Many years ago, the early facelifts were performed as skin-only facelifts in which only the skin was elevated and excised. If you recall seeing facelifts in which the skin looked tight – as if the woman had gone through a wind tunnel – then it was likely a skin-only facelift. What we learned is that this type of facelift did not look natural, did not produce long-lasting results, and frequently had unacceptable scars because of the degree of tension on the incision. For these reasons, a skin-only facelift is rarely, if ever, performed today.