Botox for Beginners

After 39 years of shooting people dirty looks, karma has caught up with me and I have a semi-permanent scowl on my face. In addition to the upsetting lines on my face, I have found that my actual scowls have become less effective. So I'm going to write this review as I have all my others from day to day. I found lots of reviews like "I loved it!" or "I hated it!" but despite feeling educated, there will still a bunch of surprises. For example, I didn't really understand that it was not instantaneous or that it wasn't really a solution around my mouth.

I will write a second review about the procedure itself. A little background: I have always had the horizontal forehead lines and for some reason, despite them being more prominent, they don't really bother me. But that line between my eyes that I can't always see in the mirror, but I can always see when I catch my reflection, oh that little thing has been bothering me. I've been asking my various beauty providers for years "if it is time" and the answer has been no- until two weeks ago when my laser hair removal friend said "yes". So she referred me to her girl and I made the appointment.

As the appointment drew closer, I started studying all of the lines on my face and what started as one and then all of a sudden I was like "I've got 15 and I'm going to do all of them!" But then I reminded my self that botox is probably like teeth whitening and spray tans- it's a slippery slop and you can quickly look like a freak. I decided to express my desire to not look like a real housewife (I mean in the overdone sense- actually i would still like to look like one) and let the professional tell me if I needed to do all of it at once. Side note: Driving to appointment I did have thoughts like "OMG will I be the first person to die from botox?".

My Injector was amazing- she talked through everything we could do (and importantly, what we couldn't do) and what to expect. We did pictures and before starting she warned me that no one ever said they didn't like botox! I will have a follow up appointment in two weeks.

My provider was great about telling me the results would not be instantaneous- but I guess I didn't fully appreciate that BEFORE I made the appointment so for all you in the same boat as me- I hope you take that lesson with you. They say 14 days is when it really sets in though improvements can be seen in as little as 3-5. I think a lot of people probably make the mistake of doing this for an event. That would be a mistake. I'm currently suffering some painful spots on my head - I look like I was attacked by mosquitoes. Honestly, it only hurts to touch- it's sort of like how you feel really tender ever a Novocaine shot. It didn't hurt at all going in, but 24 hours later, I'm happy to not let anything brush my forehead. Thank god I don't have to be seen this weekend!

I feel like I'm waiting for one of those clear bronzer spray tans to develop- you know when you just prayed you didn't wake up finding out you missed a spot? Only this is my face. Stay tuned.