZ facial plastic surgeon Kelly Bomer, MD, who Luciano made an appointment with based on a NewBeauty recommendation. As part of Dr. Bomer’s consultation, she displayed the photos on a screen and discussed both Luciano’s concerns and her options. Together, they decided the best course of action was an eyelift, or blepharoplasty, coupled with two full-face “liquid lifts.”
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“Most patients are aware of the benefits of blepharoplasty, but they are concerned about unfavorable outcomes they have seen on celebrities and/or family and friends,” Dr. Bomer explains. “An eyelift, when done so there is a natural-looking result, can give a tremendous amount of youth back to the face. Unfortunately, it is also a surgery that can have severe complications when done too aggressively.”
“A person who has excess upper eyelid skin with extra folds or excess skin hanging on top of the eyelashes is a great candidate for upper eyelid blepharoplasty. Likewise, so is a person with lower eyelids that have excess folds of skin. Oftentimes, there is also volume loss of bone and fat pads in the lower orbital rim area that adds to an aged look. If there is no excess skin of the lower lids, injection of a non-hydrophilic hyaluronic acid on the bone and into the fat pads on the bone can lift out the shadowy hollow and restore a youthful look.”
“In Candi’s case, she had excess folds of skin on the upper eyes and lower, as well as hollowing in the lower eyelid area. She was in excellent health and a great candidate for skin removal for both the upper and lower eyelids. She also had hollowing in the lower eyelids, so two layers of hyaluronic acid filler were placed on the bone to ‘lift out’ the shadows for a more refined appearance. We also performed a few sessions of Botox prior to the procedure to aid in the lifting of some of the wrinkles around the eyes. She also started a medical-grade skin-care program.”
What Luciano appreciated most was how clearly and confidently Dr. Bomer explained everything and how the staff made her feel cared for. “There was no rushing during any part of the process. Everything was done very meticulously, and everyone took their time to make sure I was getting what I needed.”
The hardest part of the process, Luciano says, was the recovery, and not because of the pain. “When you first look in the mirror, you don’t resemble yourself at all; the next week, I looked like Cruella de Vil. By the third week, I looked like Candi in her 20s—and that’s exactly what I was hoping to look like. For the first time in my life, I also have cheekbones!”
Luciano’s advice: “If this is for you, go for it. You will not be sorry.”
