At our Farmington Hills surgical center, plastic surgery is treated as a clinical discipline, not a trend cycle. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery & Laser Center is led by Dr. Michelle Hardaway, a board-certified plastic surgeon with over 20 years of experience focused on natural-looking results, tailored specifically to each patient.
If you have been researching plastic surgery in Metro Detroit, you have probably noticed the same thing patients tell us in consultation: the field is louder than it used to be. Social media before-and-afters. Med spas that sound like surgical practices. Procedures that increasingly look like one another. That noise is not what we built this practice around.
Dr. Hardaway's work centers on enhancement that reads as natural, recovery that is planned in detail, and a consultation that listens to your goals before recommending a procedure. Many of the patients who find us have already met with one or two other surgeons. They tell us they wanted to feel heard, not measured against features they had not asked about. That is the experience we work to provide.
This page covers Dr. Hardaway's background, our surgical center, the procedures we perform, and how to begin if you are considering surgery.
Dr. Michelle Hardaway is a board-certified plastic surgeon and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (F.A.C.S.) with over 20 years of experience in aesthetic plastic surgery. She also holds board certification in general surgery, a credential many cosmetic providers do not. The dual certification matters because surgical judgment, candidacy assessment, and complication management depend on broader training than aesthetic technique alone.
She earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan and her Doctor of Medicine from Wayne State University School of Medicine. Her postgraduate training included a general surgery residency at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York (then a Cornell Medical Center affiliate) and a plastic surgery residency at Nassau County Medical Center on Long Island.
She currently serves as Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at Wayne State University. That ongoing academic role keeps her engaged with current research and the surgeons in training behind her, and it is part of why we keep the practice's recommendations evidence-based rather than trend-driven.
Credentials and memberships
Patients who choose Dr. Hardaway tend to use the same language: they want to look refreshed, not different. They want results that hold up at close range, in daylight, without makeup. They want to be the only ones who know what they had done.
That standard shapes how we plan every procedure. Three principles guide the work:
We start with your anatomy, not a template. A 5'2" patient with narrow shoulders and a long torso is not a candidate for the same implant profile as someone built differently. A facelift designed to soften a jawline at 48 is not the same operation as one performed at 65. We design each plan around the body and face in front of us.
We tell you when something is not the right move. If a procedure is not safe for your health profile, if your expectations cannot be met with surgery, or if a smaller intervention would serve you better, we will say so. Patients consistently tell us this is the reason they trusted us with the decision.
We protect what you want to preserve. With facial work in particular, this matters. Your features make you recognizable. The goal is a version of you that looks well-rested, not a version of you that looks edited.
This is also why we hold a firm position against the upsell culture that has crept into aesthetics. We do not flag features you did not ask about. If you come in for one concern, we address that concern.
The center is purpose-built for plastic surgery. The surgical suite is QUAD A accredited (the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities), which is the highest standard for office-based surgery accreditation in the United States. Anesthesia for surgical cases is administered by a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, a credential that requires graduate-level training in anesthesia and is the standard you want for elective surgery performed outside a hospital.
The consultation and recovery spaces are intentionally quiet and private, closer in feel to a high-end medical spa than a typical surgical office. Patients tell us this is partly why the experience feels less clinical than they expected, particularly for first-time surgical patients who arrive nervous.
For non-surgical procedures, the same space is used for injectables, laser treatments, and skin therapies, which means the providers you meet across your aesthetic care are the same team, not handed off between disconnected offices.
Dr. Hardaway performs the full range of surgical and minimally invasive treatments most aesthetic patients consider. The links below go to detailed pages with technique notes, recovery timelines, and candidacy information.
Breast surgery
Body contouring
Face and neck
Minimally invasive treatments
Micro-needling, dermal fillers, chemical peels, radiofrequency skin tightening, laser treatments, and injectable neurotoxins. See the full menu of minimally invasive treatments.
If you are not sure which procedure fits, we will help you think through it during your consultation. Many patients arrive considering one option and leave with a smaller intervention that solves their concern.
The initial consultation is the longest, most detailed appointment most patients have in this process. It usually runs 45 to 60 minutes and includes a medical and surgical history review, a focused physical exam, a clear walk-through of your candidacy for the procedure you are considering, an honest discussion of risks and realistic outcomes, and a recovery plan that accounts for your work, family, and travel.
You will not be asked to make a decision in the room. You will leave with information.
All consultations are paid and appointment-based to ensure you receive dedicated time and a personalized plan. The fee structure exists for a reason: it lets Dr. Hardaway spend an unhurried hour with you, with no incentive to push you toward a procedure to recover the cost of unpaid time. Patients tell us this is the most useful surgical consultation they have had.
Our practice is in Farmington Hills, in the medical corridor that serves Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Franklin, West Bloomfield, Troy, Novi, Northville, Livonia, Southfield, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, Pontiac, and the City of Detroit. We also see out-of-state and international patients who travel to Metro Detroit for surgery; Detroit Metropolitan Airport is about 25 minutes from the office.
We do not accept insurance. Aesthetic procedures are elective and paid for directly. We accept all major credit cards and offer financing options for qualified patients through CareCredit, which provides fixed monthly payments and no prepayment penalties.
Pricing is discussed openly in your consultation, with a written quote provided after Dr. Hardaway has assessed your candidacy and finalized the surgical plan. We do not give blind quotes by phone because the price changes based on the specifics of the procedure, and we would rather give you accurate information than a placeholder number.
The best way to evaluate any plastic surgeon is to look at their work. The before-and-after gallery shows actual patient results across breast, body, face, and non-surgical treatments. From there, read patient reviews and schedule a paid consultation when you are ready.