Facelift Type Finder

There is no correct age, only a correct amount of laxity. Most facelifts are performed between the mid-forties and the mid-sixties, but the deciding factor is how much tissue there is to lift rather than the number. Operating too early gives a small result and starts a clock — the face keeps ageing and a second operation follows sooner. Operating late is entirely possible; what matters after seventy is general health, blood pressure and skin quality rather than age itself.

Partly, and this is where expectations most often break down. A standard facelift improves the jawline and the upper neck, because the tissue it lifts extends down that far. It does not by itself treat platysmal bands, fat under the chin or loose skin low on the neck — those need a neck lift, which usually means a separate incision under the chin and work on the muscle itself. Most surgeons combine the two, and most patients assume it was included when it was not. Ask explicitly.

A well-executed SMAS or deep plane lift typically turns the clock back by around ten years, and the ageing continues from that new starting point. In practice most people are still ahead of where they would have been after a decade, and around a third choose a second procedure at some point. A mini lift lasts considerably less — three to five years is a fair expectation. Skin quality, sun exposure, smoking and weight changes affect this more than the technique does.