Dr. Richard Balikian is a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon specializing exclusively in surgery of the face and neck. His work combines a detailed understanding of facial anatomy with an artistic approach shaped by his early study of art...

Dr. Richard Balikian is a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon specializing exclusively in surgery of the face and neck. His work combines a detailed understanding of facial anatomy with an artistic approach shaped by his early study of art history. For Dr. Balikian, facial rejuvenation is not about pulling the skin tighter or giving every patient the same result. It is about understanding how that individual face has aged and restoring the tissues to a more youthful position. As he explains, “People have different brows. People have different structures. It’s not about hitting an ideal. It’s about creating an artistic beauty that matches that person.” His signature Artiste Lift™ is a preservation deep plane facelift that combines deep structural lifting with a deep vertical neck lift and brow recontouring when needed. Rather than separating large areas of skin from the deeper tissues, his preservation approach minimizes disruption, reduces tension, and allows the face to be lifted from the structures that have actually descended. Dr. Balikian believes the little details are what create an exceptional result. The position of an incision, the direction of a lift, the amount of fat preserved, and the relationship between the brows, eyelids, cheeks, jawline, and neck all matter. “It’s not just about marking the patient and doing the surgery,” he says. “It’s about always adjusting to the art of it, watching the tissues, seeing how they react to every move you make, and then making a countermove to make sure you’re staying as precise as possible.” That same philosophy shapes every consultation. He spends time listening to each patient’s goals, studying photographs, evaluating the face from multiple angles, and explaining the three ways the face ages: gravity, volume loss, and texture changes. He also believes in telling patients when surgery is not yet the right choice or when a requested procedure will not produce the result they expect. His goal is always a balanced, artistic, and natural result. He wants patients to look bright, rested, and refreshed without appearing pulled, hollow, or surprised. In his words, the best result is when a friend can sit across the table and simply think, “That looks like my friend.” Dr. Balikian is passionate about patient education, surgical innovation, and improving the entire surgical experience. His work extends beyond the operation itself to include thoughtful preparation, preservation-based techniques, and recovery protocols designed to reduce bruising, swelling, discomfort, and downtime. For him, a successful result is not only about how a patient looks. It is also about how carefully the surgery was planned, how naturally the tissues were restored, and how supported the patient felt throughout the journey.