Why I Draw the Line at Injectables

Every few years, the conversation around aging shifts a little more. Botox and fillers have become increasingly common, and people are starting younger than ever. They're often presented as routine maintenance—as ordinary as getting your hair colored or applying moisturizer.

So people sometimes ask me, What's the difference? Isn't skincare just another form of vanity?

It's a fair question.

This isn't an argument against anyone else's choices. I believe deeply in bodily autonomy, and everyone deserves to make decisions about their own appearance without shame or judgment. But I also believe in informed consent. If we're going to celebrate the benefits of cosmetic injectables, we should also be willing to have an honest conversation about how they work, what the tradeoffs are, and whether those tradeoffs align with our values.

For me, they don’t.

Botox doesn't erase wrinkles—it suppresses expression.

Botox works by temporarily blocking the release of acetylcholine, the chemical messenger that tells muscles to contract. When a muscle can't contract as strongly, the skin above it folds less, so expression lines soften over time. Simple enough, right?

Here’s the thing...

Muscles that aren't used repeatedly become weaker and smaller over time. This is true
throughout the body, and facial muscles are no exception. Long-term botox usage can reduce the volume in our face, which then conveniently makes us great candidates for dermal fillers. You see the cycle?

To me, our facial muscles aren’t just clay to sculpt. They're living tissue. They pump lymph. They communicate emotion. They animate who we are.

Many of the most commonly injected areas—the glabella between the eyebrows, the forehead, around the eyes, and along the temples—also happen to overlap with well-known facial TCM acupuncture points. The point between the eyebrows, often called Yintang or the "third eye" point, has been used for centuries to encourage calm, relieve stress, and settle the nervous system. I find it fascinating that some of the places many traditions have long considered important for communication, emotion, and energetic balance are now routinely treated by reducing movement and energy flow. Yikes...

As someone who loves facial massage, gua sha, acupressure, and supporting circulation, my philosophy has always been to encourage healthy function rather than reduce it.

Fillers raise different questions.

Dermal fillers can create satisfying immediate results, but they also come with their own
considerations.

While most treatments are performed safely by experienced practitioners, they’re not without risks—including nodules, migration, chronic inflammation, vascular occlusion, and, in rare cases, tissue loss, blindness, or stroke if filler enters a blood vessel. These serious complications are uncommon, but they are well documented in the medical literature.

Again, this isn't about fear.

It's about recognizing that "non-surgical" doesn't necessarily mean risk-free. Beyond risk, none of these solutions do anything for long term skin health, and what do we give up when we commit to the upkeep and ongoing investment?

I love making faces.

This may be the biggest reason of all. I am a goofy lady, y’all.

I laugh with my whole face.

I cry with my whole face.

I wrinkle my nose. I squint in the sunshine. I raise my eyebrows when I'm surprised. I furrow them when I'm concentrating. I was raised on Jim Carrey movies, ok?!

And now I have a son.

When he looks at me, I want him to see delight, concern, empathy, silliness, wonder.

Human beings learn emotional connection by reading faces. Mirror neurons firing constantly. Our expressions are one of the earliest languages we speak.

And what’s more, if our culture increasingly prizes faces that move less and all look the same—what does that teach the next generation about expression? About aging? About what a human face is supposed to look like?

For me, I want my son to grow up surrounded by faces that laugh hard, cry honestly, wrinkle with concentration, and soften with compassion.

I want him to recognize humanity—not perfection. Because, hey, who is setting that unattainable standard anyway? *cough it’s patriarchy cough*

This all leads to a deeper question...

Why is wrinkle-free skin the goal in the first place?

Who benefits when women are taught that every visible sign of their living is something to erase?

Some of my favorite faces belong to women who have laughed deeply, grieved thoroughly, raised children, studied hard, loved fiercely and lived fully. Their lines don't diminish their beauty, they tell the story of it.

I was talking with a friend about this very subject the other day... She looked me dead in the eye and pointed to her "11 lines” (the ones between her eyebrows) saying “This one represents my determination. And this one represents my commitment to a better world.”

CAN I GET AN AMEN?!

I am all about this energy. Complete embodiment, acceptance, and CELEBRATION of this one precious life.

Heck, we are living in an age where we need the ability to throw shade at a moment’s notice. We must not be afraid to be fierce, to feel it all, to be ourselves.

Real question: What would it look like to love ourselves enough to allow the inevitable transformation from maiden to chrone? How can we, especially as women, live in full awe of the living art and wisdom we are?

Ok, ok, so where do I draw the line? I own a skincare line after all. 

I reject the false choice that says we must either obsess over youth or completely abandon ourselves.

I am beautiful.

I will care for myself.

My radiant skin is a sign of my vibrant health.

And the simple answer is, BOTOX DOES NOTHING FOR YOUR SKIN HEALTH.

And so I continue to relish the art of making skincare that nourishes completely. Products that hydrate, flood the skin with nutrients, and enhance the body’s remarkable biochemical processes so you can glow like nobody’s business.

Botox ain’t got nothin’ on that.