What is a liquid facelift?
A liquid facelift is a combination approach that changes the topography of the face without surgery, based on the MD Codes approach popularized by Dr. Mauricio de Maio in the early 2000s. It involves applying 4-6 different interventions in a single session or a 2-3 session plan, such as bone-level filler + deep fat pad restoration + superficial line correction + skin booster + botox eyebrow/muscle adjustment.
Layered approach
The principle is to restore from the deepest to the surface. (1) Bone support — cheekbones, jaw, temporal. (2) Deep fat pads — DMCF, Ristow. (3) Superficial fat irregularities — nasolabial, marionette. (4) Skin quality — skin booster, mesotherapy. (5) Muscle balance — botox (frontalis, orbicularis, masseter, platysma).
This order is not didactic, it is clinically critical. If you treat the upper layers first, if there is still bone loss underneath, there will be "pulling into the void" and the result will be unstable.
MD Codes and structural filler logic
Dr. Mauricio de Maio's MD Codes system maps the face into approximately 60 points. Each point (e.g., Ck1 — zygomatic apex, Tp1 — temporal hollow) corresponds to a specific anatomical compartment. For each patient, which points to use and what amount of which product will go where is planned in advance. This systematic approach increases both safety and consistency of results.
“A beautiful face does not appear by accident; it requires a deep anatomical reading + a systematic layering.”
Previous chapter
Thread Lift and Vector Lift: Non-Surgical Tightening