Why I’ve come around to the idea of Botox, and why you should too!

For so long, I was totally against Botox. I vowed I would never let anyone inject my face or change the natural look of my face in any way. Botox seemed scary and also seemed vain and self-indulgent. Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t even like makeup…so why would I do something like Botox?! But in the course of time, experience, and in watching my face mature in a not so graceful fashion, I have completely flipped my viewpoint.

My initial skeptical and negative opinions on botulinum toxin treatments I see now were wrong. These treatments, when done properly, and strategically, are non-invasive and are an easy way to feel fresh and maintain my natural appearance. I don’t have to look fake or frozen, because I don’t inject myself with too much. (Full disclosure—While I use the name Botox so everyone is familiar with what I’m talking about, I’ve discovered that I actually prefer Xeomin to Botox for my face. It’s a more pure version of the botulinum toxin protein and lasts a little longer). I’ve carefully titrated up my number of units and inject just enough Xeomin to relax any wrinkles that make me look older & angrier than I am. But I don’t use too much. Because for me, it’s very important to be able to move my face and make facial expressions. Some women want no movement, and I completely respect that. But for me, I want to have some natural lines and I want to be able to raise my brows and scowl if I need to.

But, while I like expressing my genuine emotions, I definitely don’t want to look like I’m scowling when my face is at rest. I don’t want the default look on my face to appear angry! But I found that without targeted injections of Xeomin, my natural frown lines (aka 11 lines between my eyebrows), my deepening crow’s feet and my pronounced forehead lines were taking over…and had started making me look tense at rest. I looked stressed out and annoyed…even on a day when I felt relaxed and joyful on the inside.

Pre-Xeomin, people would frequently ask me things like: “Are you ok?” or “You seem stressed.” or “Did I do something to upset you?” My least favorite comment to hear on a day when I had great sleep the night before was: “You look exhausted! Did you work in the ER last night?” These questions were being posed to me with increasing frequency. But to my surprise, almost immediately after my first Xeomin treatment, these types of questions stopped. Xeomin didn’t freeze my face, it just allowed me to look natural, soften my angry frown lines and appear less haggard and stressed. The happy Katie that I am on the inside is now more accurately reflected on the outside…all because I started Xeomin.

So…clearly, I have changed my position on Botox and Botox-like products like Xeomin and Dysport. I no longer see them as vain and overindulgent. I view botulinum toxin treatments the same way I view teeth whitener or hair dye. All of them work temporarily and non invasively to maintain my appearance in an impactful way. And of critical importance, they improve my appearance without changing who I am. Xeomin isn’t like getting a facelift. It isn’t permanent and doesn’t make me look like a different person. I get to still be me…hopefully with a less of a grumpy expression!