The Deep Plane Facelift: How It Works and Why Hollywood A-Listers Can’t Get Enough

TikTok is responsible for many theories that gradually dominate the internet, until netizens can’t help but dig deeper to get to the bottom of things. Recently, all the rage has been directed to Kris Jenner, who undeniably looks snatched enough to be a Kardashian sister instead of a mother at the age of 69.

As a renowned trailblazer in the Philippines' industry of beauty and cosmetic surgery, Dr. Vicki Belo shared her thoughts on the procedure that paved the way for Kris to achieve a youthful look. The doctor shared, “She’s always looked amazing, but there’s definitely a difference now.”

A deep plane facelift for the face and the neck was Dr. Vicki’s hypothesis, and though she thinks we might be tired of hearing it by now, we just want to know more and more. She ended her video by saying, “Naiinggit na talaga ako at na-inspire. Gusto ko nang magpagawa.” 

Sharing the same theory was Dr. Steven Cohen who, aside from being a content creator, works as a plastic surgeon of Faces+, a clinic located in San Diego, California. In his video, he expressed, “I’m pretty confident she’s had a deep plane face and neck lift.” He added that it’s also almost certain that she got her upper and lower eyelids done, as well. Dr. Steven acknowledged that "the work is beautiful [and] she looks fantastic,” and everything looks natural. 

Kris is not the only celebrity who the California-based doctor thinks got a deep plane facelift. He has a separate video where he shared his theories on the procedures potentially availed by actress Anne Hathaway, whose face card went viral again upon attending the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 show in New York last April. We can’t blame netizens for having their eyes on her and gaining curiosity on how she does not look a day older than the characters she played almost 20 years ago.

As mentioned, these are currently just theories—although the praise for deep plane facelifts in Hollywood is not new. Back in 2021, Marc Jacobs shared documentation of his recovery and progress after the said procedure. Behind his look was New York City board-certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Jacono.

A deep plane facelift shares the same fundamentals as the traditional one—it makes up for the skin’s loss of elasticity and weakening of the muscles over time, which causes sagging on the face and the neck. It’s also a surgical procedure that brings back definition to your features and makes you look like you drank from the fountain of youth.

According to Dr. Pietro Di Mauro, the resurgence of the deep plane facelift can be credited to patients and surgeons striving “to achieve more natural results from cosmetic procedures.” He explained, “the surgery is carried out below the SMAS layer to release and reposition muscle and fat within the deep plane layer. Although skin is removed during the process, unlike the more traditional facelift techniques, there is not so much tension (stretching) therefore delivers a much more natural result.”

For the uninitiated, SMAS is short for the superficial musculoaponeurotic system, which is a layer of tissue in the face that is a key player in connecting facial muscles to the skin and allowing us to portray various facial expressions. The Cleveland Clinic further explained, “In a deep plane facelift surgery, a surgeon lifts the SMAS (the muscular layer of your face), fat and skin as a single unit. Deep plane lifts generally address multiple areas of your face at the same time.” It targets deeper facial structures in comparison with the traditional facelift, leading to comprehensive and lasting results.