Birthday Botox

*Excuse the stupid Zoolander faces*

My ‘problem’ is that I can’t do pictures. I’ve never been able to pose, and now that we live in a world more obsessed with self image than ever before, it seems that every Instagram account contains airbrushed app-edited pictures with perfected pouts and well practised poses. No matter what I do, I seem to end up either looking like I’m constipated, or looking like a fat little boy. This is actually a nickname that I have adopted after my disastrous attempts to be ‘smutty’ at a camera. The ‘camera face’ that I have perfected over the years is the ‘LOOK HOW MUCH FUN I’M HAVING’ pose, with a surprised face and my jazz hands at the ready. This is my signature pose and I prefer it to the ‘fat little boy look’. But, unfortunately, my ‘surprise face’ has started to resemble that of a particular celebrity chef who likes to shout a lot. So, when My friend offered to get me Botox as a Birthday present I thought- why not?!

It seems that there are two types of people who consider non surgical procedures; the younger generation who get fillers and like to shout it from the rooftops, and the older generation who prefer to be more discreet. I would say I am in between. I don’t really think about self image that much (although I may have befriended all of the girls at the Bobbi Brown counter) and the only reason I wanted to try botox was because everyone was telling me not to.

I met with award winning Dr Christine Or at Dr Christine Medical Asethetics, who is best known for her wrinkle relaxing injections and dermal filler treatments for lip and cheek enhancement, as well as 8 point facelifts.  Dr Christine told me that I am a very expressive person, and that is why the lines on my forehead are quite deep for my age. I had flashbacks to when colleagues bought me all sorts of apparatus to stop me from spilling my drinks whilst I was on the phone and using my hands in a very ‘expressive’ manner (from a conical cup that was impossible to knock over, to a child’s plastic beaker) to help protect the coffee stained carpet surrounding my desk. For this reason, I was advised that I needed to have the treatment in two areas, my frown lines, and my forehead.

 

 

The Treatment 

Originally used to treat eye conditions such as squints and muscles spasms, and now regularly used excessive sweating, the Botulinum toxin is best known for its anti ageing. The toxin is a type of protein which blocks signals from the brain to the muscles, causing them to relax, with results lasting 3-6 months. As usual, I hadn’t really thought about it until I was sitting in the chair, staring at the needles and thinking ‘What am I doing?!’ but Dr Christine made me feel so relaxed. She was informative and went through all of the information with me, from case studies to medical forms, and the other available treatments that she offers. I couldn’t believe that the actual procedure only lasted a couple of minutes, and I hadn’t even felt the 9 quick needle pricks. My skin was left slightly red but it soon went down, and I was told to actively move my face around to let it all sink in properly, with the full effects taking up to two weeks to show.

 

How it felt/feels

The initial sensation felt like when an ice pack has been applied to the skin and it feels numb. This feeling lasted around 2 days and then it started to feel quite tight. Now, 2 weeks later, the only way I can describe it is to imagine that your skin is made of paper, and all of a sudden your forehead is made of cardboard. Everything else remains the same but you can feel that one area is different.

 

The results 

I am so impressed with the results. The lines have been reduced significantly, but they haven’t disappeared completely (as requested, for a more ‘natural’ effect) and it was great to watch the change over the two week period. As you can see from the pictures, it really has made such a difference but at the same time, it is still very subtle.

Week 1:

 

Week 2:

 

Week 3 (trying my absolute hardest to get lines):

 

The verdict 

Botox works best as an Anti ageing treatment, meaning that it is more effective if you start using it before the wrinkles appear (I mean, who doesn’t want to look like Kylie at the age of 50? And she started using Botox in her 20s). The only thing is, I have come to realise that my expressive personality is part of who I am. It is part of my identity and without my very deep frown lines I don’t feel like ‘me’. Who would have thought I would miss my wrinkly forehead?! I am really glad I tried it. I had a positive experience and I would recommend it to anyone who was considering it so you can judge for yourselves, after all, everyone is different. Saying that, I would also encourage you to love the things you see as ‘imperfections’, because its those ‘imperfections’ that make you unique. And that is not a bad thing.

A big thank you to Dr Christine, check out her Instagram account to see her work, the services she has on offer, and some of her incredibly beautiful clients.

http://www.drchristine.co.uk/treatments