Australian influencer Ruby Tuesday Matthews has sparked concern after sharing a raw look at her recovery from a cosmetic procedure in South Korea.
The 33-year-old left followers stunned as she documented intense swelling, bruising, and visible stitches following her facelift.
While Matthews has defended her decision to be open about the process, some critics questioned why she underwent the procedure at such a young age.
Highlights
- Ruby Tuesday Matthews’ face swelled so dramatically that even her iPhone’s Face ID stopped recognizing her.
- The 33-year-old influencer revealed why she traveled to South Korea for a facelift despite fierce criticism over her age.
- From bruising and stitches to lingering swelling, Matthews continues to document the candid reality of her recovery.
“It has got me beat why so many women have these procedures and cannot be content with their natural beauty,” one critic wrote.
Ruby Tuesday Matthews’ face was so swollen post-surgery that her iPhone couldn’t recognize her
Ruby Tuesday Matthews, a Byron Bay-based influencer and mother of three with roughly 244,000 Instagram followers, traveled to Seoul, South Korea, for an endoscopic facial lift earlier this month.
She underwent the procedure on August 21 and immediately began documenting the recovery on Instagram, giving followers a candid look at what happened after the surgery.
The swelling quickly became one of the most startling parts of her updates.
Matthews said her face became so swollen that her iPhone’s Face ID stopped recognizing her, leaving her unable to access many of the apps on her phone.
“I literally had to go to the Apple Store in my pajamas looking like this and reboot my whole phone because there was no way it was recognizing my face,” she explained in one of her Instagram Stories posted last week.
Ruby added, “I have so many locks on my phone that I couldn’t do it without Face ID.”
She also documented intense bruising, bandages, drains, and difficulty opening her mouth, saying her face had inflated like a “f**king balloon.”
The Australian influencer said she wanted to look “refreshed,” not like a different person
By the third day, she said the swelling was “worst” and more pronounced than she expected.
Rather than hiding the process, Matthews explained in a follow-up video that “there’s no point pretending that I just woke up 10 years younger,” and showed her followers what the recovery actually looked like.
The influencer has been clear that she wasn't trying to completely change her appearance.
According to Ruby, her goal was to address volume loss and look more “refreshed and awake,” using an old photo of herself from around five years ago as a reference.
The influencer said, “I thought I was beautiful before and I still do; I haven’t had surgery to change my face or become someone else. I simply wanted to look a little more refreshed…”
“What you’re seeing now is swelling, not a new face, and I won’t be ashamed for being honest about something I could very easily have hidden.”
An endoscopic facelift is a less invasive approach that uses small incisions, often hidden in the hairline, along with a tiny camera and specialized instruments to reposition underlying facial tissues.
Ruby flew to Seoul, South Korea, for an endoscopic facelift, a minimally invasive procedure
Unlike a traditional facelift, it generally involves smaller incisions and focuses on lifting deeper structures rather than simply removing large amounts of loose skin.
In her latest update, posted on Sunday, August 30, Ruby explained that she had undergone an endoscopic forehead lift and a one-point ponytail lift through the mid-face, with the latter intended to “snatch” the lines around her mid-face.
“I genuinely cannot believe they said by day 14 I’d be back to normal activities looking relatively normal,” she wrote in the caption of her post, adding that the reality had been “VERY different.”
She said she was still dealing with substantial swelling, bruising, unusual sensations in her head, and shifting tightness across her face.
Ruby shared, “You can feel like it kind of shifts tightness from one side of my face to the other. I can't rub or vigorously touch my face for a minimum of three months. They say in two weeks, which we're nine days post-op, so give me another five, apparently…”
While Matthews has defended her choice, some followers struggled to understand why someone in her early 30s would undergo a facelift.
Her candid recovery journey has also highlighted the risks of cosmetic medical tourism
One person wrote, “Absolutely fkn heartbreaking that this is where we’ve come to as a society.”
While another questioned, “Why would a 33 year old need a facelift for i understand if she was late 50’s or 60’s!! But 30s?!”
Matthews' decision to travel from Australia to South Korea for cosmetic surgery has also brought attention to the broader issue of medical tourism.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Smartraveller advises people considering overseas medical procedures to research the surgeon, facility, accreditation, healthcare system, and follow-up arrangements before traveling.
It also warns that complications can become more difficult and expensive to manage once a patient returns home.
Insurance is another potential complication.
Smartraveller says standard travel insurance generally does not cover elective medical procedures or problems arising from them, meaning travelers may need specialized coverage for the procedure, complications, and possible medical evacuation.
For now, Ruby appears to be waiting for the swelling and bruising to settle before revealing the final result.
“What did you actually have done - a full facelift? You’re so young though I don’t get it?” one netizen wrote
