The Difference Between Getting Botox in your Twenties vs. your Forties

Client: You’re so lucky, you don’t need any of this stuff.
Me: Oh but I do! I usually do a few microneedling sessions per year, 2-3 chemical peels per year, Botox twice a year, and fillers once a year to just maintain myself. I look like I don’t need anything, because I’ve been doing things since my early 20’s, and I’m turning 30 soon!

This is a conversation I have multiple times a day. I can’t stress enough how important preventative measures are for almost everything in life! Consider most diseases. Do not wait until you are showing signs and symptoms of a disease to start habits that can lead you back to health. Maintain your health daily by exercising and good eating habits and do preventative checks so you can drastically minimize the risk of something scary popping up at a doctor’s visit. This is how we can also look at aging radiantly.

Do not wait until you have a map of brown spots on your face from sun damage until you have your first IPL procedure and start using SPF with zinc. Do not wait until the dark pockets under the eyes are so deep that you need multiple syringes of Voluma to replace the far gone fat pads. And do not wait until the wrinkles from harsh muscle movement is so heavily etched into the skin that when you come in to see, me I am doing purely corrective work and totally loading you up with Botox. Instead, come see me when finer lines are starting to set in, because then I can treat you minimally and preventatively, which is much, much easier to maintain. Your skin will thank you, and I will thank you for taking care of yourself.

When I do a consultation for someone in their mid 40s-50s who has concerns about deep lines in between the eyebrows or across the forehead, I usually have to start them off with a much higher dose of Botox and see them more frequently throughout the year to pull off corrective work and reverse damage that has been done to the surface skin layers. When I do a consultation for someone in their 20s or 30s who has concerns about finer lines and differences they are starting to see due to aging, I can get away with using a much more conservative dosing of Botox and see them less throughout the year for maintenance treatments because muscle memory isn’t as strong, thus making a smoother skin surface quicker and with less cost.

The lesson to be learned is that we shouldn’t assume that others may be luckier than us because they look like they don’t need any help with aging gracefully. Chances are that they have already started taking more advance care of themselves by medical grade skincare, Botox, needling treatments, fillers, chemical peels, or all of the above! You never know, but what you do know now is that it is better to start taking care of yourself sooner than later.

I’ll see you soon, beauties
-Vanessa Lee, RN

Follow  @vanessalee_rn on Instagram to see my work and latest beauty tips.