Ask a beauty editor: I feel like I need Botox to keep up with my friends. Help?

Wrinkle patches, facial acupuncture, ingestible collagen… Do Botox alternatives work? Two Australian beauty editors weigh in.

Sarah Tarca and Sherine Youssef are Australian beauty editors and the founders of Gloss Etc, a weekly newsletter dedicated to the best beauty reviews, news and tips. With 20 years of experience and a wealth of product knowledge, they’re here to answer beauty questions from Fashion Journal readers each fortnight.

Hi Sherine and Sarah. I didn’t think I needed Botox, but now that all my friends are getting it done, I’m worried I’ll start looking much older in comparison. What alternatives can I do that don’t involve needles, or spending hundreds of dollars? – Laurie, 31.

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Sherine: Laurie, I’d like to offer three thoughts: One, you don’t need Botox. No one does. Do you want Botox? That’s fine. Two, you’re not the only one. In my line of work, and among my friends, I’m one of the remaining few who hasn’t had an injectable. It’s a personal choice; I’ve never been that bothered by lines and wrinkles, because as I explained in a previous column, I’m more preoccupied with pigmentation. 

Third, we need to be really clear: there is no such thing as a legit Botox ‘alternative’ or ‘Botox in a bottle’. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I’d hate to lead you down the garden path because the truth is, there’s nothing that truly compares to the skin-ironing effects of Botox. If anyone tries to tell you otherwise, smile politely, turn around and walk away. Still with me? Okay, temper your expectations and let’s have a look at some options that may help keep your skin looking somewhat smooth-ish. 

Hyaluronic acid

This would be my first option, you’d be surprised how many fine lines are the result of dehydration. Adequately quenched skin is plumper, dewier and springier, and hyaluronic acid works pretty much instantly (yay!). Even more good news: you don’t have to spend a boatload on one: The Ordinary, Cosrx and Neutrogena all make well-priced options. 

Wrinkle patches

Wrinkles Schminkles Forehead Wrinkle Patches are made from medical-grade, reusable silicone, and work by keeping skin taut so that new lines and wrinkles are unable to form. They also help with the hydration thing I mentioned above, as they form an occlusive layer, reducing transepidermal water loss and trapping moisture in the upper layers of skin.

You can wear them for a few hours a day or overnight (you can’t layer your skincare underneath, so I wasn’t a fan of this option). In addition to the forehead patch, there are eye, mouth, décolletage and hand patches, too. 

Fraxel laser

I love Fraxel treatments and have raved about it here. 

Facial acupuncture

I’ve had facial acupuncture done once and am very keen to do it again. It’s what you’d imagine: super fine, very sharp, smooth and tiny needles are strategically placed in the face, in classic acupuncture points, with the aim of improving circulation, which will then help dislodge excess fluid and dispel puffiness.

In areas that are lined or sagging, the needles are precisely positioned using a threading technique, placed either horizontally or angled close to the skin, to encourage lifting.

But the needles also work a little like they do in micro-needling, triggering the skin’s natural wound-healing response, which kickstarts collagen and elastin production to plump out skin. The whole thing left me looking… not less lined, but less stressed and drawn, more well-rested, relaxed, glowing, and feeling better about my skin, which is half the battle, right?

Sarah, left, and Sherine of Gloss Etc.

Sarah: Ageing is such a complicated beast. Or rather, my (and many others) feelings about ageing are complicated. I think because we’ve lived through a couple of eras where all messaging points to ‘anti-ageing’, first with 10 years of beauty product marketing shoving anti-ageing products down our throats. And then with the Kardashian era of faces that are plumped and unmoving, which made everyone not look necessarily younger, but just… the same? Now we’re moving into an era where people are dissolving fillers and we’re ‘pro-ageing’ except we’re still like, “wow Donatella Versace looks great.” And she does, but let’s be real: that is not untouched skin.

Personally, I swing violently between embracing and hating my face as it ages, and the latter is usually linked to how much I’m on social media at any one time. Before social, the comparison was localised, now it’s global. I’ve always had a very expressive face, and I’m a white caucasian, both of which add to the fact that I was always going to get lines, and that is inherent to who I am.

It didn’t bother me really until after I had kids, when my self-esteem was at a low, and the combined collagen loss and melasma made me start to avoid mirrors. So I got Botox between the brows, and I liked that it made me look less perpetually vexed. It made me feel better about myself. 

This is all a very long-winded way of saying I hear you. But doing it because your friends are, or because you’re worried about looking older than them, is a reason that feels like regret. 

Let me get off my soapbox now, and tell you what you can do. As Sherine said, there’s no dupe for Botox and I also agree with all her suggestions. What I’m going to add is an alternative POV: while Botox targets wrinkles, these are not the only indicator of youthful skin, so maybe your approach could be more about skin health and clarity (luminosity! glow!) rather than just wrinkle-specific? And that I can help with.

Skin needling and collagen induction therapy

Sherine touched on this earlier, it works by creating micro-injuries in the dermal layer of the skin, which triggers the production of collagen and elastin because it says to the body, ‘hey we need to heal this’. Skin feels a little tight and scratchy after, but just wait five to six days and you’ll be basking in the plumper, more refined skin benefits. In my opinion, this is something best left to the pros, but the good news is, so many places do it now so you should be able to find one within your budget.

LED therapy

My favourite part of every facial is when they pop me under the LED and I can have a little nap. But also, it’s just so great for your skin, especially for texture, glow and softening of lines. An (extremely basic) overview of it works is the light penetrates the skin at specific depths (depending on what colour light and what you’re targeting), and this changes the activity of the skin cells so they essentially, do better.

For what you’re after, you’re looking at red light and near infrared, which stimulates collagen and reduces inflammation. There are so many LED devices on the market now, but the important thing to check is that they have the correct wavelength so the light can accurately reach the cells. I could go into more detail but this piece is so well-researched that I urge you to read it before you invest. Of the ones I’ve tried, my favourite is Omnilux. 

Ingestible marine collagen

Yes, it works and yes, there are clinical trials to support this. But a caveat: you have to take it regularly (strangely, it won’t have any effect in your cupboard) and if you stop taking it, the effects will eventually wane. Also, quality matters, so choose a reputable brand and if you’re after skin support, go for marine, not bovine collagen. My favourite, and the brand with the most testing and research, is Vida Glow, which I’ve taken religiously for eight years. 

SPF, always

Sunscreen is the cheapest and most reliable ‘anti-ageing’ (uh, I hate that word) product. That’s just a fact. More than any other factor, genetic or environmental, sun exposure is the number one cause of accelerated skin ageing. So SPF daily, stay out of the sun, wear sunglasses and protective clothing, and you’re already ahead of the pack. 

Two over-the-counter products we’ve tested and loved:

Medik8 Liquid Peptides Advanced MP, $160

A new-to-market product that’s one of the most impressive I’ve tried in a while. The patented Dual MiniProteins target both dynamic lines (those you can see when you make expressions) and static lines (the deeper-set ones that remain when your face is unmoving), and they’ve combined this with peptides and hyaluronic acid, which also helps to plump out some of the smaller lines in 10 minutes (we know, we did before and afters). 

Get it here.

No7 Line Correcting Booster Serum, $65

Sherine’s older sister trialled this for us and took before and afters, and it was so impressive we bullied her into letting us use them for our official gloss etc channels. 

Get it here.

The last thing I want to add is that it’s expensive to have great skin. Botox is a quick fix, which is why I think so many people use it, but the treatments and products we’ve recommended above are an investment in your skin health, and that, in our opinion, has longevity.

But real talk: the lines will still eventually come. And just like when/if your friends stop using Botox, the effects will also wear off if you stop using this skincare. The only difference is that maybe your skin will look better for treating it with love?

For more on Botox alternatives, try this.