Ruling on exfoliation of the face and face-lifts

Praise be to Allah.

Exfoliation means removing a layer of skin to expose new skin. The reason for doing that may be to remove a blemish on the skin that resulted from a burn or tear, or it may be for cosmetic purposes, to beautify the face. If it is the former, then it is permissible, because removing blemishes makes this action permissible. But if it is for the latter then it is not permissible, because that is changing the creation of Allaah, and is a kind of beautification that is not permissible in sharee’ah. 

In the answer to question no. 34215 we stated that it is haraam to exfoliate the face, and that it is changing the creation of Allaah.  

Face-lift operations are usually done for purposes of beautification and to remove wrinkles. This comes under the heading of changing the creation of Allaah. In the answer to question no. 47694 we have stated the ruling on cosmetic surgery, and we explained that some of it may be essential so it is permissible, and some of it may be for the purpose of beautification, and it is haraam, because it comes under the heading of changing the creation of Allaah. And we gave face-lifts as one of the examples of such operations. 

In addition to what we mentioned of rulings in the two answers referred to above, we may also mention the harm caused by some of these operations. 

There is nothing wrong with trying to beautify the face by means other than exfoliation, such as using some kinds of permissible creams or medicines, so long as that does not do any damage to the face. 

And Allaah knows best.