To feel under pressure to get Botox or similar things

I'm 42. Those that started early already look a bit weird, like an AI version of themselves.

I look "older" than them at this early mid life stage - but I look a hell of a lot better IMO.

If you look at people in their 50s who have had a a lot, they all look the same too.

If you resist I think you will be glad you did so.

There is also more to looking younger/better ageing than a smooth face.

You are better off using time and money on things to keep your body healthy and strong - so a good diet, pilates or yoga classes etc..

I can't have Botox which takes away the pressure.
But honestly I think you will be glad you didn't. It's mad people are prepared to inject stuff into their faces like this. I expect in the future people will look back and wonder why on earth anyone thought it was a good idea.

I do use prescription Tret which has worked well for me. I started using it for pigmentation, not wrinkles though. Doesn't help with sagging.

Products that work: Retinol in the PM (Vit A) which you should introduce slowly and sparingly at first To reduce wrinkle visibility, Vit C for brightness in the AM (again, introduce slowly).

There are no scientific studies that show these things work. The only things that are proven are SPF (obviously) and high strength tretinoin (which you need a prescription for). The whole anti-ageing skincare thing is a con.

I was once given a very expensive (£200+) facial for free. Immediately after my skin looked glowing but that's because they spent an hour rubbing oil on it. By the time I woke up the next morning I looked exactly the same again.

Botox can reduce wrinkles but it can also have unintended side effects. You're injecting a neurotoxin into a muscle and, if you keep doing it, that muscle will slowly atrophy.

Unless you're going to spend £100k on a full facelift and risk looking like a shark then it's just about staying healthy, getting good sleep, drinking water and all those other boring things.

Please don't give into the pressure. You are beautiful as you are. You don't need to fill your body with synthetic crap to be attractive.

Young girls need to see happy confident women with their natural looks. Be a role model for them.

I am not a beauty. I am just ok with how I look. It's fine to look knackered. Most men manage it just fine. Hugh Grant owning it while Nicole Kidman looks like a waxwork.

I expect there to be a flood of posters saying women who don't have Botox or fillers are arrogant, wrinkled old hags. Have noticed that in the past. Ageing is not a crime.

I live in an affluent area and don't see anyone botox or fillers. If they do, it's certainly not noticeable. Don't be a sheep. You'll look better without them.

I'm 16 years older than you and feel no pressure to do fillers or botox. Look after your skin - drink water, eat well, get a decent skin care regime - I've been using Boots Perfect and Protect since I was 30 and have now added retinol.

We all want to look our best so I am not going to pretend I don't care about looking good, but the best advice I can give is accept aging as a fact and make your peace with it.

To me fillers and botox don't even look good, it looks a little delusional. They are the modern day equivilent of those older ladies I used to see as a child with thick pale masks of make up painted on top of their skin .

No amount of pressure from anyone would make me have that junk injected into my face. If you're feeling the need to give in why not look at why your sense of self esteem is so dependent on it and spend the time on building that up to a healthy level instead. The botoxed yummy mummys I know are all looking too overdone now, its not ageing well with them and who knows what health implications could be down the road for them. Embrace who you are and the face you have at this chapter of your life and enjoy it.

@TheDearReader best advice from an older poster…is to look after your skin naturally. Wear SPF every day (not just summer time) and devise an affordable skin care routine that has an element of effectiveness and pampering. Products that work: Retinol in the PM (Vit A) which you should introduce slowly and sparingly at first To reduce wrinkle visibility, Vit C for brightness in the AM (again, introduce slowly). Combine with a massage tool or electric stimulation device as you get older and you’ll achieve the same effect with none of the risks. Good value brands are The Inkey list and The ordinary.

Filler can migrate. Everyone is different and you never know what might happen for your own body. They don’t always dissolve naturally either. Steer clear of these at your age. Absolutely never visit anyone who doesn’t have recognisable medical training (Doctor or Nurse) or proper medical insurance.

As a pp said, spend the money on experiences for you and your child.

I can relate as I live in a similar area- I would say the look here is very subtle rather than Love Island and I only know about the Botox because they recommend practitioners on the school mums WhatsApp group or will say anyone fancy a coffee I’ve got Botox at 10 so hanging around.

I got my brows microbladed when DS was 14 months and it helped me feel put together when I had no make up on. I don’t need fillers or Botox so I don’t get them (but might in the future if I want to). Like a PP I focused on my wardrobe and looking good in my post pregnancy size rather than scruffing about in baggy leggings and DHs hoodies. Probably made more of a difference than Botox!

I’m not being catty. I’m also very far from ‘beautiful’ naturally but I also couldn’t be ‘beautiful’ if I had all the treatments in the world.

What I do feel is a sadness that young women are still buying into this belief that how they look is the most important thing about them. And adopting ever more extreme treatments that have somehow become mainstream.

Of course it’s a choice but I genuinely believe not one taken freely. The pressure OP described is real and that makes me sad and angry. It’s not catty or arrogant to wonder why are women expected to do all this?

I'm mid forties and don't relate at all but is that a generational thing?

Im 40 & it’s the 30 somethings who have it for some reason. Social media I guess.

It can actually be aging

Look at Lindsay Lohan. She could easily be 48

I'm so pleased that none of the women in my family have ever gone down this route. Or felt this "pressure".

It's awful look and does nothing for anyone.

No. I am 53. Never getting them. They look terrible to me and I have no desire to look like the Love Island women.
It's very easy to get off social media.

Not at 30

It looks ridiculous

Nobody looks younger with fillers. They just look...different

I feel zero pressure but it doesn't seem very common around here. There are a handful of school mums who look like they've had lip filler and it does not look good

Leave well alone! Don't ruin your face. An early 30's woman I see on dog walks sometimes has lip fillers and I always think they spoil her otherwise lovely face.
Don't be a Katie Price!

if you are tempted to get work done please don’t do it now! It ages you terribly when you do it in your 20s and 30s!

Obviously you do you OP but there’s some mean girl cattiness on this thread

I actually find a unique kind of arrogance in some of the au natural types - almost a bit like I’m a natural beauty and those who get stuff done aren’t.

i personally have botox and can subtly spot other women who have it. They just don’t look as knackered 🤣
fillers I don’t have and don’t know much about but it does seem to be on its way out as a look. Obviously mumsnet gets to be classist about the “chavs” having their filler though 😉

I could afford to have lip fillers and brow lamination comfortably.

I don’t, because I think they look ridiculous!

You do you.