The way we approach beauty took a total 180 just a little over two decades ago, when the ground-breaking injectable Botox was FDA approved for cosmetic use. Allure was there to cover the news: In 2002, we reported on the nation’s concerns that the human face as we know it would become a frozen, expressionless mask.
Since then, the injectable market has exploded as the number of 11 lines around the world has receded. There are five neuromodulators (Botox, Dysport, Jeuveau, Xeomin, Daxxify) for smoothing wrinkles, and a robust menu of hyaluronic acid fillers for plumping lips, cheeks, and laugh lines. The human face has not, in fact, become completely incapable of expression. But the way its creases and contours transform with age have — for some of us — changed. And social media – which none of us saw coming in 2002 – has had a profound impact on aesthetics.
Somewhere along the line, the decision to-fill-or-not-to-fill became less about personal preference and more politically-charged. Through it all, Allure’s stance has been this: We report the facts, you make the decisions. And we want to be transparent about what we ourselves partake of in this injectable world.
Granted, our participation is predicated on the fact that we’re not paying for it. In fact, unless otherwise noted, our editors received every treatment mentioned in this piece for free. Before you make your own decision, you should know that depending on where you live and who’s doing the injecting (Allure recommends only seeing board-certified dermatologists), a neurotoxin treatment in a single area of the face (like the forehead or crow’s feet) can cost around $400-$500. Filler is typically even more expensive with a price tag of upwards of $1,000 to treat areas like the jawline.
But the lure of free treatments hasn’t swayed all our editors. For every staffer who never misses a biannual Botox touchup (like those you’ll hear from below), there’s another who’s never touched the stuff. A few of us, like deputy digital director Kara McGrath, have spent time in both camps. “I’m all for getting injectables whenever you want, but I also love that their temporary nature means you can take a break to reacquaint yourself with your face whenever you want, too,” she says. Read on for seven editors’ personal injectable regimens.
“I’m always excited to talk about my injectables. I want us to get beyond the myth that ‘black doesn’t crack.”
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