Kao Plastic Surgery

Kao Plastic Surgery Dr. Chia Chi Kao is the founder of Kao Plastic Surgery and KO'AN Center Santa Monica. Best known for "My focus is as much on the emotional as the physical.

Dr. Chia Chi Kao is a board-certified aesthetic plastic and reconstructive surgeon with over 15 years of experience whom Vogue claims “is single-handedly revolutionizing the future of facelifts.” He is also the founder of the KAO Center in Santa Monica, CA and is the creator of the new and revolutionary Ponytail Lift™ and Ponytail Facelift™ procedures. It is not about making someone simply look younger, but giving them the gift of feeling attractive and vibrant. Beauty is timeless."

I just finished a rhinoplasty, and as I stepped back from the table, I couldn’t help but pause. It’s truly beautiful.✨ C...
05/30/2025

I just finished a rhinoplasty, and as I stepped back from the table, I couldn’t help but pause. It’s truly beautiful.
✨ Clean, elegant dorsal lines
✨ A softly rotated tip
✨ And most importantly — a nose that now brings harmony and balance to the entire face.

Why do I love rhinoplasty?
Because it’s never just about the nose. It’s about creating beauty that feels natural, effortless, and in complete sync with the rest of the face.

Just like a ponytail lift — which elevates the brows, brightens the eyes, lifts the cheekbones, and softens the corners of the mouth — a well-sculpted nose completes the picture. It pulls everything together. It’s that quiet detail that transforms the entire face.

When both are done with intention and artistry, the result is what I call the Trifecta of Beauty — balance, elevation, and harmony across every feature.

It’s subtle. It’s powerful. And it’s always personal.

This is why I love what I do.

This is the art of rhinoplasty.

Behind every beautiful result is a team that makes it possible.The Ponytail Lift isn’t just my work—it’s our work.Every ...
05/08/2025

Behind every beautiful result is a team that makes it possible.
The Ponytail Lift isn’t just my work—it’s our work.

Every precise movement, every seamless incision, every moment of calm in the OR—none of it happens without the dedication, trust, and extraordinary hands of Levinia and Narda, my brilliant scrub nurses.

We’ve stood side by side for many years.
They don’t just pass instruments—they anticipate needs, protect patients, and bring an unwavering presence of calm, focus, and care into every case.

This is not just surgery.
It’s a collaboration built on mutual respect, rhythm, and heart.
They know how I think, how I move, how I breathe in the OR—and that kind of connection is rare.

The Ponytail Lift is delicate, exacting work.
It requires artistry, yes—but also surgical choreography.
It’s not possible without a team that functions as one, and I’m proud to say we do just that.
Together, we create beauty without a trace.

To Levinia and Narda—thank you.
For your expertise, your strength, and your heart.
You are the quiet heroes behind every transformation, and I am endlessly grateful to walk this path with you.

Because in the OR, it’s not just about results.
It’s about trust.
It’s about love.
And it’s about the team that makes it all possible.

—Dr. Kao

Ponytail Facelift, Kaogee JowlLift , Massai Necklift: This beautiful 51 yo wanted to be "Refeshed". She had a motorcycle...
10/17/2020

Ponytail Facelift, Kaogee JowlLift , Massai Necklift: This beautiful 51 yo wanted to be "Refeshed". She had a motorcycle accident in the past and sustained an injury to her left cheek. She felt that then scar tissue made her left cheek more bulky and droopy. She absolutely DID NOT want to have a scar in front of her ears as in a traditional or a deep plane facelift. We just her from the top of the head to the bottom of the neck without many incisions on her face. This is the Ponytail Difference. @ Kao Plastic Surgery

09/13/2019

Ponytail Facelift w/ KaoEyes: This 46 year old from Barcelona who had a and excisional upper 3 years ago in attempt to maintain her youth . The aggressive resection is skin, mucle, and fat hollowed her eyes out and made her look sad. The “minifaclift” pulled her skin to the side toward her ears but she saw Little or no lifting result) is In my opinion these or for younger patients are ill advised because you will have all the scars like a full on traditional with very little work through them. The and avoid those visible incisions in front of the ears. So they are ideal for younger patients. If she had found us before her mini facelift and open upper lid lift , we could have rejuvenated her from the top of the head to the bottom of the neck without an incision of the face. This is the

07/26/2019

With two tiny incisions in the temple scalp on each side and one 1/2 incision in the crease behind the earlobe, the entire face and upper part of the neck can be tightened and slimmed. There are not incisions/ scars IN FRONT of the ear, behind the little cartilage (Tragus) of the ear , or along the temple hairline . The of the face is tightened and lifted with out traditional scars. This is the .

Kaofie is when she is so happy she can’t help but send me her . The greatest gift I receive from my patients is seeing...
08/30/2018

Kaofie is when she is so happy she can’t help but send me her . The greatest gift I receive from my patients is seeing their and knowing that I made a difference. She is and now. correction of over filled face. @ Kao Plastic Surgery

Ponytail Lift with and . How long does fat transfer last? Once the swelling is down after 3-4 months, whatever it s...
08/30/2018

Ponytail Lift with and . How long does fat transfer last? Once the swelling is down after 3-4 months, whatever it stays should last a long time. This is a woman is her mid 40’s with significant volume loss. The here is a 4 months post op and a 4 years follow-up. She is very very happy. # not a traditional @ Kao Plastic Surgery

This was a for me. , is impossible to reverse. Here we used very advanced / isolation and and device t...
06/07/2018

This was a for me. , is impossible to reverse. Here we used very advanced / isolation and and device to achieve a remarkable result that I honestly can not believe myself at three years . The skin and @ Kao Plastic Surgery

As I mentioned before , tummy tucks and facelifts are two of the most unforgiving operations in plastic surgery. In a ,...
06/07/2018

As I mentioned before , tummy tucks and facelifts are two of the most unforgiving operations in plastic surgery. In a , when the incisions are too high and straight, the scars too thick and irregular and the skin pulled too tight , then it is nearly impossible to fix. This woman was unhappy with her tummy tuck done a years ago in . She still had a loose abdominal wall and her scars were jagged and thick. We performed a re-do with complete repair of the (tightening of the separation in the re**us muscle). The most remarkable aspect of her case is what happened to the abdominal skin that was so thinned out and had terrible from . We performed specialized isolation and fat transfer to repair the damaged skin. She is three years and note the thickening and normalization of the skin texture and tone. This is cellular medicine!. # see her on @ Kao Plastic Surgery

The Ponytail lift is a multimodality procedure that inviloves a endocopic rotation, , and without tradit...
05/18/2018

The Ponytail lift is a multimodality procedure that inviloves a endocopic rotation, , and without traditional incision ( we only used 2 tiny 1cm incisions in the scalp for her on each side). We also performed a skin only with preservation of muscle and . She is now 6weeks . There is still a little swelling in her upper lids but she looks . @ Kao Plastic Surgery

Tummy Tuck 360 Sculpt : The goal is to create a slimmer and longer waistline. She is a designer who has trouble fitting ...
05/15/2018

Tummy Tuck 360 Sculpt : The goal is to create a slimmer and longer waistline. She is a designer who has trouble fitting in her own cloths due to menopause related weight gain. She had redundant tummy skin and fat in the LOWER abdomen but not much excess skin on the UPPER abdomen, just fat. So we started with her laying on her tummy and performed of her , and . Then we turned her laying on her back and performed a full BUT WITHOUT making a cut on the bellybutton. The abdominal muscles were tighten from the p***c bone all the way up to the breast bone by using the Endoscope. Then more was performed on the upper abdomen and the flanks. The excess skin from the lower abdomen is pulled down and removed. The bellybutton is NOT moved. It gets a little more hooded looking. We could have trimmed a little skin from the top of the belly button but she didn’t want a scar there. Now her cloths fit better and it jumpstarted her exercise and fitness goals. @ Kao Plastic Surgery

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900 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 100
Santa Monica, CA
90401

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Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm

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