Is it time for Botox? When is the right age to start?

Late last night, I found myself watching NCIS New Orleans. Two of my loves all in one, the city of New Orleans and Scott Bakula.  I've followed Mr. Bakula through many television series, namely Quantum Leap, Enterprise, and now NCIS New Orleans. Yes, I did see him in a couple of episodes of Men of a Certain Age and HBO's Looking.  What was interesting in those two short lived series was that he was cast as one of the older man.  Wait, that's what he is. Born in October of 1954, Bakula will turn 61 this year.  Yes, he could be my daddy! 

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During the broadcast last night, I truly noticed how old Bakula was.  Yep, his face looked like he was up there in age.  Why doesn't he get botox?

Some of my friends have participated in botox parties.  It's kind of like a tupperware party, but instead of your cabinets getting filled, it's your face.  At 32 and 39, shouldn't they be waiting until they are in their 50's or 60's?  But if it makes them feel better, then I guess it's worth it.  But when is too young to start botox? 

Andrew, a dot-com entrepreneur who splits his time between New York and Dallas, was sick of hearing that he looked worn out. “People would ask, ‘Are you tired? Are you stressed?’” he says. “And I wasn’t. I was just back from the Caribbean and really happy.” So he decided to do something about it. Last February, he had Botox injected into the creases between his eyebrows and the bags underneath his eyes. Andrew (who asked to be identified only by his middle name) is 25 years old. When the doctor who administered his shots offered him pig-shaped foam balls to squeeze if it hurt, he gladly accepted. – details.com

Good lord I am a late bloomer.  I was a virgin until i was 24 and just really starting my life.  To be the age of 25 and contemplating getting botox? Worrying about age lines? Crows feet?  Does this really happen?

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“Everyone is sort of noticing [that men are getting Botox at a younger age],” says Dr. Kenneth Beer, a dermatologist in Palm Beach who administers Botox. “The number of men getting treated is going up, and the age they’re being treated at is going down … guys are getting the shots at an age when they’re still being carded."

“It’s as if men feel they are being held to a higher standard now,” says Dr. Andrew Jacono, a Long Island–based facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon. “These are wealthy, well-educated guys. They’re noticing the changes in their face and want to nip them in the bud before it gets too far. It’s the paranoia that gets them in here early. They feel like they have a good 10 to 12 years to make the big bucks, and they want to always look like they’re 32, like they’re the guy who’s up-and-coming.” – details.com

Hello people!  You are only held to the standard you allow people to hold you to.  If you don't want to be judged, don't let them and don't let them have that power over you.  And come on, it's just lines on your face.  Let's worry about something more important instead.

Don't botox procedures make you look like a deer in headlights?  Is it really worth it if you will look like a freak?

If there were ever a time for the average, tuckered-out thirtysomething guy to try Botox, it’s now. Doctors have dramatically improved their techniques. They once injected a whopping dose in only one place—the two frown lines between the eyebrows—which tended to make the receiver look suspiciously wide-eyed. Over the past decade, with experience, dermatologists have isolated specific muscles in the face—like the ones that lift versus lower an eyebrow—and have learned how to fine-tune their aim and the amount of Botox they use to make the overall effect more natural and less noticeable. The injected man will look a few years younger, not like David Gest. And since the results don’t show up for three to five days, he won’t look conspicuously taut if he goes straight from the doctor’s office to a budget meeting back at work.

“The way we’re training doctors to use it is not to make the patients look like they’ve had Botox,” says Dr. Joseph Eviatar, a New York eye doctor. “We don’t want them to paralyze the muscle. We want them to use a small amount to raise a brow or to reshape the face in a subtle way.”

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So apparently botox procedures don't leave you looking like a unemotional popsicle anymore.  Is this just another way to be on the DL about something?  It seems botox users are still in the closet about what they are doing to their faces.  Granted, the original articles I'm looking at is from Details Magazine and it appears that most of these young men are straight with girlfriends.

Andrew hasn’t told his girlfriend, let alone his friends and colleagues, that he got Botox. “I would hate for people to perceive that I was that into my looks,” he says. “My mom would definitely kill me, and my guy friends would beat me up.” Lucky for him, no one’s asked.

No one’s asked Tom (who requested that he be identified only by his first name), either, but the 30-year-old New York public-relations executive is terrified that someone will. For the past two years, he’s been having Botox put into his forehead and the sides of his eyes (“I look a hell of a lot better,” he says), and has admitted it to no one except his girlfriend. “It’s always been my nightmare for someone to notice.”

Paul, a 28-year-old who owns a chain of restaurants in Hartford, Connecticut, and asked that his last name not be used, got a haircut right after he had Radiesse, a wrinkle filler, injected around his nose. He figured that if anyone wondered why he looked different, he could blame the fresh trim.

What about gay men?  Are we more open about our body transformations or is there still a bit of judgment when it comes to botox or plastic surgery in general?  My botox party goers are pretty open about it, almost like a badge of courage. If it makes them feel better, why not!  As long at they are not hurting themselves or anyone else.

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And what of the costs?  Some of us may bitch and moan about a $30, $100, $150 a month gym membership.  How much could someone spend on botox?

Sean Shekib, a 31-year-old cosmetic dentist in New York who’s been getting Botox for the past three years, has already spent almost $10,000 on it. “Once you get into it and experience it, you feel like you can’t live without it,” he says. “It keeps me young. It keeps me feeling good about myself.”  Once some people have a taste of the drug, they want more. “When that line goes away, you don’t want it to come back,” says Luce, the real-estate broker.

Doctors say their male patients race back as quickly as their female patients—as soon as they feel the slightest muscle movement return, they’re ready to shell out anywhere from $400 to $1,000 for another round of shots. “It’s like yuppie heroin,” says Dr. Michael Rose, a New York cosmetic surgeon. “When it starts wearing off, you can’t wait to get injected again. You’ll do anything to make those wrinkles go away.”

Once again Details does not cater to the gay community, but a lot of us read it.  If straight men are getting botox at a younger age, are we as gay men falling behind?

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Take a click over to dailyxtra.com and read a story from a couple of years ago about gay men in their 20's and plastic surgery.  As part of the story Peter Breeze had his botox procedure filmed.

 

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"Spending 10 years in the club is going to have an effect on your body, physically," [Breeze] says. "I think the reason it's appealing to people in that lifestyle is that they can freshen up. It's almost like you take back the years of being all crazy." – dailyxtra.com

And what do the experts say about Scott Bakula,

Dr Shafer says, “Scott Bakula also does not appear to have had facial plastic surgery.  He would benefit from Botox Cosmetic for his crow’s feet, glabella and forehead.  He has a fairly ptotic (drooping) brow which could be elevated with Botox Cosmetic.  Also, he has some flattening of his midface and moderate nasolabial folds which would be improved with injections such as Juvederm Ultra Plus or Radiesse.  His glabellar “11′ lines also won’t be completely eliminated with Botox Cosmetic.  He may also benefit Juvederm or fat grafting to his glabellar lines.” – news.makemeheal.com

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And what do I say about sexy Scott Bakula?  Don't ever change.  We like you the way you are and it's good to see you like the way you are, too. But if you want to go under the needle, know that kids less than 1/2 your age are doing it already.

25, 27, 32, 39 year olds, gay and straight are getting botox. When is the right age to start?  That's a personal question each of us will have to answer.  For me, I'm thinking never.

Is it for you? 

Should you get it?

Have you started?

 

6 thoughts on “Is it time for Botox? When is the right age to start?”

  1. Never is the right age.  

    Never is the right age.    Botox is unhealthy.   If you can't handle aging which is the natural part of life then you need to seek mental help.     

    Reply
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  3. I would start as early as

    I would start as early as possible.  26 perhaps. Depends how life is treating you and how vain you really are. It is best to Start preventing early and not trying to correct the hell out of your face. Some others do it too late and end up looking like blow up dolls by 30 to 50 lmao! So say no to the excess. 

    Reply

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