Better than Botox

Someone recently confided in us that he/she (that's my feeble attempt to conceal the person's gender) had tried Botox. It reminded me of a few years ago, when I didn't want to admit to anyone besides Scott that I'd had Restylane injections. Restylane was supposed to last longer and give about the same result as Botox. I had decided that if my marionette lines, those crevices extending from my nose toward my sagging jowls, got any deeper, I could start charging folks for tours.

My daughters can attest to seeing me stand in front of the mirror over the years, pulling my cheeks back to take off the years, if only momentarily. I had attempted to let my hair grow longer so I could braid it really tight, but the combination of very thick hair, no patience with blow drying in the morning, and the fact that with my ears, tight braids might give me some uplift, but my wing span would only become more prominent.

I finally decided to do it. While I was at it, I had a little lip filler too. I did ask about my jowls and was told, of course, they could just inject more into my chin. I immediately had visions of looking a lot like Jay Leno and said that could wait for awhile - a long while. Like never.

Scott liked the results. I did have a bruise on my chin from one of the injections, but couldn't bring myself to admit to colleagues at work where I'd gotten it. I thought I had caked on enough makeup to cover it up, but I was asked about it anyway. I worked with a very observant lot. I did tell the truth - sort of. I said I had dropped something in my dark utility room, bent over and hit my chin on the utility tub. Actually, I had hit my forehead, but there was no bruise there. Had I been able to "man up" or in my case "woman up", I should have stood in the middle of the office and announced, "I did it. I had injections. I paid lots of money for the pain, the results will only last about a year; I'll probably never do it again - but by the way, how do I look?"

A year later, the grand canyons on my face returned and other parts of my body started heading south. You know it's time to join AARP when your knee caps sag. I chose not to re-up my injections, although I was passing up a returning customer discount. Instead I decided to take up photography and learn the wonders of software that can melt away the years with the tap of a few keys - computer magic!

Ladies and gents too, just let me know if you're interested in something better than Botox - and a lot less expensive!

See more magic at bonniekingphotography.com