I Got Botox at 35

And I’m going to get it again!

-Debbie Emery

When Botox first hit the headlines in the early nineties as the new magic wrinkle-reducing solution, I vowed that I would never do it. Injecting botulism into my forehead? I couldn’t think of anything worse! I had the smugness of a smooth-skinned twentysomething who believed that she would always be blessed with a flawless face and if not – damn it, I’d just grow old gracefully and think of each line as a beautiful souvenir of time.

Of course, add on a few years and those little character lines stopped being so appealing. Still, I resisted, for fear of transforming myself into one of those frozen-faced Los Angeles women who can’t even crack a frown no matter how loud their little dogs yap. However, the more I learned about Botox the more I became tempted to give it a shot. Just as with anything in life, isn’t subtlety the name of the game? I enjoy highlighting my hair and getting a tan, but I’ll never go so far as to look like a bleached blonde Playboy Bunny, so why should I go over the top when it comes to cosmetic touch ups?

Read about Botox in a Jar

A few months after my 35th birthday, when the fine lines on my face really started to bug me and the groove between my eyes became the first thing I saw when I looked in the mirror, I finally took the plunge and made an appointment with Dr. Gabriel Chiu of Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery, Inc.

I was ecstatic with the results , and even today, four months later, those pesky lines haven’t returned. I immediately looked and felt younger and more confident, and the best part of it was that no one knew! Friends came up to me every day and commented on how great I looked, but they all thought it was due to a good night’s sleep or a relaxing yoga class. They never dreamed I’d get Botox – there was no way no one would ever know I’d had it done, unless I was daring enough to write a story about it!

“The secret to getting a natural result with Botox,” says Dr. Chiu, “is to find a practitioner who is well experienced with getting different levels of muscle relaxation and to follow up afterwards so that you can give them feedback. If your preference is for a stronger or weaker amount of activity, they should document the changes needed to achieve this the next time.” The expertise of the person giving the injection will have a dramatic effect on the quality of results, he says; you’ll get a much more natural look from visiting a qualified cosmetic or plastic surgeon.