The smooth transition
It seems that a little Botox doesn’t needle quite like it did, with more wrinkle-free women admitting to getting a little help,
Acouple of years ago in Auckland I arrived at a friend’s place for drinks to see another guest looking uncommonly good. She was glowing, relaxed, at ease. ‘‘Did you just get your eyebrows done? New foundation?’’ I asked.
‘‘Harriet, I have had a tiny bit of Botox,’’ she replied, in a tone both proud and a little secretive.
‘‘Just the smallest amount they can do, between my brows.’’
The thing is, she looked incredible, but also exactly the same. Her face just had that elusive well-rested look we’re all always chasing. There was no sign of intervention, just an absence of stress.
I’m not sure how many other people she told, but it certainly wasn’t a secret. It was, however, a surprise. We weren’t yet 30. If other friends of ours were getting Botox, they weren’t talking about it much.
Now, living in Melbourne, it feels like people are much more open about it. It’s not uncommon to see someone post their Botox appointment to their Instagram story. More and more, it seems like Botox is nothing to be ashamed of. The question is, what about in New Zealand? Have attitudes shifted in the past few years?
That depends, says Jane Lowe, who lives in Auckland and runs yoga website, The Yoga Connection. She started getting Botox two years ago, just before she turned 50.
‘‘When I spoke about it on my yoga channel, it just went off. I’ve never had so many messages,’’ she says. ‘‘I can’t shut up about it now.’’
People were fascinated, she says, asking everything from why, to where, to how much. However, they were all asking via direct message rather than in public comments.
‘‘It’s still quite harshly judged. If you’ve [had Botox], then [people think] the only reason you look good is because you’ve done that, rather than enhancing,’’ Lowe says.
She would also push back on the idea that it’s superficial or vain: ‘‘You can still do yoga and live a good life and get some Botox.’’
Dr Sarah Hart, who does Lowe’s Botox, says it’s ‘‘almost standard’’ for her patients to split payments between multiple credit cards to avoid one big charge showing on an account.
Most of the people she sees are women aged 35 to 65, with 45 to 55 making up the bulk of her books.
‘‘I’m obsessed with keeping people looking natural, so I attract an older age group,’’ Hart says.
Some younger women favour a more extreme look, but Hart won’t do Botox unless there are wrinkles to treat.
‘‘Sunscreen is the best preventer,’’ she says. The New Zealand Society of Cosmetic Medicine doesn’t currently have data regarding the size of the Botox market, but says it is growing exponentially.
Dr Ellen Selkon, of Clinic42 in Auckland, says that in the past three years, she’s seen much less in the way of split bills and secrecy.
‘‘Friends definitely are talking amongst themselves, and people tend to let their partner know what treatments they are having,’’ she says.
Some clients still prefer to keep it to themselves but, as Selkon points out, with social media we all appear in so many more photos than we used to. Changes might be more noticeable.
It’s not for everyone – at between $300 and $800 a treatment, Botox isn’t particularly affordable – but Selkon says it is becoming more accepted.
‘‘We have a lot of mothers bringing daughters in for preventative treatments, wishing they had started a bit earlier,’’ she says.
Lisa Morris, who owns Loft Beauty Boutique, started getting preventative Botox 12 years ago when she was 22.
At the time she worked at Caci Clinic, and was able to get it for free. She isn’t sure if she would have bothered otherwise, and even now she only gets it once or twice a year.
Most people go every three or four months.
‘‘I don’t mind a bit of movement and it can be a bit expensive,’’ she says.
‘‘You don’t have to overdo it.’’
Morris says that while people have become more accepting of the whole idea, there are still a lot of old perceptions around. She didn’t get Botox while she was pregnant with her son, and had people asking ‘‘what’s going to happen to your face’’, as if it was going to completely change.
‘‘People don’t like to say that they’ve had it done,’’ she says.
‘‘It’s still quite harshly judged. If you’ve [had Botox], then [people think] the only reason you look good is because you’ve done that.’’ Jane Lowe, pictured