So is Botox just no big deal now? Like getting a spray tan?

[Rosacharmosa]

I'm 32 and have been stressing over fine lines and aging recently. I know it's complete 1st world problems and aging is a privilege etc, but I suppose social media and other things have gotten into my head.

I see people on here, and Instagram and even a couple of people at work talk about botox and how amazing it is, so I booked a consultation at a beauty clinic type place that a colleague recommended.

The consultation was yesterday evening and I was surprised at how casual it all seemed. I said I was a bit anxious about it going wrong and looking weird, side effects and things and the woman just seemed baffled that I'd even be thinking about these things. In the end I decided not to book in and said I was feeling apprehensive and would mull it over and she basically seemed to regard me as though I was panicking over a manicure or a spray tan?

So now I'm wondering if I'm just being OTT, it's no big deal and I should just go for it and get rid of an insecurity, or if actually it is a big deal and the world is just going a bit mad?!

Would love to hear thoughts.

I find it interesting too @franklymydearscarlett

On a lot of these threads are women who consider Botox the preserve of the vacuous. But they all presumably get something done. They dye their hair or whatever. So it’s a sliding scale that we’re all on. Botox attracts some truly unpleasant snobbery though for some reason - see the post above about how us frozen Barbies are not living a wild and precious life (cringe).

It's not something I would want.

The fact that its full name is botulism toxin and that it causes paralysis does not endear it to me.

Have no experience of or personal interest in botox but it seems to be quite widely used now and I suppose the prevalence means there is a greater understanding of how to achieve good results and less likelihood of anything going wrong. I wouldn't consider it comparable to a manicure or spray tan though as they are just external treatments.

It’s used for medical purposes all the time, and has been for about 60 years. It’s hardly an untested drug that can cause whole body paralysis.

This. I’d be surprised you need it at your age, but it is no big deal. Get it done by a medical professional that’s really the important thing. I’ve been doing it on and off for a few years, love it, never had a bad experience.

Alcohol is a class 1 carcinogen and technically a poison but you can buy it at the corner shop and at petrol stations.

It IS more than just a spray tan IMO. Its injected and should be prescribed. To echo others, I would only used a qualified, medical professional- Dr, Advance nurse practitioner, dentist etc who has completed aesthetics training. I would never use a beautician/friend etc that has done a 'course' in it. You can also check their registration of the relevant sites such as GMC, NMC, GDC etc.

You are right to ask questions and I'd be cautious of a 'practitioner' who dismissed your concerns. Obviously any drug can have side effects, but when used by professionals, its much safer. Its the dodgy, back street type ones or those with no medical background I'd avoid.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukhsa-issues-warning-over-botulism

Botox is no big deal.
My GP and consultant both encouraged me to try it, so I did and it was wonderful.

Getting my hair done causes me more angst than getting Botox done.

Edited to add I have Botox by a nurse in a medical beauty setting. Not some random!

Op- this is the best post from @decorationday . Can I add to this that your fear shouldn’t be around it going wrong, but more about what you’re putting into your body at 32, which you’ll only know is probably too soon when you’re 42, 52 that’s when you’ll know how amazing you looked in your 30s and that comparing yourself to others was the toxic element.
For the same money why not invest in really nice treatments instead or buy yourself something to wear that makes you feel really good about yourself. There’s just so many, many more options to make yourself feel good from the inside, if you have the money to spend.

Isn’t spray tan a carcinogen and been recommended to avoid?

So you can buy clothes or get other beauty treatments to feel good, but you shouldn’t get Botox for the same reason.

Ok 🤷‍♀️

This is why I stopped Botoxing. I don't want animals dying for my futile attempts at holding back aging.

“I suppose social media and other thing have got into my head”
OP this stands out to me in your post, as it suggests that you think you should look better than you do at your age. You’re 32. You’re young, but skin changes as we get older and by older I mean 20s different to teens, 30s different to 20s. It’s completely normal. Sadly, the fact that a huge number of people we see on SM and on TV have had Botox or more has given us a completely messed up view of what ageing looks like.

I hate the fact that it’s really hard to find women on TV, Films these days who have allowed themselves to age naturally so who look their age. But who wants to be the outlier with wrinkles etc when everyone else has the forehead of a 25yo?

I love the show “Shrinking” on Apple TV. It stars Christa Miller who also plays Jordan in Scrubs. She’s a brilliant actress, but whenever she’s on screen all I can do is try and work out what is natural and what it not on her face. She’s not had a facelift that’s made her look freaky, but her forehead and eyes don’t match her mouth.

I also recently watched The Beauty on Disney + which is, coincidently, about a miracle injection that reverses ages and ends very badly. But one of the things I loved from that show was Isabella Rossilini, who actually looks her age. It’s so sad that it’s so unusual now to see an actress who has not had any work done.

Sorry that my sound like a bit of a rant, but I’m genuinely sad that aging naturally is now seen a bad thing hence Botox being completely normalised.

I think those are two very different things you’re talking about though: celebrities with hugely overdone and false looking work, and me, a random 46 year old who gets her 11s done every six months.

I look exactly the same just slightly less knackered.

I wouldn't do it because I know I'd be the 1 person where it went permanently wrong and I'd end up looking horrible forever. I also think spending up to £1k a year is silly. Think of all the things you could get with that?

I'm trying to see ageing as chapters in my life. I will never be, now at early 40s, sexually desirable in the same way I was at 20. No amount of 'fixes' will do that. I will just look like a mid-40s person who has tried too hard. So this chapter is more about owning it, embracing wisdom, skills. I like to think I'll be more Judi Dench or Ruth Bader Ginsburg than Sharon Osbourne.

The post isn’t about cost or spending money, is it? It’s about people feeling the need to have toxins injected into their skin so they don’t look the age that they actually are.
Clothes and treatment enhance what you have.

So does Botox. You’ve just decided otherwise.

Yes you’re correct that I think injecting poison into your skin to avoid looking your age is a step too far.
And yes I know it’s been used in the medical field for years and works well in the right circumstances.

Depends on personal opinion. I'm older than you and I don't feel I need it and have no desire for it and never have, but that may change when I'm 50. I don't know. I don't think I have bad lines around the eyes, mouth or forehead that need attention, yet.

One of my friends since having botox/fillers has one of those prominent forehead veins, she's self conscious of. I don't know how it came about or of it disappears in time. No idea but that to me now is a possible side effect I would consider, as it's a problem to her that she talks about.

When you say you don't understand how people afford it, what do you mean? Do you mean you don't know how some people afford it? I am not being snippy I am interested as many people will be able to afford it like they can afford business class flights or expensive holidays - they have disposable cash.

Yes but it leaves your system in 24 hours. Botox doesn’t.

I also raised an eyebrow at this, clearly the answer is they have more disposable income than the poster. Sometimes I think people think every one is on the same disposable income. It is very odd indeed.

I choose Botox over hair cuts because I have severe migraines. Sad but there we go!

I think it's really sad that injecting junk into your face has become so normalised in the name of beauty.

In my opinion it doesn't even make people look younger or better, it just makes them look like they have had Botox! I always laugh when someone I know 'confesses' to get it f a little Botox, like do they honestly think I can't tell??

Again with the ‘junk’ 🙄

I sat through a long rant from my mum one day about how ridiculous people with Botox look, they are frozen and shiny and have no facial expressions…then I told her I’d had it about a month previously.