It was over a year ago that my best friends started getting Botox— we’re getting to that age, I guess. Of course seeing them do it sparked my interest, but my fear of needles (and low pain tolerance) held me back. I convinced myself that my fine lines weren’t that noticeable, and I had a good five years before I really had to commit to the injections. Those five years quickly came to a halt when I started noticing my makeup was caking in said fine lines. So, I put on my big girl pants and made an appointment.
Maybe you’ve noticed (maybe you haven’t), but my brows are slightly uneven. My left eyebrow sits higher on my face than my right. It bugs. I was constantly trying to pencil in my right brow with a higher arch to overcompensate for the unevenness, but could never get it right. My knee jerk reaction was to get my brows micro-bladed so that they were semi-permanently filled in more evenly. I had no idea that Botox could fix this problem. As soon as I sat down in the chair, Veronica said, “we can fix that.” I was relieved.
Another interesting (not really) thing about me is that the right side of my forehead has a lot more wrinkles than the left. So basically, I’m an asymmetrical mess. Veronica had a plan to tackle both issues, which required strategic placements of the injections.
What we did
She wanted to start with 10-12 units at my frown and brow line, to see if that would help relax the brow on the left side, while freezing the muscles on the right. My injections had to be a bit disproportional in order to get it right. After that, I’d do a follow up appointment and we’d add more units if and where necessary to really even out my brows and forehead. What I love about her (this is my high school sweetheart’s mom, by the way) is that she tends to start conservative— because she acknowledges the fact that you can’t undo the Botox once it’s injected. I really appreciate this approach because I want to maintain a very natural look.
My palms were sweaty AF when I sat down in the chair. I don’t do needles without a rush of anxiety, so to say I was nervous is an understatement. It’s more so the idea of the needle, than it is the actual pain caused by them, but I generally try to avoid needles at all costs (it goes without saying that I’ll likely never get a tattoo). That said, she talked me through the whole thing. She showed me the teeny tiny needle, and offered a numbing topical cream to help eliminate some of my anxieties. When she was ready to prick me, she told me. I was shocked at how little I felt, and how quickly it all went. You feel the initial poke, and hear a crunching noise as the needle enters the muscle, but it’s truly nothing. And I swear to you, if I say it’s not a big deal, it really isn’t a big deal. The whole procedure took three minutes, tops.
Immediately after the appointment, I was forcing every over-exaggerated facial expression in the mirror to see if my wrinkles were still there. They were. Botox generally takes 4-7 days to kick in, so I was forced to be patient. By Saturday (I got the Botox on Wednesday), I could tell my wrinkles were diminishing. I had a lot less wrinkles on the right side of my face, and nearly no frown lines. However, my brows still felt uneven.
Come Tuesday (6 days post-Botox), a large majority of my wrinkles were totally gone. There are a few places (the outer sides of my forehead) where we didn’t do Botox and I think we could add some additional units there, but overall I’m super happy with the outcome. My brows look better, but not perfect. The Botox evened them out slightly, but totally changed the shape and arch of them. So now I’m having to relearn how to pencil them in based on the new shape and positioning on my face. They’re still a work in progress.
Overall, I’m extremely happy with my first Botox experience and how my body digested it. In addition to being wrinkle-free, my skin texture is so much smoother. Honestly, I wish I had started sooner for preventative reasons, because the sooner you start the less likely you are to develop deep wrinkles later on. Needless to say, I’m a believer and this won’t be my last time.
For the sake of authenticity, here’s a (very unflattering) before and after of my naked face (no makeup). Due to the photo quality, it’s hard to see the fine lines on the outer sides of my forehead (where we didn’t do Botox), but you can get an idea of how Botox fixed my major wrinkles.