How does smoking affect facelift surgery? Was told to quit smoking 3 wks. prior to surgery. May I 'vape' instead prior?

With each passing smoke-free day the overall risk of complications lessens. The earlier a smoker can quit, prior to surgery, the better. Even 12 hours prior to surgery, patients have noticed a difference when abstaining from smoking. The ideal period is 8 weeks prior to surgery and quitting smoking for this long will have dramatic effects on your health and recovery.
8 weeks before surgery: the risk of clot related problems decrease (i.e. heart attack and stroke), the body’s immunity will improve which decreases the risk of infection and the response to anaesthetic medications also improves.3 weeks before surgery: the wound healing time is quicker.2 weeks before surgery: less breathing problems will occur during surgery.12 hours before surgery: improved oxygenation, blood pressure and heart rate.In certain cosmetic procedures smoker’s risks are higher and they have lower success rates than non-smokers. Surgeons sometimes refuse to perform procedures—such as relocating blood vessels—as this could put smokers at risk. Tummy tucks, facelifts, breast reduction, use of tissue flaps (in breast reconstruction, for example) fall into this category. A smoker’s cough can disrupt the abdominal healing of a tummy tuck, breast reconstruction complication rates are significantly increased by smoking and after breast reduction, healing of surgical wounds can be impaired. Smokers undergoing facelift procedures face a 13-fold risk of skin necrosis compared to non-smokers. They also face a higher risk of a hematoma (bleeding) after surgery.

Smoking and vaping should be stopped 6 weeks before and 6 weeks after surgery. In general, nicotine will do the following:
Cause vasoconstriciton, impeding blood flow.
Affect the blood supply, and compromise the healing processIt is very important to cut off smoking completely so that you do not compromise your outcome. I would recommend speaking with your surgeon regarding his/her specific guidelines. I hope this information helps, and I wish you the best of luck.