For many people, face fat shows up like that one guest who never gets the hint. It lingers, ignores your gym routine, and doesn’t care that your diet’s spotless. You drop weight everywhere else, but the fullness in your cheeks or jawline refuses to budge. It’s frustrating, especially when you’re aiming for a more defined, contoured look.
The good news? You’re not stuck with it. From precision-based surgical procedures to high-performance, non-invasive treatments, there are real options that target facial fullness. This guide breaks down the most effective face slimming procedures available today, so you can finally achieve the results you want.
Table of Contents
1. Buccal Fat Pad Removal
Some people store fat in their belly. Others? It settles right in their cheeks. That fullness can make your face look heavier or younger than you’d like, no matter how lean your body is. If you’re wondering how to reduce face fat, buccal fat pad removal might be the fix.
How To Get Rid of Cheek Fat
This surgical face slimming procedure targets the buccal fat pads tucked deep inside your cheeks. These pads are stubborn, built-in fat compartments that don’t shrink with weight loss. Dr. Adam Basner knows how to get rid of cheek fat using this method. He removes the pads through a small incision inside the mouth with no external scars. Once they’re gone, they don’t grow back.
Better Contours
The result? A more contoured, sculpted lower face with cleaner cheek hollows and a better jawline-to-cheekbone ratio. It’s one of the most requested facial slimming procedures for people with rounder face shapes or persistent mid-face puffiness.
One and Done
Buccal fat removal isn’t for everyone, though. If your face is already narrow or your cheeks are hollowing with age, this might not be appropriate for you. But for the right candidates, it’s a solid, one-and-done option to remove cheek fat and permanently sharpen your facial angles.
2. Kybella Injections
Let’s be honest: Chin fat doesn’t play fair. You can have a strong jawline hiding under layers of fullness that no amount of clean eating or cardio will touch. When you’re tired of seeing a soft chin angle in every photo, Kybella gives you a no-scalpel way out.
FDA Approved
Kybella is an FDA-approved injectable that targets and destroys fat cells under the chin. The active ingredient, deoxycholic acid, occurs naturally in your body and breaks down dietary fat. After being injected into the fat beneath your chin, Kybella begins dissolving those stubborn cells for good. Once they’re gone, they don’t regenerate.
Cleaner Jawline
Treatments involving a series of small injections take about 20 minutes. Most people need two to six sessions spaced a few weeks apart. Swelling does occur, especially after the first round, but it’s temporary. What sticks around is a cleaner jawline and a noticeably slimmer lower face.
If you’re wondering how to get rid of face fat and get a jawline, Kybella is one of the top tools in the kit. It’s not instant, but it is permanent, and it keeps your schedule and your skin intact.
A Fresh Look at Facelifts
Discover Dr. Basner’s approach to creating natural-looking results, and learn about his priorities when performing facelifts.
3. Facelift
There’s only so much tightening you can get from skincare or energy-based devices. At a certain point, sagging skin and stubborn lower face fat call for facial surgery. A modern facelift sharpens the jawline, repositions fat where it belongs, and smooths everything out without erasing your features.
Sculpted Results
Facelifts aren’t just about age; they’re about structure. If your lower face looks soft, heavy, or undefined, it’s probably a mix of loose skin and accumulated fat dragging things down. A facelift handles both by lifting tissue, removing or redistributing fat, and restoring balance across the cheeks, jowls, and jaw. The result isn’t “tight.” It’s sculpted.
Subtle Option
Not everyone needs the full version. If your concerns are more subtle, a mini facelift could be the better call. It uses smaller incisions, involves less downtime, and still delivers a more lifted, contoured appearance. Dr. Basner uses both approaches, depending on the anatomy and the result you’re after.
Popular Choice
This is one of the most direct, effective facial fat removal methods. And it’s a popular procedure, with members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons performing more than 78,000 facelifts annually.
Request a Consultation
If you’re wondering how to reduce the fat in your face, Dr. Basner will walk you through your options. During your one-on-one consultation, he’ll listen to your goals and concerns, examine your face, and determine the best way to achieve your desired results. Contact us for an appointment today.
4. Dermal Fillers for Jawline Contouring
Facial slimming isn’t always about taking fat away. Sometimes, it’s about adding definition where you don’t have enough. That’s where dermal fillers come in. With a few well-placed injections, fillers can give your jawline real shape and structure, especially if your natural bone anatomy isn’t doing you any favors.
Sharper Angles
Fillers like hyaluronic acid gel build volume and create sharper angles along the jaw, chin, and lower face. It’s a quick, in-office procedure that takes under an hour and gives you immediate results with no surgery, no downtime. Think of it as architectural support for your face.
Stronger Jawline
Used correctly, fillers can trick the eye: by strengthening the jawline and chin, the rest of your face looks slimmer and more sculpted by contrast. It’s a popular strategy for people who don’t have a lot of facial fat but still want that clean, contoured look.
5. Ultherapy
Some treatments may not last, but Ultherapy goes deep. This non-surgical face slimming option uses focused ultrasound energy to heat the layers beneath your skin, triggering your body to produce fresh collagen. Translation: firmer skin, better contour, and a gradual lift without cutting anything open.
Targeted Action
Ultherapy targets areas that start to slack over time, like your jawline, cheeks, or under the chin, helping to reduce that soft, saggy look that creeps in. It’s especially good if you’ve got mild fullness and don’t want to jump straight to surgery.
No Downtime
The session lasts about 45 to 90 minutes, depending on how many areas you’re treating. There’s no downtime, but you’ll feel a little sore or tight for a few days. Results show up over several months and keep improving as collagen builds up.
Tighter Skin
It won’t remove fat like Kybella or a facelift would, but Ultherapy is one of the best tools for tightening loose skin that exaggerates fullness. If you’re hunting for how to reduce face fat without needles or surgery, this is the option people quietly book when they’re ready to move forward.
Risks and Red Flags
Face slimming procedures aren’t risky when you’re working with the right provider. But that doesn’t mean everyone out there is qualified or even close. This is your face, not a testing ground. If something goes wrong, you can’t just hide it under a shirt. Watch out for:
Back Room Operations
Skip the pop-up spas and anyone offering injectables or “fat dissolvers” out of a back room. Real results require real credentials. You want a board-certified plastic surgeon with training, not someone guessing where your nerves are.
Chasing Trends
Avoid the trend-chasing trap. Just because something’s hot on TikTok doesn’t mean it’s proven, safe, or worth your money. Treatments like buccal fat removal or filler contouring need a long-term plan. Otherwise, you risk hollowing out your face or throwing off its balance entirely.
Going Too Far
And then there’s overtreatment. Overfilled jawlines and too-tight skin pulls don’t make you look slimmer. They just make you look worked on. Subtlety wins here. A good provider won’t push you into procedures you don’t need.
Instead, Focus on What Works for You
Facial fat removal, whether surgical or non-invasive, has its place, but only in the hands of someone who knows when to stop. Dr. Basner’s consultations focus on what works for your features, not what’s trending.
Book a Consultation
When it comes to your face, experience matters, and Dr. Basner brings it at the highest level. As the board-certified Chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery at Sinai Hospital, a Top Doctor in Baltimore Magazine, and one of Newsweek’s top-rated plastic surgeons in the country across all four major categories (liposuction, breast augmentation, facelift, and rhinoplasty), he has proven expertise.
If you’re serious about face slimming procedures, Dr. Basner offers surgical and non-surgical solutions designed around your anatomy. Contact us today and see what’s possible when precision meets experience.
Frequently Asked Questions About How To Reduce Face Fat
Trying to figure out how to reduce face fat without wasting time or money? These are the top questions people ask before they commit to a procedure.
Are results from non-surgical treatments as effective as surgery?
Non-surgical treatments like Kybella or Ultherapy can reduce facial fullness, but the results are usually more subtle and take longer to show up. Surgery offers more dramatic and immediate changes, especially for those with significant fat or loose skin.
Can I combine face slimming procedures for better results?
Yes, and it’s often the best approach. Pairing treatments, like Kybella for fat reduction with fillers for jawline definition, can create a more balanced, sculpted result than any single procedure on its own.
How do I choose the right face slimming procedure for my face shape?
Start by figuring out whether your issue is fat, skin laxity, bone structure, or a mix. A qualified surgeon like Dr. Basner will tailor a treatment plan that sharpens the features you want to keep and reduces the ones you don’t.
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