Botox - at last

I've been wanting to do Botox for years, since my early 30s when considering it seemed cute and kind of precocious. Now I'm 38, and it's not cute anymore. It's essential.
I went in on Thursday, the first thing I did was indulge in a facial, my first since Eva was born. It began with a thorough cleansing, extractions (I had developed a couple of milia due to using moisturizers that were simply too heavy for my skin - an occupational hazard as I'm always testing products), and then concluded with microdermabrasion and a lactic acid peel. This peel was unlike any other I've tried. It is designed to be left on. For about an hour, your skin feels tacky, but after that your face looks glowy and feels amazingly soft. As with most peels, the second day your skin starts to feel a little dry as it prepares to shed those unsightly dead layers, and today the shedding began in earnest. Most people dread this part, but I find it encouraging, because I know the healthier, fresher skin is underneath, waiting to emerge.

After my facial, I stepped into the doctor's office, where my dear friend and Botox veteran Kari Boatner held my hand through my first-ever procedure. Since I was doing only a small area - around my eyes - the doctor administered 3 shots on either side of my eyes - 6 total. I'm told it feels like a bee sting, and although I've never been stung, I'd say that sounds right. It stung, but only for a second. One one side, you couldn't see that anything had happened, but on the other side, it bruised very very slightly. It's almost imperceptible. I've seen my mom and my sister a few times since then and they never even noticed it. So, I was told that it takes 3 days to begin to see results, and the full effect sets in at 2 weeks. Tomorrow it will be the third day since the procedure, and I can't wait to see the results. I will be posting pictures, so check back soon!