Holistic Feathers

Hard-up women abandon skin creams for ‘good value’ Botox

So said the news headline on page 3 of the London Lite yesterday evening (19th August 2009).  Intrigued by the headline, yet shivering at the idea of using Botox (a personal fear!), I couldn’t wait to read more …

“Women are ditching their favourite but expensive skincare products for longer-lasting cosmetics treatment.  Sales of products such as La Prairie, Lancome and Estee Lauder have declined in the past few months as consumers turn to Botox injections and laser hair removal to save money long-term.  Analysts Mintel said consumers were also turning to Botox not to waste time each day applying make-up … ‘We know that older women tend to be more cynical of claims made by beauty products.  With Botox, they know it’s going to work so they go for the guaranteed results’.” (c) LondonLite

So what exactly is Botox? Botulinum Toxin (hence the term “Botox”) is also known as Wrinkle Relaxing Injections, which is a toxic protein used in tiny doses to stop muscle spasm. Botox is injected into specific muscles to relax them temporarily, leading to an inability to wrinkle the skin overlying the treated muscle – which is why some people say that Botox leads them to develop a “frozen” look, as the toxic protein latches on to the muscle only. For more about Botox, please visit Wikipedia.

Just the very idea of having something unnatural being injected into my skin gives me the heebeejeebees, reminiscent of school vaccination jabs where you would leave the sick bay howling in pain (or was that only me?!).

I had a quick scout around and discovered that in London, the best value for Botox is around £250 for a treatment which tackles three specific muscles (areas).

So for £250 you could get your forehead ‘worry’ lines treated alongside your laughter lines (naso-labial area) and crows feet (peri-orbital area).  The Botox treatments are predicted to give results for a 3 – 4 month period, so you are looking at booking in for a minimum of 4 treatments per year at a cost of £1,000 – £1,250.

Does this offer good long-term value?

From my perspective, not really.  Much as I look in the mirror at times and despair, I know that my animated face is really ME – you can see when I am happy, when I am sad.  My facial lines show who I really am, they all have stories to tell … would people react to me differently, would they feel I was still a warm, friendly person if my eyebrows didn’t react with such abandon or if my smile didn’t reach my crow’s feet and turn them upwards too?

Despite my own personal concerns over the safely of using a toxic protein as a beauty treatment, I would always advocate natural over chemical because I believe that as we age (dis)gracefully – if we are lucky!- our faces reflect our inner beauty with true grace.

Facial rejuvenation (natural face lift massage) offers a natural alternative to Botox, without limiting you to being treated in specific muscle areas.  Your whole face will receive minute, precise movements which help to relax, stimulate and re-educate your muscles to give a definite “lift” and a beautiful, radiant glow to your skin.  Another plus point to this treatment is that you have an hour of bliss, time to yourself, time to relax and as we stimulate your energy points (meridien or marma points) you will feel deeply relaxed yet rejuvenated within your body too.  Delighted clients verify time and time again just how amazing this treatment is, the beauty of it being that it is au naturelle and injection/electrical/product-free!

So, thinking about these hard-up women who are desperately trying to find ways to reduce their expenditure on fussy, exorbitantly-priced skincare and procedures …

Each Facial Rejuvenation treatment with Holistic Feathers is £40 for an hour-long treatment.  The recommendation is for an initial set of 6 treatments over a 6-week period to re-train your muscles, and if you pay for the set of 6 treatments at the start, we gift you the 6th treatment for free (£200, instead of £240).

After the initial 6-week treatment plan, its advisable to return for monthly top-up treatments, which will help you to keep the uplifted look and inspire you to add in a few simple facial yoga exercises each day.  (Yes, we all forget so easily about these exercises … we just like to remind you every now and again just how great the exercises can be for your mind, body and soul – as well as your cute face!).

So for a total of £600 per year, you can receive a unique and incredible whole-body workout and look naturally radiant with your full range of expressions intact.

What would YOU choose?

I am definitely up for saving £400 per year AND receive a total relaxation experience, needle- and chemical-free …

If you would like to find out more about Facial Rejuvenation treatments, please take a look at Holistic Feathers or contact Callie for a chat.