Tthe first time someone dares to bring up Botox, it’s often done in whispers: “Who are you going to? Is it safe? Look at these lines, don’t you think I need it?” Like smoking weed or playing poker, being introduced to botulinum toxin is akin to entering a secret society – one with its own rituals and language that can act as a gateway to far more precarious pursuits.
I got my first piercing three years ago when I was 26, which my older colleagues tell me makes me feel alarmingly young. It is, but it’s also worryingly not abnormal, with the UK Department of Health estimating that up to 41,000 botox procedures were given to under-18s before it became illegal in 2021. Use of the toxin is significantly higher in my generation than population as a wholewith 13 per cent of Britons aged 25-34 having taken wrinkle relaxers, compared to the national average of just 7 per cent.
It all started with the so-called baby Botox, which people call a more subtle application of a smaller dose that is injected into your forehead, frown lines and crown legs as a preventative measure. The idea, essentially, is that if you can’t move the muscles in your face, then lines won’t form over them, preventing wrinkles for longer. But there is no evidence that this works. Some professionals say there’s no point in starting Botox until lines start to fully appear in your thirties and forties. That didn’t stop me and my expressive face at 26, though, did it? I could see cracks starting to appear – my friends had too, so I wanted it too.
Nine months later, I was back in the chair for the full Botox. I didn’t care about anything baby this time – because having a partially frozen face was great and I wanted more. My forehead was perfectly smooth. My eyes didn’t wrinkle in the photos. My features seemed more symmetrical. The makeup was sitting better. I was basically stuck. But like many addicts, I was also too broke to go back to the Harley Street clinic that gave me my first hit (as a press) for free. So I talked to someone who knew someone about finding a cheaper alternative and soon found myself at a clinic that regularly offered injections in bargain packages. “Seems in six months,” I thought to myself. “What’s the harm, really?”
Although the practice I went to was noticeably cheaper than the first, the procedures were thankfully still carried out by doctors regulated and certified by the General Medical Council (GMC), who use quality products. This is not always the case. Over the past half decade, there have been many reports of fraudsters injecting patients with illegal black market substances shipped in from abroad. Last year, the North East saw a serious outbreak of botulism – a (formerly) rare disease that can leave sufferers unable to speak, breathe or swallow. The number of cases increased so much that hospitals ran out of antitoxin to treat patients altogether.
Dr. Farnaz Afshar, my most trusted injector, tells me she turns young people away from her clinic “every day,” not just because of their age, but because they don’t need Botox or fillers at all. “Wrinkles in the upper face and lip volume are the most common areas of concern,” she says of the patients she sees, who are typically 25 and older. “They don’t have the problem they think they do.” Afshar adds that estheticians selling treatments to people who don’t need them is an immediate red flag. “Less is more,” he says. “If they’re trying to convince you that you need hundreds of treatments, then they’re salespeople, not injections.”
Botox can often be the helping hand that leads you down the garden path of further cosmetic procedures. I haven’t had anything else done, but filler (hyaluronic acid injected into the face for volume) is often the next port of call. Other than that, there are mini facelifts, salmon sperm injections and non-surgical nose jobs – all of which I spend hours watching other people get done on TikTok. If I had a little more money or less confidence, who knows, I might have pulled the trigger. When injectables are less invasive than a smear test, it’s hard to see the big deal.
With a quick search I can find Botox injections for as little as £119 – when the current market price is over £250. Lip filler is costing up to a staggering £45 in a New Year’s sale in January by a beautician on Instagram. With so many fancy online influencers detailing their experience of getting these procedures, it’s easy to see how someone might be tempted to book an unaccredited injector for less than the price of a weekly shop – or even a big round.
“Aesthetic products are expensive – even for clinic owners. So it’s unrealistic to offer them at unreasonably low prices,” warns Dr. Afshar, noting that she’s been approached many times by brands flogging questionable products for low prices, trying to get her to use them on her clients. “Products I’ve never even heard of,” he says. “It’s very important that they only come from reputable pharmacies… You can always ask your injector why their prices are low and they should show you the box.”
Last September, 33-year-old Alice Webb became the first person in the UK to die after a suspected liquid Brazilian butt lift (BBL) procedure in Gloucestershire. Following her untimely death, there were calls from the British Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology Association and the British Beauty Council for the government to consider high-risk procedures for Botox and fillers in a bid to stop profits from role model culture. New government rules mean clinics will have to meet strict standards to get Botox and filler licenses at all – but this cannot be implemented until the regulations are passed by parliament.
Dr. Afshar agrees that Botox and fillers should be classified as high-risk procedures. “Any injectable comes with the risk of a side effect,” he says. “The most basic is the risk of allergies – anaphylactic reaction. An untrained injector could not manage even the simplest risks. We see adverse effects every day. From simple treatments to the most advanced… Remember, none of these treatments are urgent. Take your time. Do your research. Don’t feel pressured.”
Even when quality Botox is administered correctly, very little is known about the long-term health effects it can have, which doesn’t stop me from injecting it into my face every six to nine months. Vanity is, quite simply, often stronger than common sense. Some studies have found that Botox can cause permanent changes in facial expression. Meantime, other research found that not being able to mimic another person’s facial expression can reduce their ability to recognize and process their emotions. This led to the bold claim that “Botox kills the empathy center in your brain,” which was widely derided by practitioners and even those who celebrated suffer from depression or trends that people like online.
Getting Botox in your early or even mid-20s may seem sad, but what’s really shocking at this stage is that people are still shocked by it. When I was eight, Nicky Hambleton-Jones was turning women on to the loathsome makeover programme 10 Years Younger. Then he came Keeping up with the Kardashiansthe ITV reality show Island of Loveand Snapchat’s “filter face,” which offered us a glimpse of ourselves with smooth foreheads and high cheekbones long before we longed to see them in the mirror. While injectables were once the luxurious youth elixir of older, wealthier people who could only afford the best, these beauty treatments are now on the price lists of many beauticians, waiting for insecure young adults to eagerly scoop them up.
Kylie Jenner, of the Kardashians Family fame, she said she would be “hurt” if her daughter Stormi ever had surgery at 19 like she did. “He’s the cutest thing ever,” the 28-year-old said of her smiling little one. Maybe, one day, I’ll look at 26-year-olds and wonder in horrified retrospect why I ever felt the need to ice my face when I was so young. It took me three years to tell my mom what I was doing. I’m not sure I’ll ever tell my dad. But as with tattoos, piercings, hair dyes and cigarettes, I won’t be the last young adult to experiment with things their parents told them not to touch. We cannot control this. But we can check industry standards and safe practice – and we should.
