I think the only way you can really separate the skill of surgeons is to understand their work. To do this, you would need:
- Foremost, to learn about the anatomy of the face. Dimorphism, proportions (typical vs. atypical), how everything is connected, what tends to be registered as attractive or unattractive (if you care about that sort of thing).
- Learn about the various procedures involved in the face, what they change, if there are multiple approaches, what their limitations can be, how these procedures might interact with one another, and how they heal.
- This last one doesn't necessarily tell us how skilled a surgeon is, but the more information you have available, the better an assessment you can make of a surgeon.
Surgeons who use a lot of marketing, include make-up in their photos or don't make an effort to match up before/after angles, seem to only show off their best results, have sparse results available (especially on request), and so on. This can be a sign that confidence in their work is lacking, especially if it is a very famous surgeon.
Similarly, a surgeon who is avoidant about discussing limitations is a concern, as it demonstrates that they may not feel in control of fully understanding their field. A poster above me said that she does not care about surgeon personalities, and I am inclined to agree (well, in a fashion - at least as far as their talent goes). However, you can pick up clues on a surgeon's expertise by monitoring how they respond to you.
