X Factor and the Botoxed Brow!

Watching X Factor on Saturday, while logged onto Facebook, a conversation started about BOTOX® on the show.

I couldn’t help but notice that one of the contestants, towards the end of the show, appeared to have a very ‘blocked’ forehead which makes her seem even more intense than her personality already suggests!

Now of course this is just an opinion but it does raise some interesting points regarding BOTOX®. Particularly as a Facebook friend wondered whether Gary Barlow has had some treatment around his eyes. If he has, it looks great.

BOTOX® as a drug, works ultimately to reduce facial expression. We do not inject it into wrinkles, rather into what produces them, which in the upper face tends to be muscular activity.

When done well, the result is a soft, natural looking rejuvenation. When overdone, which in my opinion appears to be the case with this female X Factor contestant, it looks obvious and unnatural.

The forehead should move. It lifts the eyebrows, allows animation and surprise and stops everyone looking the same. Celebs such as Amanda Holden and Danni Minogue have have previously modelled what appeared to be ‘over treated’ foreheads.

This is not a look that I nor my patients seek.  These days it’s all about looking refreshed without an obvious reason. Clever doctors do it by combining treatments. The old expression that ‘if all you own us a hammer then everything is a nail’ is particularly relevant when applied to cosmetic medicine.

When I see someone for the first time, I aim for us to discuss a plan for the next 12 months at least. The clinic is much more than a ‘BOTOX®’ shop these days. We use fillers to lift the face, IPL to remove sundamage and radiofrequency to tighten. We round things off with Dermaroller and Microdermabrasion to improve skin quality.

Results can mimic surgical procedures without the downtime and expense. Many patients now use an interest free payment plan. Some one called it a ‘gym membership for the face’ recently. While these are obviously medical procedures and not to be undertaken lightly, I can see the similarity.

Funny the thoughts that the X Factor can provoke…