Bargain Botox - Corners NOT to Cut When Shopping Online

K. Mathews on 16 Mar 2012 at 12:00pm

As more and more people turn to non-invasive cosmetic procedures to boost their appearance, the number of those who look to obtain these products without a doctor is increasing in an effort to cut costs.

It doesn’t take much searching to find what sellers claim are fillers and prescription drugs available online. Unfortunately, that same attitude that led your dad to think he could build a porch by himself is also inspiring people to take cosmetic procedures into their own hands… and the results can end up just as disastrous.

Even here on RealSelf, readers frequently ask our board-certified doctors whether it’s okay to buy medi-beauty products online, including:

“No!” is the resounding answer to all of these questions.

One of the main reasons the doctors give is that online items are often counterfeit.

"When you order from a third party online vendor, you really have no idea what product you are even getting. It could be an imitation product with different characteristics, or an entirely different substance altogether,” says Dr. Anita Patel.

"Any reputable doctor buys [] directly (not through third party deals online), and the doctor's price for the product is standard. If you are getting it at a cost lower than your doctor can get it for, you should be suspicious."

But even if you were to find the real thing, that still wouldn’t make it safe. Without proper precision, not only will it not look as good, you can actually cause a lot of damage. Although you are skipping a trip to the doctor's initially, "you may wind up in a physician's office anyway," cautions Dr. Harold Kaplan.

botox no prescription

Saving a few bucks might be beneficial for your wallet, it could be detrimental to your health. Licensed doctors are not just middle men there to rip you off -- they are trained professionals with the expertise required to successfully perform cosmetic procedures.

If you’re looking for a cosmetic procedure deal from board-certified doctors, check out the “Deals Nearby” section on the right side of our Find a Doctor page. And if you buy a coupon from daily deals site, make sure to adequately research whoever will perform the procedure.

Would you feel comfortable buying a cosmetic product online without a prescription?

Comments (7)

nadiahoney 23 Jul 2012

I would never ever perform my own botox, that's true. I mean the prescription creams, which you simply smear on yr face. I do know that drug companies jacked up the price of retin-A, so that the cost of it has little to nothing to do with the quality. That's why I am thinking about getting it cheap. I just was wondering if there are any reliable companies outside the US that make it available for less money. Of course I don't want it at all if it's going to be made with lead or something in it, but i simply cannot justify paying three hundred dollars for one percent retin-A when it was less than half of that a few years ago.

BewarePerfectionCancun 2 Oct 2012

-:- Message from RealSelf staff -:-

This comment does not follow our Community Guidelines and/or Terms of Service. We reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

RealSelf Admin (Community Manager) 11 Oct 2012

This post has been blocked because it promotes purchasing prescription medication from an online pharmacy or vendor that does not require or verify prescriptions. Medical experts have advised the RealSelf team that this practice is potentially dangerous and may violate FDA regulations and federal laws, so posts of this nature are not allowed.

BewarePerfectionCancun 2 Oct 2012

opps shipped :)

nadiahoney 2 Oct 2012

well I can understand being leery....it turned out to be totally harmless, but also very weak, I thought and so did my friends. It didn't make us peel or ANYTHING. I notified the company and let them know about it, and researched it some more all over the place, but found no complaints about it in any way, including the weak aspect. In their favor they were very helpful on the phone about my complaint, and took the box numbers et al to look into it, offered to let me ship it back, and said they had had no other complaints. Also I found that the company is a VERY well-trusted company that has been around for a while and is not some random, sketchy company. In fact Johnson and Johnson was originally one of the most sketchy companies. They admit to it at least, which I respect. It's the FDA that I trust more, although not entirely since they do drop the ball on many occasions. So I felt knowing what I know about past shipments and research that it was a worthwhile investment, but as I told the company on the phone and in mail, since I felt it was so weak for .01 percent, they most likely lost a good client. Oh and the reason pricing is so low is that it really does cost so little to make it and they DON'T raise the price in a ludicrous manner as the companies here do. I'm telling you, to take the acid form of Vitamin A (tretinoin) and put it in a gel or cream base is a minimal expense. Packaging, true, a bit more, but not almost 300 dollars worth! I don't want to support this taking advantage of the American public, at least not without good explanation. I just don't feel it's right since I wouldn't do this to people with the things I sell -- it's a moral issue, really.

Sharon at RealSelf (Community Manager) 19 Mar 2012

I wouldn't feel comfortable either, and I wouldn't expect to find prescription meds at a rock-bottom price. Why is it so low? It just screams "counterfeit" to me (kind of like those cheap "Prada" bags you can buy from street vendors).

Megan P (Community Manager) 16 Mar 2012

No, I personally wouldn't feel comfortable with that at all. I think I've read too many reviews of this going terribly wrong, and very few reviews where things turned out ok to even think it was slightly a good idea.