First the beauty girls gave up their monthly shellac manicures. Then they gave up being blonde, growing out their ashy highlights in favour of mousy brown roots. Now, the latest recession indicator? People are doing their own Botox.
Across TikTok, content creators have begun sharing videos of themselves injecting themselves with Botox-like-products purchased online. “I just got sick and tired of spending all [my money and] having to go into get it corrected,” one TikToker wrote, sharing a video of herself wearing a candy pink T-shirt and a teal headband, injecting the clear liquid into her forehead.
The TikToker, a brow artist based in Beverly Hills, was flooded with support. “Sign me up!” said one user. “Gurl! Same! I do my whole face!”
“Queen!” The TikToker responded to her fellow DIY beauticians. “Good for you! In this economy girl, we must!”
While a bulk of these videos are coming from the US, Google searches for Innotox – a Korean over-the-counter botox that can be purchased online – have shot up in the UK since July, which could suggest that the practice is gaining pace here, too.
Meanwhile, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a warning about practitioners injecting patients with suspected fake Botox, following 38 cases of botulism poisoning in England linked to unlicensed Botox-like jabs between 4 June and 14 July. Reported symptoms included difficulty swallowing, slurred speech and even breathing difficulties that required respiratory support.
Like Botox, Innotox is a neurotoxin that contains botulinum toxin A, but it’s in liquid form, which some users find makes DIY dosing easier. The cosmetic treatments work by blocking nerve signals to muscles to stop them from moving, which reduces the appearance of wrinkles.
@itsmeeeevika So yeah, like I just got sick and tired of spending all 💰 & having to go into get it corrected. #beauty #realadvice #aginggracefully #skinstok #beautytips #beautyhacks #botox #diy #dysport
♬ Aesthetic - Tollan Kim
It is generally a safe procedure when done by trained professionals, but because botulinum toxin A is a highly toxic substance, it can have nightmarish effects when not administered properly. So why are people dabbling with DIY Botox and what are the risks?
A wild west for cosmetic treatments
The aesthetic industry in the UK has undergone drastic regulatory change in the past few months. Up until June, you didn’t need a license to give someone Botox and there was no official industry regulation or qualification standard for cosmetic treatments in the UK.
This gave rise to something of a wild west for Botox and filler procedures, leading many industry experts and practitioners to campaign for increased oversight.
In June, a new rule was finally introduced that made it mandatory to have a face-to-face consultation before prescribing Botox or dermal fillers. The government has announced plans to crack down on this with a new licensing scheme, but this is yet to be implemented.
It's like people who use heroin. When they buy it, they don't know what it's been cut with. You're buying something you have no control over
For now, dodgy cosmetic practitioners are continuing to operate under the radar and people are purchasing unregulated Botox-like products online. While there are only six prescription-only Botox brands that are legally allowed for cosmetic use in the UK, companies are illegally selling banned products, according to reports.
Because these products are unregulated, there is no guarantee that what you are injecting into your body is what you think it is. “Just because it says Botox on the bottle, it doesn't mean it is,” Dr Mike Tee, a doctor at the Harley Street Skin Clinic told The Standard. “It's like people who use heroin. When they buy it, they don't know what it's been cut with.”
“You're buying something you have no control over,” he added.
Dr Ed Robinson, an aesthetics doctor and GMC-registered anaesthetist, said that he’s had multiple patients come to him after receiving botched cosmetic procedures from non-medical professionals or self-injected products they’ve bought on Facebook Marketplace. Patients cite symptoms including infections, scarring and inflammatory reactions after receiving treatments from “cowboy injectors.”
“In every case, they had no idea what product had been injected,” he said. In some instances, patients have reached out to a practitioner with a medical issue following the procedure, but the practitioner has blocked them.
“Because they're not healthcare professionals, they have no duty of care to that person and no legal obligation to do anything about it,” Dr Robinson said.
“You have no idea how much you've injected”
Amidst a cost-of-living crisis, it’s hardly surprising that people are taking the risk. A round of Botox from a licensed UK clinic can easily set you back a few hundred pounds, while ordering Innotox costs under £50.
These financial constraints come as the pressure to have a snatched face feels higher than ever. The average Gen Z or Millennial spends at least 2.25 hours a day on social media, wading through celebrities and influencers with chiseled jawlines, smooth foreheads and sharp cheekbones.
We’re bombarded with targeted ads for face yoga and vampire facials and salmon semen injections and Skims face wraps, perpetually sold the idea that there’s a more desirable version of ourselves in reach (if we have the money for it).
It makes sense that for people who have decided to take their anti-wrinkle regimes into their hands, the thought of increased regulation is unnerving. On the Reddit thread, r/DIYCosmeticProcedures, members share tips and tricks for injecting themselves at home, posting facial mapping photos and warmly advising each other on the best points to inject and where to be extra careful.
But when the Standard reached out to members to ask, several users responded with hostility. “Please don’t write an article & ruin it for us responsibly injecting ourselves,” one user said.
Another Redditor explained that an article could lead to DIY shops getting shut down, suppliers disappearing and Reddit bans. The fear of unregulated products being banned or harder to access was palpable.
Still, medically trained practitioners say that being wrinkle-free is simply not worth the risk. Botulinium toxin A is a million times more toxic than cobra toxin and more poisonous than cyanide. If it gets into a wound, it can cause flaccid paralysis, weakening essential muscles, or if equipment isn’t properly sterilised, it can cause sepsis.
Even if you were certain about what you were buying online, being able to inject Botox correctly is another story. Botox practitioners have a highly specific knowledge of facial anatomy, and different parts of the face require different concentrations of Botox.
Targeting the wrong part of the face can cause drooping eyes and lopsided smiles. “One bottle could be totally different to what you're injecting from another bottle,” Dr Tee says. “You have no idea how much you've injected, which I think is incredibly dangerous.”
That’s compounded with the technical challenges of injecting oneself. If you’re looking in the mirror while doing it, “you can't actually see the markings on the syringe. It's just too difficult,” Dr Tee explains.
@lercer RIP me… possibly. #parati #fyp #foryoupage #innotox #southkorea🇰🇷
♬ original sound - Lercer
Amidst the sea of shiny videos of TikTokers with taut faces injecting themselves with Botox, more cautionary stories have begun emerging, too. “I’m not entirely convinced I’m going to make it through the night,” says one TikToker, pointing at two large scabs on her forehead, admitting that she did her own Botox without knowing how to read the syringe.
In another (now-deleted) video, she adds a cautionary message: “What they don’t show you in these videos… Is how close you are to veins.” The conclusion? “Go and get it professionally done.”
