Consultation first
Every patient is assessed in person before anything is booked. If a treatment is not right for you, we will say so — and you are never asked to decide on the day.
Treatment planning · Gold Coast & Melbourne
Non-Surgical Face Lift
Not one treatment but a plan: volume restoration, wrinkle-softening treatments and skin treatments combined to address firmness and contour without surgery. What goes into yours depends entirely on the assessment.
- Full-face treatment plan
- Staged, not all at once
- Afterpay available
At a glance
- Appointment time
- 20 – 45 minutes per treatment
- Usually staged over
- Two or more appointments
- Results typically last
- Varies with the combination used
- Downtime
- 1 – 2 days for most people
- Anaesthetic
- Topical only. No surgery, no sedation
A plan, not a procedure
A non-surgical face lift is a description of an outcome, not a product on a menu. Three separate things change the face over time: volume disappears, skin quality declines, and muscles begin pulling downward without opposition. Each responds to a different treatment, and treating one while ignoring the others is why people spend money without the result shifting.
So the plan usually combines them. Volume restoration puts structural support back through the cheeks, temples and jawline. Wrinkle-softening treatments relax the muscles that pull the lower face down. Skin treatments such as skin needling work on the quality of the skin sitting over both. The sequence and the proportions are the clinical judgement, and they are different for every face.
It is normally staged across appointments rather than done in one sitting. That is partly clinical — some things need to settle before the next decision is sensible — and partly financial, since a staged plan spreads the cost and lets you stop at any point. You are never asked to commit to a package.
Why have it with us
AHPRA-registered nurses
Treatments are carried out by registered nurses, not beauty therapists, with registration numbers published on our team page so you can verify them yourself.
Doctor-led prescribing
Schedule 4 medications are prescribed only after a formal consultation with one of our qualified prescribing doctors, in line with AHPRA and TGA requirements.
Written pricing
You get your full cost in writing at the consultation, including the new-patient scripting fee, with Afterpay available. No estimates that change at the counter.
What goes into a plan
Which of these your plan uses, in what order, is the assessment. Most plans use two of the three.
Volume restoration
Volume restoration through the cheeks, temples, chin and jawline to replace lost volume and put structural support back under the midface.
Wrinkle-softening treatments
Relaxing the muscles that actively pull the lower face and neck downward, so the structure above them is not working against them.
Skin treatments
Skin needling and LED to work on firmness, texture and tone — the quality of the skin sitting over everything else.
Staging and sequence
What to treat first, what to leave, and what to reassess in three months. The plan is as much about order as about treatments.
Areas commonly included
- Cheeks
- Midface
- Temples
- Chin
- Jawline
- Smile lines
- Marionette lines
- Skin quality
What's involved
The same sequence at both clinics, every plan.
- Full-face assessment: A detailed assessment of facial structure, skin quality and how your face moves, face-on and in profile. Your medical history is reviewed here. The appointment is free and there is no obligation to book anything.
- The plan, written down: You leave with the treatments recommended, the order they should happen in, the intervals between them and the total cost of each stage. Also what has been deliberately left out, and why.
- Prescribing consultation: Where the plan includes a Schedule 4 medication, a telehealth consultation with one of our prescribing doctors is required first. The one-off $35 scripting fee for new patients covers it.
- Stage one: Usually the treatment that gives the most structural benefit. Each injectable appointment runs 20 to 45 minutes. You can stop after any stage.
- Review, then decide: Once the first stage has settled, we look at the result together before committing to the next. Plans change at this point more often than they do not.
- Later stages: Spaced to suit the treatments involved — skin needling runs 4 to 6 weeks apart, injectables are reviewed at two weeks. Nothing is booked before it is needed.
Cosmetic procedures carry risks. These are explained to you in full at your consultation, along with the aftercare involved, before you decide whether to proceed.
All treatments require a consultation with a qualified practitioner. Individual results vary. This page is general information only, not medical advice.
Results, downtime and aftercare
A plan combines treatments with different timelines, so the answers below depend on what yours includes.
Onset
Volume restoration shows immediately and settles over two weeks. Wrinkle-softening treatments develop over 3 to 14 days. Skin needling builds across a course of sessions.
How long it lasts
Structural volume restoration generally 12 to 18 months, wrinkle-softening treatments 3 to 4 months, skin treatment results cumulative and maintained with ongoing sessions.
Downtime
Volume restoration brings swelling and possible bruising for 5 to 10 days; skin needling 24 to 48 hours of redness; wrinkle-softening treatments effectively none. Most people are back to normal activity within 1 to 2 days.
What it will not do
It does not remove or reposition tissue. Where skin laxity is the dominant problem, the honest answer is a surgical opinion, and you will be told that.
Across the plan
- Follow the written aftercare for each treatment — it differs between injectables and skin treatments.
- Keep the spacing you were given. Treatments stacked too close together make it impossible to tell what worked.
- Daily sunscreen is not optional where skin treatments are part of the plan.
- Attend the reviews. They are where the next stage is decided, and sometimes cancelled.
- Call the clinic about severe or increasing pain, blanching or mottled skin, or vision changes after any injectable treatment.
Where to have it
Non-Surgical Face Lift is offered at both clinics, by AHPRA-registered practitioners. Each clinic has its own page for this treatment.
- Non-Surgical Face Lift Gold Coast — 1/32B Lavarack Road, Mermaid Beach, QLD 4218. Practitioners: Charlie Ralph, Sherllesea.
- Non-Surgical Face Lift Melbourne — 542 Mt Alexander Rd, Ascot Vale, VIC 3032. Practitioners: Cat.
New patients: a $35 doctor scripting fee applies. This covers the prescribing consultation required before any Schedule 4 treatment. It applies to new patients and anyone who has not visited in the past 12 months, and is included in the quote you receive.
Who will treat you
Charlie Ralph
Founder & Registered Nurse
AHPRA NMW0002241390. Founder and Clinical Director, based at the Gold Coast clinic.
Sherllesea
Registered Nurse
AHPRA NMW0002195471. Clinical background in emergency nursing, with formal training in cosmetic nursing procedures.
Dr Katie Duncan
Prescribing Doctor & Medical Director
AHPRA MED0002653304. Conducts telehealth consultations for patients at both clinics.
Cat
Registered Nurse
AHPRA NMW0002914224. Based at the Melbourne clinic, with clinical training in cosmetic procedures.
Non-surgical face lift questions
What is a non-surgical face lift?
It is a combination of treatments rather than a single procedure — typically volume restoration to restore volume and structural support, wrinkle-softening treatments to relax the muscles pulling the face downward, and skin treatments to work on skin quality. What goes into yours, and in what order, is decided at a full-face assessment.
How is it different from a surgical face lift?
A surgical face lift involves incisions, repositioning tissue and anaesthesia, and it addresses skin laxity directly. A non-surgical plan uses injectables and skin treatments: less downtime, no surgery, and a more subtle, temporary result. They are not alternatives to each other so much as answers to different problems, and part of the consultation is establishing which problem you have.
How long do the results last?
It depends on the combination. Structural volume restoration generally holds 12 to 18 months, wrinkle-softening treatments 3 to 4 months, and skin treatment results are cumulative and maintained with ongoing sessions. Because the components run on different clocks, a plan is usually maintained in parts rather than repeated whole.
How much does it cost?
There is no single figure, because there is no single treatment. Each stage is quoted in writing at your consultation, including the new-patient scripting fee where a prescription is involved, and Afterpay is available. You can stop after any stage.
Does it have to be done all at once?
No, and usually it should not be. Staging across appointments is better clinically — some treatments need to settle before the next decision makes sense — and it spreads the cost. You are never asked to commit to a package upfront.
Is it painful?
Most patients describe the injectable treatments as mildly uncomfortable. Topical numbing is applied beforehand, and most products contain local anaesthetic. Skin needling also uses topical numbing. There is no sedation and no general anaesthetic involved at any point.
Who is suitable?
It may be appropriate for early to moderate facial ageing, where volume loss and skin quality are the main drivers. Where loose skin is the dominant issue, it will not achieve what you are after, and we will say so rather than sell you a plan that cannot work. Suitability is assessed at your consultation.
How soon before an event should I start?
Allow well over a month. Volume restoration needs two weeks to settle, wrinkle-softening treatments two weeks to develop, and skin needling runs as a course spaced 4 to 6 weeks apart. A plan begun three months out is comfortable; one begun three weeks out is not.
Risks and side effects
A non-surgical face lift involves several treatments, each with its own risk profile. Common side effects across them include swelling, bruising, redness and tenderness. Volume restoration carries the less common risks of infection, product migration, nodule formation and vascular occlusion. Wrinkle-softening treatments carry a small risk of temporary muscle weakness in a nearby area. Skin needling carries a risk of infection and pigmentation change. Every risk relevant to your plan is discussed in full at your consultation.
- Not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
- Where skin laxity is the dominant problem, injectables and skin treatments will not address it, and a surgical opinion is the appropriate referral.
- Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
- Results differ from person to person. A consultation assesses suitability — it does not promise that a treatment will suit you or that you will achieve a particular outcome.
Important health information
Required disclosure under AHPRA and TGA guidelines
Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
- All treatments require a consultation with a qualified practitioner. Individual results vary. This page is general information only, not medical advice.
- All cosmetic procedures carry potential risks, including bruising, swelling, infection, scarring and allergic reactions. Some risks may be serious or lasting.
- Results differ from person to person. A consultation assesses suitability — it does not promise that a treatment will suit you or that you will achieve a particular outcome.
- Schedule 4 medications are prescribed only after a formal consultation with one of our qualified prescribing doctors, in line with AHPRA and TGA requirements.
Start with a consultation
Book a Consultation or call 0483 988 863 (Gold Coast) or 0483 982 999 (Melbourne).