As a poster woman for body positivity, Bryony Gordon is happy to embrace everything that the ageing process throws at her.
She is a dedicated champion for natural bodies, showing the unfiltered truth by running London Marathon in her underwear with Adele Roberts.
So it may come as a surprise to hear her honest confession about Botox. When her friends accused her of judging them for dabbling with tweakments, the author of People Pleaser bowed to peer pressure and decided to take on the needle to see what the fuss was about.
However, the appeal of using artificial means to give her a youthful face was short-lived.
“I had Botox a couple of years ago because my friends were like, 'Stop being so judgmental, Bryony, you've got to try it!'. And I was like, oh, ouch — that is quite judgmental of me to be really anti it without going and seeing. So I went and did it!” she revealed to Ateh Jewel on this week’s Second Act podcast.
“I didn't love it. I have such an expressive face that people were like, what have you done? I just was really obviously not me anyway, so I just let it go off.”
With a teen daughter Edie who, like every young person, is constantly targeted with the latest skincare trends on social media, Bryony is keen to set a good example and demonstrate that what she sees online is not always true to life.
“I think teens and tweens nowadays they are obsessed with skincare,” the 45-year-old says.
“I have to say to her, ‘skincare is lovely, but as long as you're doing it to nourish, it is about caring for yourself, self-care. And it's not about changing yourself or status or this or that’.
“For some people getting some Botox is about stepping into that.”
But there were other personal reasons behind Bryony’s reluctance to embrace regular Botox maintenance sessions.
The journalist put herself through treatment for alcoholism, and she is worried her deep-rooted addictive personality may transfer itself from drinking cocktails to taking tweakments to the extreme.
“I want to feel fab and that's great. But being an addict I don’t trust that when I start down that road, that 10 minutes later I will end up looking like Jocelyn Wildenstein,” she says of the late Swiss socialite who totally distorted her face with filler and other treatments.
And lets be honest that is no one’s idea of ageing gracefully.
Bryony isn't the only one embracing her crows feet and laughter lines. Studies say the trend for 'no-tox' — ditching Botox for alternative treatments — is on the rise. And with the likes of peptides, retinols and collagen boosting the non-invasive treatments available, glowy skin over frozen skin is the midlife win that makes everyone look gorgeous.
