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.

Personally I love Botox and have been having it since I was 40. I’m fifty now and look great. OP, I do think you’re too young though. Plenty of time for it.

My niece has been getting Botox since she was 23. I thought she was too young. But, as she says, she had lines and they were bothering her. Her skin is very, very pale and her eyes too. I think this combination often means premature lines.

Anyway, she’ll be 29 this year. Still having it, she looks incredible and natural. Her fiancé (the type to say ‘I hate it when women put muck in their faces; I hope you never do it’) has absolutely no idea she does it.

But you literally have no idea if those 11s would have got worse - many people get them and they don't get any deeper. Their necks, hands etc catch up though. No-one can hold back the years, and there is a point at which people simply look like someone in the fifties or sixties with botox/fillers/etc. Not better, just different.

No different to the swathes of other beauty and health things people do to prevent or delay negative consequences, can’t always know it’s going work, but if someone wants to risk assess for themselves and decides it’s worth the punt it’s not really your business is it?

This is a discussion forum and I'm discussing with a pp. If however you meant generally that what someone chooses to do themselves if no-one else's business then of course, we all make personal choices - but this site would be pretty boring if posters simply said it's none of your business when others gave their opinions or thoughts.

@SirChenjins well quite, but my point stands that lots of people invest a lot of time and money in preventative things from exercise to supplements, there are always trade offs (be that time, money, or potentially other health risks…even exercise isn’t risk free, dodgy knee anyone?!) if you can afford it, and are comfortable with the relatively small risks Botox is a generally simple trade off for potentially youthful skin for longer. It’s not everyone’s priority, not everyone think the risks are small, but for those that do I don’t think you can mock them for taking preventative action because “it might not happen” when most people are making some kind of preventive actions in their life most of the time.

I think given the loss of scaffolding from depleted collagen, the effects of gravity plus 20 years extra frowning, it would be reasonable to assume they would have. Plus they're better now than they were then, so that's a result for me.
I think a lot of women of my age group who have botox and filler look great tbh. You obviously dont know my friends to judge, but Celeb examples for reference would be Emma Bunton and Kylie Minogue.

@5128gap I’ve seen some interesting case studies with twins where one did Botox from her 30s and the other didn’t, the difference was very noticeable, made me book my next appointment sooner than I was planning 😁

I don't think Kylie looks great (not sure about Emma Bunton, I don't see her enough to comment) - I think she tipped into the too much category some years ago. If you saw her in the Neighbours revisited episode she looked too frozen imo. It's all horses for courses though - some people like the look of fillers and botox, others don't 🤷‍♀️

I wouldn’t describe a spray tan as no big deal. It’s a niche choice.

Fake tan is not a niche choice woman 🤣

You see that's obviously bad work. Good Botox still allows faces to move but many people hold this false notion that all expression is removed when you get Botox.

Oh that's interesting! I can imagine.

If only this were true that it is something you have total control over. Genetics plays a huge part. You're lucky if you get the good stuff.

No - it was a particular reply to a particular poster. You've taken it out of context. It was to do with being a feminist.

I can see that, but what I don't understand is why so many a listers who can obviously afford the best still look not quite right. And I'm referring to people who have presumably had tweaks rather than a full on face lift eg Kylie Minogue and Michelle Pfeiffer who looks sort of frozen in time.
That's before you even consider people like the Kardashians and how unhuman they look.

That's what I mean when I say I'd rather look old than look weird.

This is a good point, I watched Courtney Cox in a recent film and she definitely looked a bit weird.

Awk I am fond of a little bit of Botox every six months or so. It’s very common.

I absolutely would not go to a beauty therapist for Botox, though. Doctor only. I see some nurses that seemingly have good results, but I pay a little bit more to have a senior professional fuck with my face. All good. I don’t look 23, I wouldn’t want to. I just look a little better slept than I would naturally.

Some of those A listers, genuinely beautiful as young women, now have peculiar, unattractive faces. I prefer a few wrinkles / laughter lines any day of the week. My partner has fabulous laughter lines and I wouldn’t change them for the world.

Yeah but that’s not Botox is it @Bikenutz

thats Botox, filler, face lifts, getting the fat removed
from your cheeks, etc, who really knows what else. Filler especially I think makes the texture of lips odd, like Courtney Cox, there’s a lack of definition now to her mouth that’s a bit strange looking.

Botox is the least of it with celebrities I think.

Yep, I had deep forehead lines in my teens as did my dad so I think it’s genetics for many of us.
No amount of diet, skincare or blah blah blah makes a difference for some of people so it’s slightly condescending Of some posters to come on and lecture others about how great you look because of your lifestyle - you’re actually just lucky!

When it comes to the reckoning, I think I can balance having botox against a lifetime of supporting women in refuges, prisons and rape crisis centres and be satisfied I've done my bit.
Whether that makes me as much of a feminist as someone sneering and insulting other women, throwing out six form slogans about 'breaking the patriarchy' on MN, I guess is in the eye of the beholder.

I think it’s a big deal.

I seriously thought about having it done, but when I look at 2 of my friends now who have had it done for 10 ish years, I’m glad I didn’t. They’re starting to look very plasticky now, and they both go to reputable places.

I would put Kylie in the same category as Amanda Holden.

Liz Hurley is the only celebrity I can think of who has had lots of work done but still manages to look fairly natural (we know its not natural, but it’s done well at least).

Hope no vegans use Botox!