Mini Facelift in Chicago | BYUN Facelift

What Is a Mini Facelift?

A mini facelift is a refined facial rejuvenation procedure designed to address early to moderate signs of aging in the lower face and jawline with smaller incisions and quicker recovery than a traditional full facelift. It targets common concerns such as mild jowling, early laxity, and loss of jawline definition.

Dr. Byun’s approach to the mini facelift goes beyond simple skin tightening — he restores the deeper layers of facial anatomy while honoring the natural orientation of muscles and connective tissues. Rather than pulling tissues outward, he repositions them up and inward toward the midline where they naturally belong, resulting in refreshed, balanced results that age gracefully.

Learn more about Dr. Byun’s facelift philosophy →

How the Mini Facelift Works

The mini facelift focuses on the SMAS (superficial musculoaponeurotic system) and deeper layers of facial structure rather than just the skin. Dr. Byun uses precise techniques to lift and reposition tissues that have descended with time, helping restore a firmer jawline, reduced sagging, and smoother contours.

Unlike traditional lifts that may stretch tissues outward toward the ears, Dr. Byun’s method restores tissues up and toward the midline, honoring natural anatomy and minimizing undue tension on the skin.

Small, discreet incisions
Targeted work on deeper support structures
Natural repositioning of tissues
Shorter recovery time than traditional facelifts

See before & after Mini Facelift results →

Benefits of a Mini Facelift

A mini facelift with Dr. Byun is ideal for patients who want a more youthful jawline and lower face without the extent of a traditional facelift. Benefits may include:

Improved jawline definition
Reduced mild jowls
Smoother lower face contours
Less postoperative downtime
Subtle, natural results

By focusing on restoring anatomic support rather than merely tightening the skin, Dr. Byun helps patients achieve results that blend seamlessly with natural facial movement and expression.

Explore other facelift options →

Who Is a Candidate?

Dr. Byun may recommend a mini facelift for patients who:

Are beginning to see laxity in the lower face
Have early jowl formation
Want a refreshed look with minimal downtime
Seek natural, balanced facial rejuvenation

Patients with more advanced tissue descent or deeper structural aging may benefit from a more comprehensive procedure such as a deep plane or central facelift, which Dr. Byun also performs using his restorative philosophy.

Learn about Deep Plane Facelift →

Recovery After a Mini Facelift

Recovery from a mini facelift is typically faster than full facelifts. Patients may experience mild swelling and bruising for a few days, with most returning to normal activities within a week. Because the incisions are small and Dr. Byun places tissues in their natural orientation, many patients find the healing process more comfortable and the results more natural throughout recovery.

View full Mini Facelift recovery guide →

How Is Dr. Byun Different?

Dr. Byun brings a unique, restorative perspective to all facelift procedures — including the mini facelift. While he is fully experienced in many facelift techniques (including deep plane and central facelift), he believes no single method is best for everyone. Instead, he applies the principles of his BYUN Method, integrating multiple techniques and tailoring the approach to each individual’s anatomy and aging pattern.

The BYUN Method focuses on restoring facial tissues back to their native position up and in toward the midline, preserving natural expression and achieving long‑lasting, harmonious results that age naturally — whether using mini, deep plane, or central facelift techniques.

Learn more about the BYUN Method →

Why Choose Dr. Byun for a Mini Facelift

Patients choose Dr. Byun for his thoughtful, anatomy‑based approach that prioritizes natural facial harmony over dramatic or pulled appearances. The mini facelift with Dr. Byun doesn’t just tighten — it restores structure and support, enhancing contours while maintaining the face’s authentic identity.

His emphasis on tissue preservation, precision, and midline restoration sets his results apart, offering a refreshed, youthful look that continues to age gracefully.

Meet Dr. Byun →

What is the BYUN Facelift?

As we age, our skin and muscles start drooping. This very droopiness can be the sole cause of looking older than you are, and older than you feel. It can also cause you to look tired, mean, etc. on the outside. Expert plastic surgeon Dr. BYUN has specialized repairing these concerns by using his signature BYUN Facelift. In this process, the muscles and tissues are moved back Up and In, or centrally. Returning those tissues and muscles to where they once were brings you back to you. Your face will appear softer, younger, and natural while also still looking like yourself. Many patients end up looking identical to how they did 10-30 years ago. Maintaining your natural appearance while also creating significant change is the BYUN difference. However, the true value of Dr. BYUN’s central facelift comes in its longevity, as his patients begin to age slowly, and look even better as time goes on.

5 Years After

5 Years After

Listen to what Dr. BYUN’s Facelift patient has to say about her procedure.

Patient 2056

The patient is a healthy female who wanted to improve excess lines while avoiding drastic changes. She wanted to keep eye shape the same, sticking with a more natural look. She had quite significant ripples on the central face, lower eye, and cheek to the mouth area. Slight volume was also missing from the cheek area. These ripples improved, and volume was restored because the muscles were lifted up where they once were.

Photos taken 3-1/2 months after.

She had a brow ptosis, which is where the space between the eyebrow and upper eyelash became shorter. The skin on her upper lid is touching the eyelash, so you cannot see her upper eye crease. Notice that the fillers under the eye have stretched the muscle, creating a prominent tear trough. This is also called a prominent nasojugal line (different from nasolabial fold which indicates the smile line). As a matter of fact, her nasolabial fold has gotten deeper, and her marionette lines next to the corner of her mouth got deeper. An interesting note is her chin- she has a fold above the chin that makes the chin appear short. Also, her lower lip had two bulging circles underneath making her lower lip look heavy (dumbbells below lower lip or above the chin). Her main concern? ‘ I look way tired and mean!’ After receiving Dr. BYUN’s signature ‘BYUN muscle repair’ lift, she looks relaxed, brighter, and younger.

Notice how the brow is released, but not too pulled. Now you can see her eyelashes and upper eye crease space. Her nasojugal line and nasolabial fold are shorter and shallow. The triangle that holds the cheek muscle is smaller and lifted. Notice the creases at the corner of the mouth and the marionette lines, which are much less apparent. Her lower lip and the chin are much less crowded. The projection of her chin is better by relaxing the muscles around the mouth, without using a chin implant. This was achieved by relaxing the mentalis muscle, and lifting the buccinator muscle which adds a fold to the marionette line. This was all reversed by the famous ‘BYUN Central Face Lift’. Dr. BYUN emphasizes that the mouth muscles should never be pulled sideways. All the muscles should stay where they start and end. He often talks about a hammock that’s stretched and touching the ground. If it were to be a muscle, they need to be tightened within that space, not pulled away from point A and B. The muscles simply need to be tightened within that compartment. This all can be achieved by his famous muscle lift using an endoscope. He visualizes the eye muscle, cheek muscle (malar cheek pads that include zygomaticus major muscle), buccinator, and mentalis chin muscle). He tightens them and puts them onto the periosteum where the muscle used to be. Then he separates the skin so it holds the newly repositioned muscles higher forever. This is the one and only BYUN lift.

Procedures

Endoscopic-assisted face, jowl, and muscle lift
Fat graft from the abdomen to the face, cheek, and nasolabial fold

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Facelift Hesitancy? We Know Why!

Have you been thinking about restoring your image for quite some time now, but are terrified of ending up with that ‘cookie cutter’ bad facelift look? The reason why you haven’t done a facelift yet is because you haven’t found a surgeon that is able to restore your image. As you look through before and after photos, you notice that muscles are still heavy, faces look wider, mouths are pulled sideways and large scars on the sides of the face are impossible to hide. You don’t want your facelift to be obvious, you just want to look beautifully restored. Let’s dive a little deeper into what that means.