What is full face with hyaluronic acid
Full face is treatment of the whole face within a single plan, instead of areas treated separately, one at a time. With hyaluronic acid, this means that facial filler stops being a response to scattered concerns and starts following a diagnosis of the face as a whole.
The term is sometimes understood as "filling everything". That is not it. Complete facial planning decides what is included, in what order and with how much product, and it may conclude that some areas do not need anything.
Dr. Fred Fortes's work is full face with hyaluronic acid: a technique of lifting, repositioning and restructuring that he developed over years of patient care and that gave rise to the N3F® Protocol.
Full face is not a lot of product
Treating the whole face does not mean using more hyaluronic acid. The amount is the one the face calls for, defined in the assessment, not a chart by area.
In fact, planning the whole is one of the ways to avoid excess volume. When each area is decided on its own, it is easy to place product where the problem shows, not where it begins. When the face is read as a whole, the proportion between areas guides each decision, and that protects a natural look. See more in does hyaluronic acid make the face look artificial?
When complete planning makes a difference
Every patient benefits from an assessment of the whole face. But there are situations in which the difference between full face and isolated applications by area becomes more evident:
When the main concern is a consequence
The main concern is usually one spot: the under-eyes, the nasolabial fold, the corner of the mouth. Often, that spot is a consequence of the malar region having lost support and descended. Treating only the fold changes the symptom and leaves the cause where it is.
When loss of support affects several areas
Loss of support almost never happens in a single place. Temples, cheekbones, jaw and chin change together, and an area that loses support drags the next one down with it. To understand this chain reaction, see why the face sags and which treatments can help.
When touch-ups have built up
People who have had several spot touch-ups over the years, each decided on its own, often notice that the face has gradually lost proportion. A plan for the whole face goes back to looking at the whole before deciding the next step.
When the goal is to age well
If the idea is not just to address one concern today, but to follow the face over the coming years, complete planning creates a foundation on which maintenance visits can build.
How the face is read area by area
Looking at the whole face does not mean looking from a distance. The reading is done area by area, within the thirds of the face, always considering how one affects the other:
- Temples and upper third: when they lose volume, the side of the face becomes marked and the eyes look heavier.
- Malar region: this is where the face usually loses support first. Cheek filler, within a plan, can restore the high point of the face.
- Jaw angle and contour: the jawline contour defines the frame of the face. Read how to restore the facial contour lost with aging.
- Chin and lower third: the chin plays a part in the profile and in the balance of the lower third.
The plan is born from this map and is different for each person.
The order matters as much as the areas
In the full face approach of the N3F® Protocol, areas are not treated in just any order. There are three stages, always in this sequence and with hyaluronic acid only:
- Structural replacement: restores the volume that time has taken, at the points that support the face.
- Repositioning: what has descended goes back into place, and that is where the lifting effect comes from.
- Enhancement: the features that have always been yours, a little more defined, without exaggeration.
Hyaluronic acid is placed first at the deep points, next to the ligaments that support the face. Then comes the fine design. Without the foundation, any other application is just makeup.
"It is not about filling. It is about art: respecting what is unique in each face."
Dr. Fred Fortes
Full face in the N3F® Protocol: from session to maintenance
In the protocol, restructuring is done on the whole face, in the same session, after the assessment and the individual plan. Follow-up follows a calendar:
- 60-day follow-up: once everything has settled, the fine adjustments. This is where the result comes together.
- Annual maintenance: about one third of the initial amount, adjusted to each patient's moment. Some patients are in their ninth year of follow-up.
And how long does full face last? Duration depends on the product, the areas and the body, and the protocol is designed to last with annual maintenance. Because the face was treated as a whole, maintenance preserves the proportion between areas, instead of chasing each point that changes. Read in detail how long hyaluronic acid filler lasts in the face.
The hyaluronic acid Dr. Fred uses is UP Contour, by Ilikia. In 2022, IstoÉ magazine published a feature on the full face method with hyaluronic acid and annual maintenance.
When full face is not the path
Planning the whole face does not mean you must be treated. Some faces need structure before anything else, and some faces do not need anything yet. If it does not make sense to apply anything on the day of the assessment, nothing is applied.
There are also cases in which the indication calls for a different conversation. In the assessment, what weighs most is laxity below the chin and jaw and facial heaviness, and cases with significant excess skin are analyzed in an individual assessment, with clarity about what the protocol can and cannot do. The assessment takes place at N3F Clinic, in Brooklin, São Paulo, or during periodic appointments in Florianópolis.