What age did you start Botox?

38, I had really pronounced 11s, so it’s really helped.

I have no idea what 11s are, btw. It's another world.

32. Still no lines at 37 even though I only get a bit.

I'm 58.
Never have.
Never will.

I was 37 - in NZ you pay by the vial which is great as you can just get little bits done so it seems quite soft and natural, whereas here it's the same price no matter how much - you just pay by the area. You can still get a little but I always think it's a bit of a crock as you feel like you should get more so it lasts and get your moneys worth. I get forehead and my 11s. I also got a wee bit around my eyes to soften it and it worked well.

But I get only the top of my forehead done as I still want to have movement. I wish I started sooner - I was so worried about it but shouldn't have.

Absolutely, I completely agree. Patriarchy wins double if women judge each other for their chouces.

43 here and I don't intend to ever start

I was very shocked when my 35 year old male colleague told me he and his wife both routinely have botox. I honestly didn't know how to respond. Ironically I could feel myself trying to arrange my face into a suitable expression 😅

40. Just for the 11s, which I'd had forever! I was a frowner. 45 now. Perfect result. 4 monthly. Been today!

They could have more power, independence and freedom if we closed the gender pay gap too…. I’ve not had botox (I’m 40) and I can confidently tell you I’ll never have it, however, ‘don’t hate the player, hate the game’ springs to mind. Why are these women injecting poison into their faces to look younger? Because the patriarchy has convinced us all it matters and we buy into it. Me included by the way; I dye my hair, I wear make up (albeit not often).

I think people are living and let living, really. Just sharing different views. I'm not hearing much judgement of others, I think we all appreciate how much pressure there is to look a certain way. People make different choices, probably all slightly mystified by the ones we don't make that's all!

I was 35 I'm 42 now and would
Definitely say it's worth it. I get it done 6-7month infact I'm going tomorrow
I wouldn't be without it.
I look less angry and tired I go get quite a lot of units as I like no movement but I don't have the shiny puffy look that's usually associated with Botox

I’m amazed how many peopld are normalising this! Hair is dead and colour doesn’t change its physiology. Botox is a poison people are deliberately injecting into perfectly normal face muscles to paralyse them and stop them from working normally because society and media tells us normal ageing is wrong. What does this tell our young women about what’s important in life? What does it tell our young men about how women should look?

there is an epidemic of female filled/flattened faces in a way that hair transplants etc just haven’t caught on for men. Still many attractive bald men, just look at half the premiership managers, bald as a coot but not filling it in with fake hair to try and look forever 30.

i have two teenage daughters who have naturally plump, youthful, gorgeous faces and bodies. I don’t want or need to compete with them for youthful looks or some commercialised ideal of beauty. It’s their turn now, not mine.

45 and not planning to ever use it.

Makeup and hair dye aren’t as invasive or expensive (usually) as Botox, so I don’t think it’s a fair comparison really. Those things are also very normal- Botox isn’t yet, and I don’t think we need to make it that way.

Agree! It's not until your 40s you start getting lines really. Sadly I know women in their 20s getting botox, lipfillers etc. Nothing beats natural young skin so doing all this stuff just makes a face look false.

Why don’t we all “live and let live”? I have Botox not for anyone else but because I actually have shit genes and look older than I am. So if I can feel more confident and actually like my age then brilliant.

Wearing make up and colouring hair doesn't prevent someone looking their age. Hair dye can be ageing. So can make up.

There is nothing wrong with aging. It is, or should be, a natural process.
There is something wrong with a society that sells youth and youthful looks as the only thing worthwhile.
Personally I can't stand the botox, total unnatural doll like, look all the same, faces we see daily in the media. Give me a face with character and lines and evidence of emotions, any day.

64. Never have, never will.

It makes me sad that it's those of us who don't use Botox (late forties) who are going to be judged for aging naturally.

Same.
If you are 43 (for example), then what is wrong with your face also looking 43?
Getting all these jabs and treatments puts out the message to people that looking 43 is bad, and your face needs to look 30 something, or younger.

I know a lady who is the same age as me. She spends all her salary on botox etc. I said I feel shit compared to her.. and people say I should not compare myself as she spends money to be the way she is, and I don't. But it makes me think that the treatments she gets and how she looks is the norm, and I am a freak for not doing it. Like armpit hair. It has become a societal expectation to shave... and now erasing the 11 on your forehead is expected otherwise we are seen as lazy.

What is 'looking your age' though.

One would have to go without makeup and not colour one's hair if they want to really look their age

@Newbie8918

I can list a whole host of beauty standards that both males and females are subject to but nothing seems to evoke as much judgment as Botox on MN 🤷‍♀️
Fillers. Fillers get even more vitriol on MN than Botox.

Especially lips. People claiming they can always tell. Even though that is literally impossible to claim. This fact escapes people. They genuinely don't understand that there is no way one can honestly always know. There is such a variation of features and without knowing what everyone looks like one could not possibly know if someone had fillers. That dumbness always makes me laugh

Maybe 30? But I have my dad's expressive forehead that was clearly lined from when I was a child. So really I just wanted to look the same as other people my age, not a haggard old lady. If I had a normal amount of wrinkles for my age I wouldn't bother.