My dad, Anthony, is a 55-year-old retired NYPD detective who grew up in the Bronx and was on the scene during the September 11 terrorist attacks—he’s not exactly the type of guy to worry about his wrinkles. But that changed when I started working in the beauty industry. My dad is blindly supportive of me and my brother—no matter what we do, he takes an interest in it—so when I began writing for beauty publications, he felt the need to keep up with the latest trends. He read all my articles and asked me about everything from hyperpigmentation to fine lines.
Three years ago, when I first noticed creases starting to form, I complained about them to my father. “Welcome to the club,” he said. I’m 29 now, and forehead wrinkles are the one skin concern that both of us share. In an effort to erase my lines, I get Botox regularly, and I love my results. Seeing that, my dad jumped at the opportunity to get injected a couple years ago too, ignoring his friends who poked fun at him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the most positive experience.
“The first time I got Botox, I had the Spock look—I looked like a villainous cartoon character,” he explains. “I thought there was something wrong with my eyebrows, so I shaved one of them to even it out. My wife couldn’t stop laughing at how ridiculous I looked.”
He was understandably hesitant to try again, but in honor of Father’s Day, I convinced him to do a father-daughter day at the dermatologist, to give Botox another shot (pun intended).
We put our trust in Dr. Sheryl D. Clark, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, and documented our appointment. Here the derm’s advice for avoiding botched brows after Botox; the reason, she says, that many men are coming in for treatment; and our final results.
Related: 8 Times When Your Injector Might Suggest Getting Botox Before Filler
The appointment
Dr. Clark: What bothers you about your forehead, and why are you looking to get Botox?
Anthony: As I get older, I’ve been getting more and more wrinkles that I hadn’t paid any attention to. When I look back at myself in old pictures, I still feel like I’m 27, but it’s clear that I don’t look like I’m 27. Every once in a while, I walk past a mirror and think, Who is that person? It shocks the hell out of me!
Dr. Clark: Have you tried Botox in the past?
Anthony: Yes, I had a bad experience a few years ago—my eyebrows turned into an upside-down V shape whenever I moved them. Why did that happen, and was it fixable?
Dr. Clark: Yes, that could’ve been fixed by putting a little bit of Botox in the lateral frontalis muscle [on the outer edge of the forehead]. Some people have a really strong central frontalis muscle, but others have a very small lateral component. And if you have that, when you relax the central frontalis muscle, the lateral frontalis muscle sections are going to overcompensate, to try to lift up your brow even more, which results in the “owl” look that you experienced.
Julie: How will you treat my dad’s forehead today in order to create a more natural look?
Dr. Clark: I will relax the forehead furrows by injecting along the central and lateral frontalis muscles as well as relax the glabellar lines with Botox too. To improve his crow’s-feet, we’ll inject along the side of the eyes as well.
Julie: Are you seeing an increase in men coming in for injections?
Dr. Clark: Absolutely. For many men, it’s an entry-level procedure. Surprisingly, I find it’s not really about wanting to be more confident and more relaxed at work or even to improve their dating life—which is what people typically assume about men who want Botox. Instead, it’s just that they want to look younger and, over all, better.
Julie: None of my dad’s friends would get Botox with their daughters, so I love that my dad is willing to try it with me. Do you think men feel that there’s a stigma?
Dr. Clark: I do think that for older men, there’s a huge hurdle that they have to get over where they don’t want to feel like they’re going to be judged. They don’t want to feel like they might be vain. So sometimes, even if they want it, they’re not quite comfortable enough to try it. It takes them a little longer to get to the point where they feel comfortable enough to even bring it up to me.
Julie: Interesting! As a 29-year-old, I want Botox to smooth the fine lines that have started to develop across my forehead and prevent future lines from developing. What are your thoughts on that?
Dr. Clark: That’s doable. For you, we’ll place Botox along the brows, to give them a bit of a lift. We’ll treat the procerus muscles [between the brows] and the corrugator muscles [right above the center of the brows]. Once these muscles are relaxed, the forehead lines will soften.
Julie: Perfect! Anything else we need to know about keeping our foreheads line-free?
Dr. Clark: Yes. If you really want to get these furrows to be better long-term, you have to come back and have [the injections] done again before the Botox is 100% gone. It’s like putting your arm in a cast—the muscles get smaller when you can’t use them. But if you wait until you’ve completely recovered from it, they’re going to get big again, and it’s going to be harder to get them to smooth over. But if you keep up with the appointments and come back when there’s about 40% of your Botox left, then your muscles actually stay smaller and you have more of a chance of keeping those lines flattened out.
Related: 4 Reasons Men Are More Open Than Ever About Getting Plastic Surgery
The results
About eight days after our appointment, my dad and I have minimal movement in our foreheads and, hence, improved lines. Since I’ve gotten regular Botox injections over the past few years, I don’t see much of a difference in my look. My forehead remains as smooth and slick as an ice rink. There’s not a single fine line etched into its surface.
“My forehead lines definitely look smoother and I did not end up with scary Spock brows, this time around,” my dad said to me once the effects kicked in. “I feel a lot better about getting Botox in the future.”
As an added bonus, our father-daughter day at the dermatologist was an amazing bonding experience. We shared a lot of laughs during our appointment, and it was touching to see how excited my dad was to partake in one of my work-related assignments. As far as pre-Father’s Day festivities go, this was definitely one for the books.
