If all my friends have botox and I don't....

[DonPablo]

Will I look old an haggard stood next to them? And can anyone recommend me a product to help with lines?

I'm 40. I take reasonable care of my skin. I have some lines, crows feet, normal ageing but nothing severe. My last, non botoxed friend caved last week and had it.

I feel old and ordinary but I'd never have fillers, botox or the likes. I don't even dye my hair! I love makeup and like to look good, but I guess I'm being left behind and I'm worried it'll show. Am I Being Ridiculous?

Do people not worry about the health risk of injecting a neurotoxin into their muscles. How does the body break it down? Does it stay in the system? Could it cause anaphylaxis as there’s no allergy test out there? The black warming label is really concerning tbh. It seems to have gone from being something rare to completely common place now..... So I do those aging normally will mean people looking haggard.

*Warning...

Kate Middleton’s Botox is probably an example of what people mean when the say it can look natural and fresh but you can still see she’s had it done.

Jeremy Kyle's is massively obvious. Not sure that his massive forehead helps. Not that anyone will see it for the foreseeable.

@Grainthetra22 yeah I was as I have a health condition so I spoke to my haematologist about it before I went ahead

Are they not blood specialists though? They aren’t going to know about systematic effects of repeated Botox usage.

I've just met up with some colleagues that I haven't seen for a while. They've been having Botox for a few years, one has lip fillers and tattooed eyeliner (subtlety) for a while too. We're all around the 50s. Last night, for the first time, I didn't feel like the unglamorous one. They were starting to look a little un natural and it actually made them look older and less pretty than they actually are now.

Botox etc might help a bit initially, but it doesn't in the long run. Quite the opposite.

@Grainthetra22 yes - I was more concerned as I am immunocompromised but it's not something I am planning on having constantly so didn't really discuss it. I go probably every 6 months or so

A Vitamin C serum and retinoids are your anti-aging friends. And SPF every day, even in winter.

I'm not averse to having Botox at some point - I think only one of my friends has had it done (I'm 41) and I'd guess out of the rest of us, I'm among the more likely candidates.

I think when done well, it looks amazing.

Just wish I had the bottle to have it done

I’m 30, definitely not averse to Botox when i’m older. I find fillers alarming though, if A listers with multimillions can end up with that “pillow face” look (Courtney Cox, Madonna, increasingly Jennifer Anniston to name a few) I won’t be taking my chances with that.

One of the best things you can do to prevent 11’s and/ or forehead wrinkles is get an eye test. Straining your eyes, even slightly, will take its toll on the muscles in your face.

Some people genetically just don't get 11s. Hadn't heard of them until MN.

DovePetal I strain my eyes a lot because I have an eye issue that makes me struggle in bright light, even with sunglasses. That might well have made my 11s worse.

DeadWife my mum is nearly 80 and has no 11s whatsoever. A friend is well in her 40s and has none (and barely a wrinkle at all). Very unfair.

Yes my mum doesn’t have any 11s at 68 whereas I’m 43 and have been frowny all my life.
Tried to hold off the botox but the frown lines were all I was seeing in the mirror.

I’ve had a tiny dose (less than half the usual) and it has softened them rather than erased. Agree though botox can end up making you look older eventually so I’ll see how I feel in another 3 months when they come back. I think caution is key though and not chasing every line (like Amanda Holden).

I'm 54 and a fair few of my similar aged friends have had Botox/fillers. I am not interested, as I refuse to be pressured into it - we are all (or should be) more than just our looks.

I agree with the others who've said botox can look good to begin with, and when you're relatively young, but when it starts to accumulate it looks very peculiar. And very smooth still skin on an older face also looks strange.

I read a good interview with Lesley Manville yesterday which touches upon the whole botox thing. (spoiler: she says she doesn't want to look like a 'botoxed ninny'). You can see from the photos and from watching her in Mum that she hasn't gone down the cosmetic enhancement route, and looks the better for it, really luminous and attractive. I can't help but mentally compare and contrast her with Madonna who's of a similar age but has chosen a very different aesthetic route, which has no doubt cost megabucks but I'm pretty certain she'd look better if she'd just left well alone.

Vivienne Westwood is one of my inspirations... she looks her age and has wrinkles, but beauty and creativity shine out of her face. I think one problem with the botox (or "work" in general) route is that looking young and avoiding wrinkles becomes people's focus and they become fearful of letting go of it. Whereas if you have active passions and other things to focus on and stay mentally engaged with things, that will show as looking youthful and energetic in a different way - a more personality/mind-based way.

Awesome post Queen, couldn’t agree more!!

So true @Queen. I don’t have 11s and l’m 65, some people just don’t get them. My eyes are very light sensitive and I wear sunglasses more often than not. I think that helps.

I visited my auntie today. My mum's sister. She's 75 and almost completely unwrinkled apart from crows feet. No 11s whatsoever. And most definitely no botox or fillers. Lucky cow.