By Dr Scott J Turner, Specialist Plastic Surgeon | Sydney, Brisbane & Canberra | Last Updated: January 2026
So you’re thinking about a facelift. And there’s probably one thing that keeps nagging at you. The scars. Will they be obvious? Can people tell? It’s the number one worry I hear from patients—and honestly, it makes sense. Nobody wants to trade one cosmetic concern for another.
Here’s what most people don’t realise though. We’ve come a seriously long way from the facelifts of decades past. These days? The incisions get tucked into places your eye just doesn’t go—natural creases, hairlines, the shadows around your ears. Once everything settles, even your closest friends won’t spot them unless you point them out.
Let me break down exactly where these cuts actually go. And more importantly—what you can do to help them disappear.
So Where Do the Scars Actually End Up?
Your surgeon isn’t just cutting wherever’s convenient. Every single incision gets mapped out beforehand—and the goal is always the same. Hide it. Put it somewhere the eye skips right over. Think about how a tailor hides a seam in a jacket. Same principle.
Three Spots You Should Know About
There are basically three zones where facelift incisions live. Each one has a job to do.
Around the Temple and Hairline
This is where it starts—somewhere around your temple. Could be tucked inside the hairline itself. Could be right at the edge. Depends on a few things. Where your hairline sits. How you usually wear your hair.
Got a higher forehead? Your surgeon might use what’s called a trichophytic incision—placed right at the hairline border. Sounds technical, but basically it lets hair grow through the scar tissue. Clever trick. For ponytail facelift patients who like wearing their hair up? This placement detail becomes even more important to get right.
The Tragus Region
That little flap of cartilage guarding your ear canal? The tragus. Turns out it’s a pretty important landmark for facelift surgery.
For women, the incision usually ducks behind this cartilage. Creates this seamless, undetectable transition between cheek and ear. People look right at you and see nothing. It’s genuinely impressive how invisible it becomes.
Men need a different approach though. Male facelift surgery has to account for beard hair. Put the incision behind the tragus on a man and you’d end up pulling beard-growing skin onto the ear itself. Which means… shaving inside your ear canal. Forever. An obvious tell. So men get their incision placed in front of the tragus instead.
Behind the Ear
From the tragus, things continue around the back. The incision follows that little crease where your ear meets your skull, then sneaks back into your hairline. This bit matters a lot if you’re having neck work done.
Fair warning though. This area can be a bit unpredictable when it comes to healing. Something about the skin tension back there. If you’re someone who wears ponytails or updos regularly, mention it during your consult. It’s the kind of detail that changes how your surgeon approaches that section.
Different Facelifts, Different Scars
Here’s something worth understanding. Not every facelift is the same procedure. The technique your surgeon uses will affect where your scars end up—and how well they heal.
Deep Plane Facelift
This one’s interesting. The deep plane facelift puts incisions in roughly the same spots as older techniques. But there’s a key difference in what happens underneath.
Rather than pulling your skin tight (which stretches scars over time), this approach lifts the deeper structures first—the SMAS layer, the fat pads, all those tissues that have actually dropped. Once those are repositioned and anchored, your skin just… drapes back over them. No tension. No pulling. And when skin isn’t under stress? Scars heal thin and flat. They fade beautifully.
That’s actually why deep plane has become so popular. The deeper tissues do the heavy lifting. Your skin gets to heal in peace.
Mini Facelift
Shorter incisions here. The short scar or mini facelift runs from your temple down to just behind the earlobe—skipping the longer extension into the back of your hairline entirely. For someone with early signs of ageing who doesn’t need much neck work? This can be appealing.
But look. Just because the scar is shorter doesn’t automatically mean it’s the right choice. Your anatomy matters. Your specific concerns matter. As I often tell patients—different facelift types exist for different reasons. Picking the right technique beats minimising scar length every time.
Vertical Restore and Preservation Techniques
Newer approaches keep refining these ideas. The Vertical Restore Facelift and Preservation Deep Plane Facelift both share a common philosophy—keep skin tension to an absolute minimum. Reposition tissues naturally. The result? Scars that end up as fine lines you’ll struggle to see.
Month by Month: What’s Actually Happening to Your Scars
Here’s the thing about scars. They don’t just steadily get better in a nice straight line. There’s a whole biological process going on—and honestly, knowing what’s normal saves you a lot of late-night Googling and panic.
That angry pink line staring back at you two weeks after surgery? Give it six months. You won’t recognise it. I’ve seen it hundreds of times.
Week One and Two
Alright, so you’ve just had surgery. Your incisions are held together with sutures—maybe some surgical glue too. Everything looks… not great. Red. Swollen. Bruised. Days three and four tend to be peak puffiness.
And those incision lines? They’ll look angry and obvious. Completely normal. Don’t panic.
What’s happening is your body flooding the area with blood and immune cells. That’s the repair process kicking in. All that redness? Extra blood flow doing exactly what it should.
Your job right now: keep things clean. Follow your recovery instructions. Don’t poke at it. Be patient.
Sutures typically come out around days five to seven. You might see some crusting or little scabs—clean them away gently as your surgeon directs. Leaving scabs in place can actually mess with how well things heal underneath.
Week Three to Six
Now your body shifts gears. Rebuild mode. These specialised repair cells—fibroblasts—start showing up and laying down collagen. Think of it like scaffolding.
Here’s the frustrating bit though. The first collagen your body makes is messy. Disorganised. Temporary. Which is why scars often look their absolute worst during this stretch. Red. Firm. Maybe a bit lumpy.
I know. Not what you want to hear.
But honestly? That raised, firm texture means things are working properly. Active, healthy healing looks worse before it looks better.
Your surgeon will probably give the go-ahead for gentle scar massage around weeks two or three. Grab a plain moisturiser or silicone gel. Small circles. Five to ten minutes. Couple times a day. This breaks down the excess collagen and encourages everything to settle flatter and softer.
Month Two to Six
This is where you start seeing real improvement. Remodelling phase. Your body starts swapping out that early messy collagen for the proper stuff—stronger, more organised fibres. The blood vessels that were feeding all that healing activity? They start backing off. That’s why the redness fades.
Around month three, scars often hit peak visibility. They look their most obvious… and then start improving. If yours still look prominent at twelve weeks, don’t write off your results yet. The biggest changes typically happen between months four and twelve. Patience is genuinely part of the treatment plan here.
Six Months and Beyond
By half a year out, things should look pretty good. Scars soften. Colour shifts from pink toward pale. Those lines tucked into creases and hair-bearing areas? Increasingly hard to spot.
Full maturation takes anywhere from twelve to eighteen months. The collagen keeps reorganising itself along natural tension lines. End result? Thin, flat lines that blend with your skin tone.
For most patients, we’re talking about scars that are virtually invisible. Even looking closely. Even knowing where to look.
Okay, What Actually Helps Scars Heal?
There’s no shortage of products and treatments claiming to fade scars. Walk into any chemist and you’ll see rows of creams and oils and miracle serums. But what does the actual evidence say?
Let me cut through the noise.
Silicone Products
Finally, something with actual science behind it. Sheets or gels—doesn’t matter which, both work. And when you use them consistently? They genuinely make a difference to how your scars end up looking. Texture. Colour. How raised or flat they are.
Why does silicone work? Bit technical, but basically—it creates a barrier that keeps your outer skin hydrated. And hydrated skin sends a signal to those collagen-producing cells telling them to chill out a bit. Less overenthusiastic collagen means less thick, raised scarring.
When to start? Once your incisions have properly closed up. Usually around week two or three. Then keep going for three to six months minimum. Being consistent matters way more than which brand you buy.
Sun Protection
Fresh scars and sunlight? Bad combination. Terrible, actually. Your healing skin hasn’t built back its normal defences yet—so UV exposure can permanently darken it. Hyperpigmentation, they call it. And once that happens? Genuinely difficult to reverse.
First few weeks: just stay out of direct sun. Full stop. After that—once your surgeon gives you the okay—sunscreen becomes your new best friend. SPF 30 at minimum. Broad spectrum. Every day. Yes, even cloudy days. UV comes through clouds just fine.
Physical sunscreens (the ones with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) tend to be gentler on skin that’s still healing. Less irritation.
One year. That’s how long you need to keep this up. Sounds like a lot, I know. Trust me on this one though.
Smoking. Just Don’t.
Look, I’m going to be blunt. Smoking wrecks wound healing. The nicotine constricts your blood vessels. Your healing skin gets starved of oxygen and nutrients. Smokers have up to twelve times higher complication rates. Delayed healing. Infections. Much worse scars.
You’ll need to quit completely—six weeks before surgery, six weeks after. Minimum. This isn’t a suggestion. It’s a requirement for your safety and your results.
Eating and Drinking Properly
Your body needs building materials to repair itself. Protein for the structural stuff. Vitamin C for collagen synthesis. Zinc for cellular repair. This isn’t the time for restrictive diets.
Lean protein. Colourful vegetables. Fruit. Water. Lots of water. Boring advice, maybe. But adequate hydration genuinely helps with tissue healing and keeping swelling down.
Hiding Scars While You Heal
You don’t need to become a hermit for six months. People go back to work. They go out. They see friends. Here’s how to cover things up during the awkward healing stage.
Your Hair
Best camouflage you’ve got. For the first three or four weeks, just wear it down and forward over your ears. Face-framing layers are brilliant for hiding those temporal incisions. Got shorter hair? Discuss this with your surgeon before surgery so they can plan incision placement around your usual style.
By six months, most people can wear whatever they want—updos, ponytails, hair pulled back—and nobody can see anything.
Makeup
Once incisions are fully closed (around two weeks) and you’ve got the all-clear from your surgeon, makeup becomes an option.
Green colour corrector neutralises redness. Peach or orange tones counteract bruising. Then concealer matched to your skin. Then a light foundation. Mineral formulations tend to be gentler on healing skin.
One tip: dab or stipple products on rather than rubbing. Rubbing shifts everything around and messes up the coverage.
More detail on makeup after your facelift is available—but always follow your surgeon’s specific guidance based on how your healing is progressing.
Hats and Scarves
Wide-brimmed hats serve double duty—they hide healing incisions and protect your skin from sun damage. Silk scarves draped loosely around your hairline and ears add a bit of style whilst providing coverage.
Just don’t put pressure directly on your incisions. Loose is key.
When Things Don’t Go Quite Right
Look, most scars heal fine. But biology doesn’t always cooperate. Knowing what can go wrong—and what to watch for—means catching problems early when they’re easier to fix.
Hypertrophic Scars
Red. Raised. Firm to the touch. But—and this is the important bit—they stay within the borders of the original incision. They don’t spread beyond.
Usually happens when your body goes overboard on the collagen. Maybe from tension on the wound. Maybe prolonged inflammation. Whatever the trigger, these typically improve with time. And they respond pretty well to treatment—steroid injections, silicone products, laser work. You’ve got options.
Keloids
A different situation entirely. Keloids don’t respect boundaries. They spread beyond the original wound. Keep growing. Can be stubborn to treat once they form.
Some people are more prone to them. Darker skin types. Strong family history of keloid formation. If you’ve had keloids before—earrings, injuries, old surgeries—definitely bring it up during your consultation. There are preventive things we can build into your plan.
Revision Options
Sometimes a scar just stays visible despite doing everything right. Revision surgery is an option. But—and this is important—we generally want you to wait twelve months minimum before going there.
Why? Because scars that look concerning at six months often look dramatically better at twelve. The natural maturation process does a lot of heavy lifting. Rushing into revision too early means potentially fixing something that would’ve sorted itself out.
Laser treatments help too. Vascular lasers can target persistent redness. Fractional lasers work on texture problems. Often worth trying before considering more surgery.
What You Can and Can’t Control
Some of this is in your hands. Some of it… isn’t.
Things you control:
- Following your post-op instructions (really following them)
- Not smoking
- Keeping scars out of the sun
- Using silicone products consistently
- Eating properly, staying hydrated
- Showing up for your follow-up appointments
Things you can’t control:
- How your body naturally scars (genetics)
- Your skin type and how it pigments
- How your age affects healing capacity
If you’ve got a history of bad scarring, be upfront about it in your consultation. Extra measures—early steroid injections, more aggressive silicone use—can be planned in advance.
So Should Scar Worries Actually Stop You?
Let’s be honest about what the evidence shows. The vast majority of facelift patients? Happy with how their scars turn out. Six months post-op, most describe them as basically invisible. Twelve months? Even surgeons and dermatologists—people trained to spot these things—have trouble finding the incision lines.
Strategic placement. Modern techniques. Proper aftercare. Visible facelift scars have become genuinely uncommon these days.
Will there be a healing period? Absolutely. Will your scars need attention and patience in those early months? Yes. But for most people, that temporary hassle is a pretty minor tradeoff for what they get out of the surgery.
Go in with your eyes open. Understand what to expect. Do what you’re told during recovery. And give it time. That’s really the formula. Facelift scars end up being something most patients barely think about—a well-hidden detail rather than something anyone notices.
About Dr Scott J Turner
Dr Scott J Turner is a Specialist Plastic Surgeon (FRACS) with clinics in Sydney (Manly & Bondi Junction), Brisbane, and Canberra. He focuses on facial plastic surgery, including deep plane facelift, vertical restore facelift, neck lift, and rhinoplasty procedures.
To discuss your facelift options and learn more about what to expect from surgery and recovery, contact Dr Turner’s practice to arrange a consultation.
Medical Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only and does not replace a personalised consultation with a qualified medical professional. All surgical procedures carry risks and require a recovery period. Individual results vary.
