To ask for your opinion on botox

[Princesstwilightsparkle]

I've never had any sort of procedure and if I'm honest was very much against it until recently. Turns out two of my friends have had botox and actually, it looks really good and has turned my head. I used to consider it as putting poison into your face but am now looking at my wrinkly forehead and thinking maybe. What are your experiences of it? Am I being niaeve that it always looks good?

Tbh I find the 'I do it for me' argument a bit unconvincing. I doubt you would feel the need to do it for you if you weren't at least subconsciously comparing yourself to others, being influenced by unrealistic celebrity photos and wanting others to think you look young for your age.

I get my nails done. My hair highlighted and I go to the gym. I don’t give a fuck what others think looking at me and these things make me happier in my skin.

I’m certainly ain’t comparing myself subconsciously not not, to younger celebs.

Can’t women do anything to their own appearance without others telling them they are wrong?

No no no no. The best looking woman age gracefully rather than pumping their faces full of poison and having a strained look on their face.

I thought that.

Until I started getting a super deep frown line. I frown in concentration at work. I frown when I rad at home. I frown when the sky id bright. Basically I frown.

I look a lot better with a tiny bit of botox :-)

I go to a dentist, she is fab.

It's not 'wrong'. You can do what you like. But I think there's a big difference between wearing things you like and having yourself surgically altered or having stuff injected into you simply because society has made you think that looking your real age is unacceptable (for women).

king It’s younthat keeps going in about looking younger. Not one of us has said that’s why we do it and that’s certainly not why I do it.

Mine wasn't for my age. It was because I spent 8 weeks on morphine screaming in pain waiting for spinal surgery and it left me with giant pain lines!

I wouldn't ever do it because I don't think wrinkles are a bad thing that I need to get rid of. I look my age and I'm happy with that. Mind you I started going grey at 19 and had an early menopause in my 20s so I'd kind of already dealt with 2 of the big getting old things before I was 30! Bring on the wrinkles!

Of course it can look natural.
And yes, it is basically putting poison into your face.
However, it's not just for that.
Have a google, Botox is used for all sorts of other things.
It really is amazing what it can do.
And no... I left the company many years ago!

I'm not that bothered by wrinkles to go down the botox route.. I think an ageing face is beautiful.

I agree that wrinkles can be beautiful. There are several older women that I know who look fantastic and it’s partly because of the life that’s written wonderfully all over their faces. Actually, two of them are my yoga teachers. I think it’s because they are comfortable in their own skin because of the yoga.
But we are constantly being told that wrinkles are bad and that we need to get rid of them. Men are not under the same pressure.
I think about the way I look too much and it pisses me off. I avoid glossy magazines and TV programmes about it but still the pressure is there.

Well I'm going to be radical and say I'm quite comfortable looking my age. I take care of my body in lots of ways not just for looks but for overall health and wellbeing. I'm certainly not going to start injecting crap into my face. The people that start in their 20s and 30s.. are you really going to keep this up forever? Till your 90, beyond? I would be very concerned about the long term effects on my skin and possible health implications. What about when the rest of you doesn't match anymore... jowly necks baggy eyes wrinkly cleavage. Will you just have it all done? What of something happens and you can't afford it anymore? I imagine it builds a sort of dependence and when you stop taking it it's a bit like the witch in Rapunzel!

I've had a couple of quite young bereavements recently and I myself have a condition which may very well limit my life span. I've come to think of getting older as a privilege now and am not afraid to look the age I am. I see lots of older women around who I think look truly beautiful because they're healthy happy and comfortable in themselves, wrinkles grey hair and all. I want to be like that.

blonde10216
I've had the same problem as you. I'm oder than you and i've since found it it's a common problem for us older ladies....the eyebrow droop and the disappearance of the eyelids. It actually gave me a very mean angry look, but i did get a nice smooth forehead.I don't think the nurse who did mine was experienced enough. If the botox is injected too low in the frontalis muscle it can cause the eyebrow to droop. Less should be used too.

I'm still suffering the lack of eyelids and miss being able to use eyeshadow and mascara. I will get it done again but i'll go to someone better qualified.

I love the lines on my face - they show a life well lived and I have no wish to look younger. I do look after my skin, exercise, eat a healthy diet and love fashion but I draw the line at the pressure to look younger

My goal wouldn't be to look younger, it's to look less grumpy.

I literally always look like i'm frowning, even when I'm not frowning. Everytime I pass a mirror, I see a frown that didn't used to be there a year ago.

Fed up looking it.

I'm an aesthetic nurse and administer Botox in a clinic in London. It's probably one of the most popular procedures. Providing it is done correctly it will look amazing, buts it's all about balance. A wrinkle free forehead looks silly on someone who is heavily lined on the lower part of their face. You can have it to soften lines and still retain movement. Those with heavy lids should be very careful of Botox on the forehead as it can cause lids to feel even heavier but treating around the eyes can open the eyes and lift the brows slightly.

The annoying thing about Botox is that it wears off quickly; 3-4 months in someone young, maybe up to 6 months if you are 60+. It works out as very expensive! Unfortunately it is better to get Botox before the lines (especially in between the eyebrows) get too deep, usually 40s but it all depends on the amount of expression you have in your face. I see 25 years olds with heavy lines and 60 years olds who've hardly any!

I guess I would advise seeing a competent practitioner for a consult first. I'd ask what product they use (Botox is actually a brand name - not everyone uses that brand), how many treatments they've carried out and whether they offer a complementary 'top up' after 2-3 weeks for any tweaks that might be needed after your first time. At the end of the day, it you hated it it will wear off without any problems.

It's sad really isn't it that people should see lines as a fault and something they need to get rid of.

I hadn't realised that botox can be used for clinical reasons. If it alleviates migraines, for example, that's brilliant.

But I still think it's sad that people regularly inject poison into their faces. (for the posters who say that it shows a lack of understanding to describe it as poison, botox is short for botulinum toxin which is the poison that has been manufactured since the identification of the clostridium botulinum which is the bacteria responsible for botulism. It was identified by a German doctor who realised that the disease which was paralysing and then killing some of his patients was caused by food poisoning after eating dodgy sausages.).

Most of the posters who have been saying that they love the botox they have had have also insisted that they don't want to look younger. But by wanting to "smooth out" wrinkles then surely you are trying to halt the natural effects of the ageing process even if you don't want to put them into reverse.
I think it's a shame that people worry about looking their real age. Wrinkle and grey hair are nothing to be ashamed of or to try and hide.

They were discussing this on R4 today (Woman's Hour perhaps?)

They said it was another way of making women feel judged on appearance and parting them from their money.

They also said that once you start you need to continue, otherwise you will look worse when you stop than as if you had never used it.

(At least I think that was it, I was only half listening).

I don’t think it makes anyone look younger. When I see people with Botox, they look like an older person with a tighter forehead usually.

Its strange because it doesn't make people look younger although technically it should. A 50 year old still looks 50 but with a strange smooth face. Its disconcerting and i dont think its attractive.

Yes. 50 year old eyes looking out of a 30 year old face.

If I could actually halt the ageing process, I bloody well would!

I have had it a few times, I didn't really need it but was having my lips done so thought why not, it looked good but doesn't last ages so be prepared to have to get it redone at least yearly as it will get addictive. I did end up only having it a few times a couple of years ago but the affects are long gone now

Would never have it. Then again, I don't need it, and never have.

@princesstwilightsparkle

Botox is disgusting vile poison.

I have never seen a soul look better after having it.

Your friends must have looked ghastly before it, if they looked better after it. Everyone I have ever seen with a botoxed face looks utterly bizarre.

THIS advert promoting botox makes me LOL. The woman is deliberately frowning in the first pic, and NOT frowning in the second one, and also photoshopped PMSL!

Agree with @northernspirit that the best looking, most attractive women are the ones who have grown old gracefully and not pumped their face full of toxic chemicals. In addition, many women who decide to regularly have botox, end up looking 7-10 years older than their age within a decade.

Also agree that it's ridiculous that no-one notices anyway. What a waste of money!

One woman DH works with (who has recently moved into his department,) is obsessive about her looks, and has been using botox for 5 years or so. She asked my DH to guess her age. He guessed at 45-46 which he genuinely thought she was.

She was 39. Awkward. As I said, many women who have it for a few years, end up looking a few years older than their age before long!

@boopsy

It's strange because it doesn't make people look younger although technically it should. A 50 year old still looks 50 but with a strange smooth face. Its disconcerting and i don't think its attractive.

Agree 100%.

@marsbarsandtwix

It's sad really isn't it that people should see lines as a fault and something they need to get rid of.

Incredibly sad yes....

The fact that you can buy botox across the counter at superdrug now actually sickens me.