Let’s talk about Botox baby
Let’s talk about you and me
Let’s talk about all the good things
And all the bad things that may be
December 31st, 2017 - One month and 11 days post my first Botox treatment!
Oh, that’s not how that song goes? Oh well, you get the idea. Today’s post is all about Botox! I’ve wanted to share this post with you guys for quite some time and I always hesitated. I guess I think I had something to be ashamed or embarrassed about, but I don't!
Right before Thanksgiving, I got Botox (yes I had a neurotoxic protein injected into me) for the very first time. To say I was terrified was a complete understatement. I had absolutely nothing to be worried about, but we will get to my results in a few.
Let’s talk about what lead me down this road. I had wrinkles, and before you start on me with the “you looked great!” – “You had tiny wrinkles” – “wrinkles are normal!” That’s absolutely fine and dandy, but they began to bother me.
In full disclosure, I had been editing them out of most of my photos for the last year or so. I am a big believer in doing whatever makes YOU feel better. I promise I will not judge you either way if you want to age in the skin you’re in, more power to you. But I knew that I wanted to do something about my forehead sooner rather than later.
It didn’t matter how well I slept, what products I used, or how much water I drank I had horizontal lines across my forehead at all times. They were permanent, not situational. The more research I did, and believe me I did a ton, the more I came around to the idea of doing a small amount of Botox, now, before I “really needed it”. The idea of preventative or “baby botox” seems to be more and more common, at least in my circles. Getting it juuuuuuust before it becomes an issue seems to be working for many.
Also the more research I did and the more people I talked to, the more of you I realized had already jumped on the Botox boat (some of my friends in their very early 20s!).
So let's get to the nitty-gritty of it… I hope to alleviate some of your fears and am totally open and willing to answer any questions you may have.
The "extreme" before - I was asked to look up as hard as I could. November 20th, 2017
I made my Mom come with me to hold my hand (and take pictures for you guys!). She’s had it before and also gets regular injections of Botox for her migraines (all up and down her neck and skull!) so I knew if anyone was going to tell me the truth about the process it was her.
I went to Just Skin, Inc in Encinitas – and I feel like I should pause here...
You should ONLY go to a medical professional, estheticians are NOT licensed to perform Botox (at least here in California) an Registered Nurse or M.D. must be the ones doing your injectable – and really why on earth would you want to go to someone who is not licenced when you're having stuff done to your face?!??
Research, research, research – pretty much everywhere will do a free consultation, take advantage of it... and if they won't that should be a red flag for you.
Nikki, the owner of Just Skin is a good family friend of ours and her medspa is amazing. If you are local I would highly highly recommend them. They offer all kinds of other skin services including facials, lasers, and injectables.I knew I wouldn’t go anywhere else.
So here we are November 20th, and I am a nervous wreck. Nikki quickly calmed my fears and explained the process so thoroughly and logically I was put a total ease. We discussed my medical history and my likely hood of bruising, bleeding etc.
We sat down and she took a few photos of my forehead with different facial expressions. We then discussed the results that I wanted out of it, what expression lines I liked having, how often I wanted to maintain it etc. I didn’t have super bad “elevens” the most common wrinkles treated with Botox, so we agreed we could go pretty minimal around my eyebrows and focus more on that dang forehead!
Next, she applied a numbing cream to my forehead (that’s the greasy stuff you see in the photos) while we discussed further the process. Once I was nice and numb it was all wiped up and my forehead was prepped with antiseptic. I then held a small ice pack in the places she was to inject, rotating places as she went along.
Ok… here is the only part that I was even a tiny bit uncomfortable about. And, the part I wish someone told me about… As they inject the botox it makes a crunching noise. It is the weirdest noise I’ve ever heard in my entire life. It totally creeped me out. So be warned, I was freaking that something was wrong until I said something and both my mom and Nikki said: “isn’t that the weirdest noise!!??!!”. So there you have it… the worst part.
It's not fun, but it doesn’t hurt badly. It's an extremely small needle and a pretty quick poke. I didn’t even need my handheld – so there!
I was instructed not to do any heavy working out (easy, who are we kidding) or lay down for the afternoon. I was also supposed to move and scrunch my forehead as much as possible for 30 minutes to work it all around. As I left the office I snapped a selfie (because even though they told me 90000 times that it would take at least 3 days to start seeing results I thought I would see something…). I had a couple small red spots which you see in the photo. These completely resolved within an hour of leaving the office. You could totally do this on a lunch break of fit it into your day of errands.
Immediately after, November 27th, 2017. Little redness.
I first really noticed results on day 3, the lines were beginning to soften and I was starting to “feel” it some.
Day 5 post injections, beginning to see significant improvments!
Day 5 came with even more improvements and by day 7 my lines that I had stressed over were almost completely gone.
I am 100% happy with my results and will keep everyone posted over the next 6-9 months (when I am told I might need a touch up).
Final results, unedited version of first photo on this post. December 31st, 2017
So, would you ever get Botox?
Been doing it for ages?
Think its totally insane?
Let me know in the comments below!
XOXO | SLL