"Facelift" is a term that encompasses a variety of surgical procedures intended to restore sagging facial skin to youthful smoothness. Conventionally, incisions are made around the frontal hairline and ears allowing the facial skin to be detached by inches and "buffed" underneath, then "lifted" in an upward pull, trimmed, and sutured. The aftermath includes bleeding, swelling, bruising, and sometimes regret and depression at electing to undergo this surgery. The facelift represents the consumer potential of post-World War II society to purchase beauty and success in addition to material goods. The decades since the 1950s have seen the term facelift generalized to include specific surgical facial enhancements, from eye-lid and jaw-line lifts, to nose reshapings and lip implants. Hi-tech tools of the 1980s and 1990s have produced specialty procedures, including laser hair removal and collagen and body-fat injections.

By the 1990s, the facelift was but a core element within...