Injectables
Botulinum Toxin (Forehead & Glabella)
The best-evidenced aesthetic injectable there is. Over-treating the forehead is what produces the flat, heavy-browed look people are actually reacting to.
Also called: botox · forehead botox · eleven lines · baby botox
Verdict — legit
Does what it claims, with evidence behind it.
Evidence grade A
Multiple randomised controlled trials, or a meta-analysis of them. As settled as this field gets.
Mechanism
Cleaves SNAP-25, blocking acetylcholine release at the neuromuscular junction for 3–4 months, which prevents the muscle contraction that folds the overlying skin.
Citations
- Efficacy and safety of botulinum toxin type A for glabellar lines: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trialsPlastic and Reconstructive Surgery · 2015
- Brow position changes following frontalis treatment with botulinum toxinDermatologic Surgery · 2016
The full read
Efficacy for glabellar and frontalis lines is established across dozens of randomised trials, with a well-characterised safety profile. The aesthetic failure modes are dosing and anatomy, not the drug: too much frontalis produces brow ptosis and a heavy, immobile upper face; asymmetric placement produces the raised outer brow; and treating the forehead without the glabella can drop the brow. For this audience specifically, the brow position matters more than the lines — a brow sitting too low or too high changes the eye read far more than a forehead crease does. Start conservative, review at two weeks, and expect to repeat three times a year.