Guide to Botox and Fillers for Mother of the Bride/Groom
On your child’s special day, with every camera flashing, it’s no secret you want to look (almost) as good as the Bride herself. The make-up, the dress are all perfect. For many women this includes Botox or Dermal Fillers like Restylane or Juvederm.
THE BASICS OF BOTOX AND FILLERS
First off the basics. Botox is a protein derived from naturally occurring bacteria that is injected in minuscule doses to decrease facial muscle contractions. The effect? Those wrinkles that start only when you’re actively moving your face don’t have an opportunity to become permanent fixtures. Although Botox is the original, at Waterloo Medical Cosmetics, we prefer a newer version of Botox called Dysport for its softer feel, faster onset and more gradual wearing off. Dysport (Botox) generally lasts 3-6 months, somewhat less for those who prefer super-low dosing. This isn’t a problem, everyone’s built a bit differently and as you work with your nurse injector, we’ll find out the dosing that’s right for you.
Common injection areas for Brides would include:
• Forehead: treating the horizontal lines is a low-dose way to refresh your upper face
• Crow’s Feet: the lines that form when you squint and smile. Pro-tip: a common
trend is to leave a few of these to ensure your smile appears genuine!
• 11-lines: the vertical lines between your eye brows that lend an angry appearance. Probably our most popular treatment area!
Dermal Fillers (Juvederm and Restylane) are medical “gels" which do not cause muscles to relax, but instead physically lift facial structures in strategic locations. These are best known for giving lips the perfect soft fullness. Common injection areas for Brides would include:
• Lips: Gentle dosing means the perfect fullness. We start as low as a half syringe.
• Cheeks: an under-used natural way to create a beautiful, inverted-triangle shape, and often a starting point for reducing the Nasolabial folds. A favourite among our nurse-injectors!
• Nasolabial folds: as cheeks tend to droop, they create a crease on either side of the nose. Directly lifting these will fillers will smooth out the face and reduce shadows come photo-time.
COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Will it hurt? The answer is a bit different for everyone. The needles used are the smallest available: the kinds used to inject insulin in small children. Most people tolerate this with only needle-anxiety, but for those with more sensitive faces a numbing agent can be applied prior to the treatment. Will it look fake? This depends on injector technique and patient expectations.
With a moderate injection approach, the vast majority of patients will look “spa refreshed”,
however those who expect every wrinkle to disappear can push their Nurse into doing too much, generating an artificial look. Movement in your face is a good thing! Don’t forget that the Hollywood horror stories are typically people who have gotten so much done that it becomes obvious… in a bad way.
How much will it cost? At Waterloo Medical Cosmetics we focus on a moderate injection technique with expert injectors to product both natural results and a moderate cost. We are introducing package deals that help you to get the
treatments you want.
TIMING IS KEY
So what’s the Mother of the Bride/Groom to do for the big day with photos that will be kept forever? Ideally, no one would get Botox or Fillers immediately prior to any big event.
Because everyone is different the effect can be a hair too much, a hair too little, and complications like bruising are always a possibility.
6-12 months out: book a consult to allow our Medical Director, Dr. Michalski, to ensure you’re medically appropriate to receive injectables. At the same time you can try your first injections to allow your Nurse-injector to learn what dosing is right for your face and goals. For most events where you're smiling for the camera this means an emphasis on Crow’s Feet which can’t be covered with makeup. For an indoor wedding, this may be enough. For others a firmer rejuvenation would include the upper forehead to reduce horizontal lines.
For an outdoor wedding, the sun is invariably in your eyes for the photos, but this leads to squinting and brow furrowing, giving an angry or confused appearance; for the Mother of the Bride, any amount of side-lighting will emphasize the shadows created by the marionette lines and Nasolabial Folds. Consider one of our packages, which allows for correction of not just the upper face wrinkles, but also gentle correction of deeper skin folds. Remember, when your friends as if
you were on vacation, then we’re doing our job right!
2-3 months out: this is prime time to get your injectables done in preparation for the big day. You’ve done your homework, you and your Nurse know what dosing works for your face and in the unlikely event of a complication, you have some time to get that addressed so on the big day, our work is the last thing on your mind!
From our team at Waterloo Medical Cosmetics, congratulations and best wishes on this very special day!
