Face Freeze!

Tonight I was watching a new show about celebrity chefs, and the chefs were making food for a "Botox" party.  I guess this is all the rage amongst the rich and well...rich in Beverly Hills and around the U.S.  Women show up at the party and there are people present to give them Botox injections amongst other treatments.

I suspect this is pretty lucrative for the Botox givers as apparently an injected area costs from $350 - $500.    The theory behind botox is it blocks the transmission of acetylcholine from the nerves to the muscle. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter which send a message to the muscle telling it to contract or tense up. With the flow of acetylcholine blocked or significantly reduced, the muscle can no longer retract and it relaxes. As a result, the wrinkled areas smooth out and soften.  Apparently these injections last about 4 or 5 months.  So really you would have to do this pretty regularly to continue the benefits.

You can start to see the results of this in Hollywood, where actresses like Nicole Kidman are starting to look like expressionless wax figures.  Throw in a little lip enhancement action and you have yourself a party - or a freaky looking actress!

OK so people are crazy, but what is even more startling is I saw a news report on the use of Botox on Teens under the age of 18.  Here is the dealyo:

The statistics by ASAPS reveal that there is a surge in the number of Botox treatments given to teens in the U.S.  Approximately 12,110 Botox injections were administered to patients 18 years old and younger in 2009. That translates into a 47.8 percent rise in teen Botox use from 2008, when a total of 8,194 Botox procedures were performed.

So NOW the theory is, if you start to block the muscles from every making expressions in your face, then your skin will never wrinkle! Now instead of being a teen and enjoying life and having fun with friends, you have to start shooting Botox into your face to prevent expression and aging?

I keep thinking that women (girls) have come a long way baby, but often I feel as though we are stepping back.  Our value still seems to only be tied to how we look and not how we think or our capabilities.  Don't get me wrong, I don't blame men for this, I blame us women.  We keep up this craziness and now the only role models we see are slutty crazy chicks from Orange County or Jersey Shores. I do know that TV doesn't represent everyone, I get that, however these are the messages being sent out to the masses - to women and young impressionable girls. 

So go ahead and smile, get a laugh line or two.  Let people see the lines of experience and joy you have earned!