Braving the Jab – A Member’s Story

I imagine a few of us have a wrinkle or two we’d love to erase or a lip we’d like to see a little (or a lot) plumper. Perhaps we’ve contemplated seeing an appearance medicine specialist to see what they could do and how the process involved. So often though the fear of the unknown can get in the way. So when our amazing Beauty Review member Sarahbeautynz mentioned she’d had one done and was planning on getting the other we had to ask her to share her experience. And bless her darling heart, she did. Read on…

I've been my own guinea pig when it comes to botox and fillers and I know a few of you beauties are curious about these non-surgical procedures, so I'm here to share with you my experience and some much anticipated photos. If you're considering botox or fillers, hopefully this will give you some food for thought as to whether either of these procedures might be right for you. 

Botox

Before Botox

Last year, whilst having my quarter life crisis at age 26, I was at the end of my tether with my weathered forehead lines. There were a few permanent fine lines decorating my fivehead, which would turn in to multiple deep-set lines at the hint of any expression made (approximately every 10 seconds). I started to wonder, if they're this bad already then what are they going to be like in another 5 years. I watched a few YouTube videos to hear about other peoples experience with botox, as no one really talks about it in NZ, browsed CACI's website, then finally took the plunge in booking a botox consultation (free of charge) at my local CACI clinic.

The woman that took me through the consultation was lovely, put me at ease and answered my many, many questions. Because of my age she recommended perhaps trying out a different skincare range instead of jumping straight in to botox as my skin was in a horrible, dry, dehydrated state from multiple years of sun damage, acne and poor skincare. However, I was set on botox as I wanted to halt more wrinkles forming and I'd heard that this was one of the benefits of botox, so I ended up getting it done there and then by a fantastic cosmetic nurse, who I've come to trust wholeheartedly.

I received 10 units, which essentially means 10 injections of botox throughout my forehead. The more deep-set your wrinkles, the more wrinkles you have and the area in which the wrinkles are located on your face will increase the amount of units you need. Each injection feels like a pin prick, it's not very painful at all (in the forehead anyway, lips are another story!). It always stops bleeding immediately and an hour later all signs of any entrance point are gone. You can't lie down for 4 hours immediately following the botox injections, and they make it very clear that you need to use sunscreen religiously going forward otherwise you'll be jeaopardising your results.

I saw results forming over the next few days as the muscles slowly paralysed and the wrinkles all but disappeared. I was still able to move my brows and make all my normal facial expressions, and not one person noticed what was going on, which told me that it didn't look unnatural. I've continued going in for my 10 unit top ups on a 3 monthly basis over the last year, and still no one has noticed! I pay $75 p/month which keeps this ticking over, but obviously the more units you need the more your monthly payment will be. You have to have a consultation to determine this though as it's very individual. They have payment plans available for most of these pricier procedures, of which you also benefit from a certain amount of free facials etc throughout the year.

Botox has honestly changed my life and given me so much more confidence, whilst forcing me to start using sun protection like a mad woman, for which I'm grateful! In the before and after photos you can see the improvement in my overall skin texture as a result of the religious sunscreen use, combined with good skin care. To anyone considering getting it done, I would highly recommend it, just make sure to go somewhere reputable! And if you don't like the end result on you personally, it's not a huge commitment as it goes away after a couple of months.

Botox - 1 year later

Juvederm

Before and after Juvederm

My Juvederm (filler) experience was somewhat more of a bumpy ride! I have a super thin, crooked, lopsided top lip that has plagued me since my early teens. It disappears in photos, and also when I laugh. I'll be honest, it didn't bother me as much as my forehead wrinkles, but it bothered me enough to want to experiment with filler. I didn't need a consultation this time round as my nurse already knew me and my face well so we just discussed what I wanted at my appointment. The price was going to be $700 for 1ml and it only comes in 1ml tubes so you have to spend the $700. I was a bit concerned because I only wanted a little tweaking so wasn't sure I would use the full 1ml, they reassured me that I'd be surprised by other areas of the face they can tweak with any remaining filler. I was told the results should last around a year. They required me to pay $400 up front, then added the remaining $300 to my monthly botox payments split over the next year. 

Again, I'd researched other peoples experiences online and they all spoke of how painful it was. Suffice to say, when I turned up for my appointment I was rather terrified. My nurse applied numbing cream all over my lips and while waiting for it to take full effect we chatted about what I was after. I explained to her that I just wanted to even out my top lip and add a tiny amount of volume. Kylie Jenner-esque lips were not on my wishlist. She made sure my lips were completely numb (at which point they felt huuuge) then set upon them with the Juvederm filled needle. To my absolute delight I couldn't feel a thing! She explained later that it's not uncommon for the area to be 'numbed' with ice instead, which is when it becomes a painful experience as it doesn't actually numb it. 

She injected a little in to the right side of my top lip, then about 2x as much in to the left side in an attempt to lift it. This has always been the flattest side of my lip, my left lip muscles are stronger than the right side so they just force the lip down, instead of up and out. She also plumped up my bottom lip a little to help balance it all out. I always thought my bottom lip was a good size but I really love the subtle difference it made in plumping it up and smoothing out the lines. After she was finished at each injection site she would massage that area of the lip to avoid the product balling up. She recommended I do the same over the course of the day. I ended up up with about 15 different injection sites over my top and bottom lip and the bleeding stopped immediately.

Once everything was said and done my lips looked good as far as I was concerned, I was so impressed at how instant the results were, I HAD NORMAL SIZED LIPS! She hadn't used the full 1ml but wanted to save it for the 1 month check up, as once everything has settled down there would likely be a couple of areas I would want tweaked. Some people don't bruise, but I (of course) did, so I just camoflauged it with a dark lipstick for work. Other than a little tenderness on the first night, they didn't feel bruised or sore in any way. After the swelling went down however, I started noticing that the left side was still looking very flat, so 4 days later I went back. She had to use the remaining filler to fill it A LOT more, but it refused to move, so she injected some botox along that side of my lip line to relax the muscle, which would then allow the lip to open up and lift. Now, that part hurt. Phwoar. But off I went, confident that'd be the end of it.

Not quite. A couple of days later, once the botox had kicked in, it had done what we needed it to do by entirely paralysing and lifting that side of my lip  BUT I looked very lopsided when I talked. The left side sat there limp while the right side was moving around as normal. It's hard to explain, but it looked very bizarre. So, again, I went back 4 days later and she evened me out by injecting botox in to the right side. As I was enduring a few more self-conscious days of having a lopsided mouth while I waited for this lot of botox to kick in, I began doubting my decision to even bother trying the filler as it was proving to be more hassle than it seemed to be worth, but it was a little late to change my mind!2 months later, what are my thoughts? I think I had unrealistic expectations about what the end result would be. As you can see by the photo they are still very much uneven and lopsided. She explained that your lips have spent their entire life being a certain shape and sitting a certain way so it takes a lot of tweaking to figure out how to make the muscles do something different. If I was to get it again the whole process would be a lot easier as they now know what they need to do to achieve the desired outcome in one appointment, but I'm still not entirely convinced at this stage that I will do it again, I may just try a lip plumper. I do really like the end result, I think it it gives a youthful look as the fuller lips add a softness to my face that my naturally thin, pursed lips don't. I'm also loving the fact that my top lip doesn't entirely disappear when I wear dark matte lippies! But is it worth $700? I don't think I'll know the answer to that question until the year has passed.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Sarah. It was such an amazing read. And let’s just say… at least one of us at BRHQ is feeling a little tempted….

So ladies, ‘fess up… have you tried? Will you try? Are you tempted? Do tell!