Baby Botox in your 20s — smart prevention or the beginning of expensive dependency?
So I’m 27 and my aesthetician has been pushing baby Botox for the past year. She says starting preventative now means I’ll need way less work later and stay looking younger longer. I finally caved and got it done around my eyes and forehead (like 20 units total). Results are subtle but nice, I will admit.
But here’s my thing… once you start, don’t you kind of have to keep going? Like I’m worried I’m signing myself up for injections every 3-4 months for the rest of my life. That adds up FAST both money-wise and just the commitment of it all.
My older sister (she’s 35) says she wishes she started earlier because now she needs more units to get results. But my mom thinks the whole thing is ridiculous and that I’m too young to be worrying about wrinkles that don’t even exist yet lol.
For those of you who started Botox young – do you regret it? Do you feel like you HAVE to keep it up now? Or has it genuinely been worth it for prevention? I’m trying to figure out if this is actually smart or if I just got sold on something I didn’t really need.
I started at 29 and I’m 34 now, so I’ve been doing it for 5 years. Honestly? Zero regrets. The thing is, you DON’T have to keep going if you don’t want to. It’s not like filler where stopping abruptly can look weird. If you stop Botox, your muscles just start moving again normally and you’ll be exactly where you would’ve been anyway – maybe even slightly better off because you weren’t making those expressions for a while.
The dependency thing is more psychological than physical imo. Like yeah, once you’re used to your face looking a certain way, it’s hard to let it go. But that’s a choice, not a requirement.
I actually disagree with the previous comment a bit – I DO think there’s a dependency issue but not in the way you think. For me it became about always seeing flaws. I started baby botox at 26, and now at 31 I’m also doing filler, laser treatments, the whole nine yards. It’s like once you start “optimizing” your face, you notice every little thing that could be better.
Not saying don’t do it, but be real with yourself about whether you have that personality type. Some people can do minimal maintenance and be happy. Others (hi, it’s me) fall down the rabbit hole.
Your aesthetician has a financial incentive to get you started young, just saying. I’m not anti-Botox at all but the whole “prevention” angle is pretty heavily marketed. The actual science on whether starting in your 20s prevents aging better than starting in your 30s is not as solid as the aesthetic industry wants you to believe.
That said – if YOU like how it looks and it makes you feel good, that’s valid too. Just make sure you’re doing it for you and not because someone convinced you that you need it. At 27 your skin is still producing collagen like crazy.
I waited until 38 to start and tbh I think that was the right call FOR ME. I’m glad I let my face be my face through my 20s and early 30s. But everyone’s different – my best friend started at 25 and loves it, never felt like it was too early.
One thing I’ll say is that the financial commitment is real. I budget $600-800 every 4 months for botox and that’s with pretty minimal units. Over a decade that’s like $20k+. If you started at 27 instead of 37, that’s an extra $25k or whatever. Just something to think about in terms of long term planning.