Hi There,
I hope everyone’s Labor Day weekend has been non-laboring.
While my girls are blogging about college experiences, I’m chatting about Botox. Check out Savanna and Diana’s blogs at the end.
Topic: BOTOX (Botox: Beauty or Blues)
Have you heard of Botox . I’m not talking about the illness caused by Clostridium botulinum bacteria — the one that paralyzes your face [first] then creeps down to your arms and legs and, if it makes its way to your breathing muscles, well then, kiss your respiratory system good-bye. No, not that botox.
I’m referring to the beauty-enhancing (or is it) botox that, chances are, you have indeed have heard about. Maybe you’ve tried it? I have. One time. Why only one time you ask? Because I experienced downright terrifying side effects, that’s why.
My Experience
I sought botox from a highly regarded dermatologist in Atlanta who was recommended by a concierge doctor to see what the hype was all about. My objective was to remove an expression line between my eyebrows. The following side effects hit me almost immediately:
Fainting
Severe diarrhea
Migraine Headache
Numbness in jaw
Excessive tearing
Deep sadness
Each of the above had a depressing story all its own. Although admittedly, after a couple weeks the symptoms wore off and in spite of the dreadful reactions, I ended up liking how I looked.
I knew deep down it was pure insanity for me to consider going back for round two. But, shockingly, I contemplated doing so. Thankfully, two people who “went through” the terribleness with me insisted that I was out of my mind to even consider another round of the toxin.
Alarming Facts
Amidst my botox journey, I discovered that much younger women are advised to begin injections before wrinkles emerge. This fact stunned me. Did you know that 21,000 injections were administered in 2017 to 13 -19 year-olds. Omg! Read about it here: botox-experts-warn.
I’m 57-years-old. As I said, I liked how the result looked. And I think it looks pretty good on much older women. But teenagers; women in their 20s; 30s; even 40s? Have you noticed young women in your neighborhood who have undergone botox injections lately? You can tell who they are from the puffed, frozen, lack-of-expression look on their otherwise perfectly beautiful [underneath it all] faces.
How can there not be a detrimental psychological effect when the paralysis wears off for good should a young woman decide to bag botox?
Side Point (BOTOX: Beauty or Blues)
I’m a pencil portrait artist, or used to be. Wrinkles are my favorite thing to draw. They offer a way to get to know the person by crease-mapping their soul with graphite. I would zone out drawing the lines on the faces below.
A beautiful woman.
A handsome man.
Another handsome man.
Another handsome man.
Wrinkles represent laughter, sorrow, confusion, excitement, joy, life experiences… something to understand the person with. If a 13-year-old starts botox and has no wrinkles when he/she is 70-years-old, there’ll be no interesting soul map.
I’ve found other ways to look healthy and young(er) while embracing character lines as souvenirs of laughter, sorrow, confusion, excitement, joy, life experiences, etc. For example: exercise, organic food, water, dogs, cats, friends, love, simple stuff. And, then of course, there are filters to give one an imaginary lift. Paralyzing poison? No thanks.
Thank you for reading!
Love, Shelley
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” ~ 1 Samuel 16:7