You are alive and kicking in this parallel universe where everyone over 35 is walking around with a frozen forehead or a look of perpetual surprise with one eyebrow arched in villain-Esque curiosity. You scoff to yourself smugly. Weirdos.
Yet when confronted with your own aging face day after day—full of lively movement, furrow lines developing between your wise eyes, and crow’s feet for days, you can’t help to wonder…should I?
Botox. What a Time We’ve Had
It all started during my days as a makeup artist on the M.A.C. counter. My plump young skin attracted many comments. The one that stood out was: “You don’t ever want to get old.” Women at all stages of aging would drop in for their M.A.C. supplies, full of self-loathing. If it wasn’t their sun damage, it was their wrinkles, the under-eye bags or all of the above. It was a terrifying level of disdain.
The frown-line between my eyes that I had noticed on many an older customer was beginning to form. And I knew where all of this was heading, so I took myself down to a skin clinic in Broadway and decided to try this new treatment. It was a little known product called Botox, which had been used in medicine for 40 years. While new to Australia, it was now becoming America’s revolutionary antiaging treatment.
Now 23 years later, it’s essential in many women’s beauty regimes. Yet I see so much bad Botox that it’s become something even my husband can identify (a builder). “Spocking”, he’ll say when he sees a Star Trek overarched brow on a 50-year-old. He can spot it a mile away.
Strap yourselves in, friends. Here is what you should know about Botox:
1. Frozen Does Not Make You Look Younger
The rooky error I see with Botox users today, especially women over 40, is freezing the forehead to form an unmovable block of matter. This is super-aging. And quite creepy.
Every time I see a frozen-within-an-inch-of its-life forehead, I assume the person behind the iceberg is at least 5 years older than their age. Why? Because it screams: “desperately trying to erode the years at any cost”, which is something an old person does.
Another terrible consequence of misplaced Botox across the forehead is the heavy brow. When all that movement is suspended, you can be left with the Herman Munster brow (if you’re old enough to get botox, you’re old enough to know who Herman Munster is). This can force the look of a hooded eye, EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE ONE.
Personally, from my veteran use and being a makeup artist who knows face, keeping some movement on your visage is far more youthful. I also feel you get better results if you have a more localised approach than the “just-freeze-me-so-I-look-dead-inside” goal. Maybe you could soften the crow’s feet so your eyes are more noticeable when you smile? Or, perhaps at the skillful hands of a seasoned professional who is a doctor or nurse, you could open your face with a Botox brow lift?
Remember, movement is a sign of life. And it’s good to be alive.
2. Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket
The word “preventative” is thrown around a lot with treatments like Botox, which could explain why people freeze themselves to a stupor. But can Botox really prevent you from ever looking old?
I ask Dr Naomi from The Manse Clinic in Paddington, who I’ve been seeing for many years if Botox really is a preventative.
“It is used as an antiaging technique because it temporarily freezes muscles. It can stop frown lines and crow’s feet from etching in, which is great. It is also used to lift brows, reduce the look of a “sad” mouth and for facial slimming—where it is injected into the masseter to create a slimmer and more feminine jaw shape. But muscle movement isn’t the only thing that causes the appearance of ageing. Botox does not stop volume loss, which is arguably the most important feature of ageing. This is treated by volume replacement with fillers or bio stimulators.”
So while you can put a temporary hold on some lines that are bothering you, Botox is just part of the puzzle. Which leads seamlessly to my next point…
3. Is It a Gateway Drug?
“It is definitely the cosmetic “gateway drug” for a high percentage of beauty achievers. They often move to fillers after this lower risk start to antiageing,” says Dr Naomi.
Was it a gateway drug for me? Hello! Of course. But I didn’t lose my partially frozen head over it.
Like any “gateway drug”, keep perspective and let it not become a full-blown addiction. You can and should have a measured view of the plethora of antiaging treatments that are now available.
The key is: Connect with an experienced injector (a doctor or a nurse) who understands your aesthetic. Keep your expectations realistic by understanding what Botox can and can’t do. Communicate to them that you want to look natural and like you, but just a better version. And avoid the frozen head syndrome.
It is also good to have a holistic view of antiaging treatments and understand that Botox alone will not make you look younger. It can undoubtedly give you a little pep to your step when a pesky frown-line has been temporarily subdued. But equally as important is skincare, diet, exercise and…FILLER.
Stay tuned for my next article on this very topic.