Jenna and I have been close friends since university. Our friendship has been built on a foundation of frank advice and open conversation. As I sit opposite her in a busy café in Clapton, I hold my breath and scan her face. ‘I started having Botox injected into my forehead aged 22 and when I turned 27 last week I had my frown lines done’. While I’ll admit to being somewhat surprised by her sudden soft-surgery coming out, I’m also, not.
A heated debate, which took place at a dinner party last week, has prompted Jenna and another of our friends, Lucy, to ‘fess up’ and spill all the details of their needle habits for the first time.
Lucy, who I don’t know as intimately, strikes me as an odd candidate for Botox. ‘Yeah…I don’t dye my hair’ she says, ‘and I don’t wear makeup, but years of sunbeds had really caught up with me. Even at 24, I was noticing fine lines across my head. So what finally made her decide to act? ‘I think now, everyone is constantly taking pictures of each other and I just started to focus on my forehead. It honestly took the fun out of going out.’
Call me cynical, but I think more people are at this than are prepared to admit it openly. It seems an obvious citation but the Kardashian aesthetic, that’s become a uniform, global ideal for what homogenous beauty looks like is a look that’s largely been achieved by Botox and fillers. The Kardashian’s are regularly filmed getting treatments on their show, but like many surgery fans, aren’t always transparent about how they’re spending their disposable income. Take the Kylie Jenner lip filler furore. After insisting it was all good make-up the 17-year-old was outed by her older sister Khloe. In the 24 hours following the confession, UK Clinics saw a 70% increase in a request for lip fillers. Whether it’s the person you follow on social media who has started to look ever so slightly different or the work colleague who looks really well all of a sudden, the proliferation of Botox is a real, if unspoken, thing amongst twenty-somethings. I do, like Lucy, think this is partly down to the enhanced selfies being bandied about on social media, the increasingly affordable cost of lunchtime treatments and the ever-growing pressures for all of us to look like celebrities.
What really surprises me is our unwillingness to discuss it. We share the most intimate details of our lives with strangers online today, and yet we won’t admit that we’re altering our appearances. In the UK plastic-surgery shaming is something of a pastime. Another friend told me recently of a Saturday night showdown between two of her best mates after one admitted to having Botox. The other friend was appalled and seemed genuinely let down by her. I’ve also seen it first hand. I’ve sat with friends as we’ve scrutinised people’s selfies, speculating a near stranger's shiny forehead. While, as Brits, we’re unburdened by a beach culture that might call for six months a year semi-nudity as it does in say Brazil, we’re still a nation ever more transfixed by our own reflections and, it seems, we’re totally in denial about it.
Botox, which was first approved by the FDA in 1991 and came to Europe shortly afterwards in 1992 ,is now a procedure we now treat with the same casualness we might a filling at the dentist, or a session at the hairdressers, but- people are still loathed to admit that they’ve had it done. I started to wonder why there was still so much stigma attached to the procedure, before quickly concluding that like so much of the private shame that fills this modern life, it boiled down to kerbing the female experience and then punishing women for existing within those limitations. That double-edged sword- balancing the expectations of looking good and feeling guilty for being vain. However, the statistics would suggest that more and more men are indulging too.
I asked my friend why, in 2017, they felt to need to stay schtum about Botox? ‘I just felt like, even you guys, my really close friends would judge me so I just went about it in private. Sometimes I’d get paranoid and start thinking you were looking at my forehead’ Jenna laughed. On closer, inspection Jenna’s face is, indeed, totally line free, but I told her I suspected it was also completely devoid of wrinkles at 22 when she began injecting. ‘It was yeah; I think I had one faint line above my left eyebrow but I was treating the process as more of an investment.’ My friend went on to tell me that like going to the gym or eating clean, she felt like her little trips to the doctors were much in the same vein - small, affordable steps to preserving her youthful looks for longer.
Inspired by my friends and keen to find out more, I spoke to Karishma Gorasia, Head Aesthetic Nurse at 111 Harley St about the treatments, patients under 30 and what the benefits of Botoxing young, if there are any, actually are.
How old is your average age of a patient receiving Botox?
The average age of a patient receiving Botox is over 25 however if someone a few years younger does present with obvious dynamic or static lines which are noticeable then we are happy to treat this.
What are the benefits of having Botox under the age of 30?
Botox is an effective preventative method. As we age, the movement of the muscles under the surface of the skin becomes less dynamic and more static – i.e. the fine line and wrinkles become more continuously present and not just during movement. When used on small muscles in the upper face, it smoothes out these fine lines and essentially prevents them from becoming etched on our faces. Botox will also prevent new lines from forming too.
What do people mean when they talk about people having active faces?
An active face refers to one that shows more expressions compared to a resting face. As a general rule of thumb, the ideal candidate for Botox is someone who has visible fine lines or wrinkles on their resting face.
Where would you recommend first timers have Botox injected?
This really depends on the areas of concern and where the fine lines and wrinkles may be forming on the face. However, the most common areas tend to be around the eyes and forehead
How often would you suggest someone under 30 has Botox?
Again this would really vary case by case but generally, the benefits of Botox last from around 3 to 4 months.
When in your opinion is too young to start?
At 111 Harley St, we will only consult with patients from 18 years plus. Having said this, if we feel that a candidate does not require the requested treatment, then we will not administer it regardless of their age.
Is there any downtime?
There is no downtime following a Botox treatment and any signs of administration will have disappeared by the time a patient leaves the clinic. Very rarely, a patient may experience some mild bruising, however, this is highly unusual when administered by an experienced cosmetic surgeon or aesthetic nurse. The full results of the treatments will then be seen in between 4 to 14 days.
Why do you think there's so much stigma attached to Botox?
Firstly, there was some misunderstanding around the safety of the Botulinum toxin when the treatment first launched. It is actually a naturally occurring protein which causes muscles to relax. It is safe and has full FDA approval. Secondly, as with anything, the treatment is only as effective or successful as the skill of the person administering it. We’ve all seen those post-Botox pictures of people with a frozen appearance or shocked expression. However, an experienced surgeon or aesthetic nurse will give subtle results which soften the signs of ageing without appearing obvious or eliminating facial expressions.
Are there any other benefits to having Botox young beyond delaying the ageing process?
Botox can also be used to treat Hyperhidrosis which is a condition that can cause people to produce sweat in amounts far greater than needed to control their body temperature. It is also effective in treating those with chronic migraines too.
What is a 'droop' and how can it be avoided?
The ‘droop’ most commonly refers to a drooping eyelid or eyebrow following a Botox treatment where too much of the Botulinum toxin has been injected in the incorrect area of the eye causing it to droop. The best way to avoid this is to always see a surgeon or aesthetic nurse who has the relevant experience to ensure this is avoided.
What's the starting price for Botox?
The starting price for Botox at 111 Harley St. to treat one area is £190.
Social media demands that we reveal our ‘authentic’ self at all times; whether that’s the perfect photo of the amazing night out or the youthful, perfectly lit, wrinkle free selfie you take the morning after, there’s never been a time when we’ve all existed so much in front of a camera. While social media has added a whole new dimension to the concept of looking your best (remember when we didn’t all take pictures of each other all the time?) the expectation on women to look good has always existed. As a woman, you’re constantly faced with never looking good enough and therein lies the problem. The pursuit of perfection or physical improvement is a seemingly perennial journey on which most women find themselves for the entirety of their lives.
The non-surgical procedure, like most ‘solutions’ targeted at women, can become Trojan horses. We must not tear one another down for desiring to look or feel ‘better’ when we co-exist in a world that depends upon women feeling inadequate. While acknowledging that this is burdensome and somewhat depressing, we must also recognise that for some women and men, grooming, enhancement and change are joyful exercises that enhance self-esteem and help people’s public façade closer match their internal one.
The double bind of the female experience can often mean we overlook the joys of feeling beautiful, regardless of whether we’ve paid for it or not.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.