Beyond Traditional Aesthetics

The face is a living record of internal health, habits, and the choices made over time. Sun exposure, skincare routines, even the side favored when chewing, all leave subtle but lasting signatures as the years pass.

After a decade treating some of the most recognizable faces in the world, Dr. Michelle Lee and her team at PERK Beverly Hills start every consultation with a different question than most practices ask: not how will this look today, but how will it look in ten, twenty, thirty years. Every treatment plan is designed with that trajectory in mind, balancing the result you want now with the face you'll be living in for decades to come. Rather than working against aging and biology, we focus on treatments that heal and regenerate. Many biostimulators on the market aim for regeneration only to result in fibrosis. 

"Fibrosis is not the equivalent of regeneration." 

As a facial plastic surgeon, Dr. Lee brings a unique vantage point to this philosophy. In surgery, she sees firsthand how skin quality, daily habits, treatment history, and prior noninvasive interventions affect facial tissue across multiple anatomical layers. She sees first hand how the difference between fibrotic and regenerated tissues. These observations shape an approach that prioritizes regenerative therapies and long-term outcomes over short-term fixes.

This is why our approach is never about a quick solution. The question we ask instead is simple: how will this intervention age with you?

Facial longevity considers each patient holistically, in the broader context of health, lifestyle, genetics, and the biological mechanisms of aging. We determine when thoughtful treatments, performed at the right time, with the right technique, and at the right frequency, can produce results that endure and reflect true health and vitality.

The PERK Facial Longevity Method

At PERK Beverly Hills, facial longevity is built on a philosophy of precision, restraint, and long-term planning. Every face is unique, and every treatment recommendation is bespoke to the individual's anatomy, genetics, lifestyle, and overall health. This often involves a combination of surgical and non-surgical strategies, coupled with health optimization.

Every facial longevity plan begins with a comprehensive consultation. During this evaluation, we assess:

  • Lifestyle and environmental factors
  • Skin quality and pigmentation
  • Fat distribution and volume changes
  • Facial structure and balance

Using both clinical expertise and advanced imaging, we develop a facial longevity roadmap. This roadmap does not prescribe unnecessary treatments; instead, it ensures that interventions are performed only when they are most beneficial and appropriate. 

Data-Driven Facial Analysis

Advances in imaging technology can now evaluate facial aging with far greater precision. At PERK Beverly Hills, we use an advanced facial analysis technology, Aura Reality, that combines 13 high-resolution cameras and 18 LED light units to capture approximately 575 megapixels of facial data at 0.1mm accuracy. This data helps us assess skin quality, pigmentation patterns, and structural balance, and gives us objective metrics to track progress and measure the effectiveness of both nonsurgical and surgical interventions over time.

Beauty is an aesthetic experience, but it's also one we can measure. Rather than guessing whether something looks better, we back it up with data. Together with aesthetic judgment, this analysis anchors the three additional pillars of the PERK Facial Longevity Method: Skin Health Optimization, Regenerative Aesthetics, and Structural Preservation.

Skin Health Optimization

Skin is the foundation of healthy facial aging. Skin quality is one of the most visible markers of aging. Environmental exposure, collagen depletion, and cellular aging gradually affect skin texture, elasticity, and pigmentation. At PERK, we use only therapies and ingredients with clinical evidence behind them. Based on each patient's individual skin needs, our team customizes a skincare routine using scientifically backed ingredients suited to their skin. Built on that personalized foundation, a tailored in-office treatment protocol focused on skin regeneration is layered in.

Genetic modulation with light therapy

BroadBand Light (BBL) is a broad-spectrum light-based treatment that addresses sun damage, pigmentation, and vascular irregularities. Beyond these visible improvements, BBL appears to act at a deeper cellular level: a Stanford University study found that BBL shifted the expression of 1,293 genes toward patterns more characteristic of youthful skin (Chang et al., Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 2012; PMID 22931923). The finding suggests BBL may do more than improve skin's surface appearance as it may shift the skin's underlying biological activity toward a more youthful state.

Synergistic neo-collagen synthesis

Moxi is a 1927nm non-ablative fractional thulium fiber laser that stimulates collagen remodeling and neocollagenesis. Studies of skin treated with Moxi have consistently demonstrated increased type I and type III collagen, elastic fibers, and hyaluronic acid. Microneedling, or percutaneous collagen induction therapy, creates controlled microinjuries that trigger the wound healing cascade and significantly increase collagen types I, III, and VI. Histologic studies have documented a 400% increase in collagen and elastin at six months post-treatment (Aust et al., Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2008). By pairing the two treatments and layering wound healing accelerators such as exosome therapy, PDRN, and platelet-rich plasma post-procedure, skin resilience is supported over time.

Regenerative Aesthetics

Regenerative therapies focus on improving tissue quality using the body's own biological mechanisms. Regeneration takes many forms. Many biostimulators aim for regeneration only to result in fibrosis.Fibrosis is not the equivalent of regeneration. 

True regeneration is the replacement of like tissue with like tissue. Biostimulators such as Sculptra and Radiesse are selectively used at PERK because Dr. Lee has seen, firsthand during facelift surgery, the long-term consequences of excessive biostimulator use. Fibrotic tissue planes are not the same as regenerated tissue, and PERK weighs the long-term sequelae of biostimulators carefully, using them only in areas where they will not interfere with future surgical outcomes.

The gold standard for volume replacement and tissue regeneration is facial fat grafting with autologous fat, which offers the dual benefit of volume restoration and skin quality improvement. 

A meta-analysis of 27 studies and 1,011 patients found an average facial fat graft volume retention of 47% (Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 2020; PMID 31940073). We tailor fat particle size to the layer being treated:

  • Macrofat (>2.4mm) — deep volume restoration
  • Microfat (1.2mm) — volume restoration and skin quality improvement
  • Nanofat (400–600 micrometers) — skin rejuvenation through the paracrine effects of adipose-derived stem cells, rather than by filling, significantly improving skin texture and pigmentation

For patients who prefer an off-the-shelf option, we use adipose cellular matrix products such as Renuva, an inductive scaffold that promotes migration of the patient's own stem cells and is gradually replaced by their native fat tissue. Additional regenerative techniques, including platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) and nanofat grafting, may further support collagen production, improve skin texture, and enhance healing following procedures.

Structural Preservation

The deeper architecture of the face plays a central role in how aging appears over time. As the facial retaining ligaments that anchor facial soft tissue to the underlying bone and fascia attenuate with age, the deep tissue compartments descend, producing the hollowing, jowling, and nasolabial deepening associated with an aging face. Without that release, tension is transmitted to the skin rather than to the deeper structures, which is part of why skin-only or superficial lifts can produce a pulled, tightened appearance rather than a natural one. The deep plane facelift instead dissects beneath the SMAS to release the ligaments directly, repositioning the malar fat pad, SMAS, and skin as a single composite unit along the face's natural vector, rather than stretching skin over an unaddressed foundation.

This longevity is not unlimited, however. Each surgical revision works through tissue that has already been operated on, and with each pass, the surgical planes accumulate scar tissue while the skin and SMAS thin further and narrows the reserve of healthy tissue available for any future intervention. Dr. Lee, who performs a substantial volume of revision facelift surgery, sees this directly: a patient's capacity for further surgical correction is finite, even though the aging process itself is not. This is why judgment about timing matters as much as surgical technique: surgery is recommended only when it is the right tool for a given stage of aging, with nonsurgical care sequenced around it so that a patient's surgical reserve lasts as long as they do.
By restoring the face’s relationships at their anatomical foundation rather than masking them at the skin, results look natural, move naturally, and age gracefully over time.

At PERK Beverly Hills, facial rejuvenation is guided by the belief that exceptional aesthetic outcomes depend as much on judgment as on technique. Our approach prioritizes restraint, precision, and respect for the unique characteristics that make each face individual. We prioritize therapies that regenerate, and we think in decades, weighing the long-term consequences of every intervention. True rejuvenation is not about transformation; it is about preserving what makes a face recognizable while allowing it to age beautifully. 

Watch Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon Dr. Michelle Lee on the Dr. 90210 TV Show on Hulu

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