To ask your alternatives to Botox?

[Wrinkleyoldbag]

I’m nearly 40 and my face in the last year seems to have crumpled like a crisp packet!!
The wrinkles and lines across my forehead are now extensive and don’t disappear when my face is expressionless!
I have a needle phobia so Botox just isn’t an option for me!
Ive tried expensive brands (La Roche posay, Estau Lauder, Elemis) and cheaper (the ordinary, boots own, etc) with no real change.
I’ve used retinol and mandelic acid, which helps with skin tone and glow, but no change to wrinkles!!
I use spf everyday, but I think it might be too late as the damage is done!
I’ve looked at LED masks but I don’t think it the science behind really stacks up for at home use.
Is there anything I can try/use to make a difference, or am I destined to keep this crumpled face?? TIA.

Face yoga, check out Danielle Collins on YouTube. You’ll find specific exercises for your problem areas.

Drink lots of water then drink some more and EV olive oil, eat it and rub it in at night.

This is your face now, so you'd be doing yourself a massive favour to try your best to accept it.

We all get older everyday, there's no point in stressing and slapping expensive shite on your face.

If any of that worked, not a single person would bother getting Botulism injected into their face.

I think this is the best advice. I don't have the money to spend on botox, or even expensive products, so the only thing I can do is relax about it, along with the sensible stuff like drinking water and spf - and also remember that no-one else really cares.

There is nothing you can rub into your face that will have the same effect as Botox

Water, moisturiser with SPF, HRT, Sudocrem

Yes I agree with pp about drinking lots of water. Also getting enough sleep is important, as is diet - I've found incorporating avocado's on a daily basis into my diet has really helped .

Lots of oily fish too

OP there is nothing you can eat or rub on your face that will eliminate lines.

Botox and fillers are the only way to do that (I have amazing results from it)

Did you try other methods or did you go straight to botox and fillers?

Personally I'd rather have a few lines and wrinkles and look natural and human rather than have a totally smooth face robbed of character.
I find so many women striving to look like dolls rather than human beings really sad.

If the OP's face is 'crumpled like a crisp packet', water isn't going to reverse that.

But it's still great for health, skin and body anyway.

Acceptance is also great for health and mind.

Well I was taking the " crumpled like a crisp packet" comparison with a pinch of salt. I'm virtually positive her face doesn't look anything like as bad as OP describes it. I bet most people looking at her face see nothing wrong with it.
Also what your face looks like varies from mirror to mirror - lighting conditions play a big part. And some mirrors are just plain cruel.
And if you're tired or stressed it shows in your face.
So even if OP at a certain time and in a certain mirror thinks her skin doesn't look good that's not necessarily the whole story and there are things you can do to help your skin.

Try the Style board OP, you might find more practical advice.
You can't erase these lines and wrinkles without something like Botox.
You can reduce them but you have to be very diligent about regular skin care.
Try tetrinoin and peptide serums.

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You may think so, but a face full of Botox and fillers looks very strange, especially as the person gets older. It also doesn't make you look younger, it just makes you look like a person who's had a lot of Botox and filler.

At what point do you actually accept that you are ageing? Why does it matter to you so much, you can't change how old you are? Or do you carry on and on with Botox and fillers forever and end up looking like a total freak?

If extremely wealthy people with access to the best look very odd in the end, why would you think you'd continue to look great if you carry on?

Getting old!!! That's my alternative and it seems to be working well :)

I work in drug licensing and I would not poke that in my face. Do you know that aesthetic practicioners use a commercially availalbe eye drop
(Iopidine) to treat droop (Ptosis) caused by Botox? It doesn't always work, the eye drops aren't actually licensed for this use and you may have to wait 6 weeks for your droopy eyes to wear off .

Eyelid Droops: Botox, Dysport, Jeuveau, or Xeomin

Micellar water

There isnt anything that can replicate injectables - or we would all be doing it

I had injections yesterday - they use numbing cream you cannot feel it at all

Everyone I know who has Botox etc looks their age but with Botox!

I'm sorry to say (and I'm guilty of this) but everyone always coo's and makes a fuss about how amazing they look but if I'm honest I don't mean it.
I guess the fact that it makes people feel better is something? But you're fooling nobody (whatever friends & family might say!)

Look in the mirror less and when you do take your glasses off! (works for me 😁)

This removes makeup and does absolutely nothing to reduce the signs of ageing.

You can get ones which have several benefits to them, the rehydration helps plump the skin up again for a few hours and has a brightening effect.

I tried alpha h liquid gold for a while and everything smoothed out but to be honest I liked myself better with the lines plus it was stingy for my sensitive skin!!

I still find it weird that people inject their own face with poison purely for vanity reasons.

A fringe! Hides a wrinkled forehead 😉