The basic premise behind a face lift is to make the face look smooth and tight  by removing excess skin that has developed with age and sun damage.  The procedure tightens the existing skin against the underlying tissue and gives a more youthful appearance.  Face lifts won't correct all the "sags and bag" around the face.  Sometimes there is additional surgery necessary around the eyes.  Face lifts and eye lid surgery can be performed at the same time.  Incisions are performed around the around the edges of the face and hairlines.  While all attempts are made to conceal incisions in the normal creases and folds of the face, anytime the skin is cut a scar forms.  Most of the time these scars remain unnoticeable. The face remains swollen, puffy and bruised for 2-3 weeks.  Sometimes areas of numbness occur within the face due to the simple nature of the procedure, however this should only effect the sensation of the skin and not the muscle functions.  If the resulting scars are more noticeable, new techniques in micropigmentation are being used to augment the original procedure, helping to camouflage scars that will always occur when the skin is cut.